So It Begins

Atlanta Joins In Gay Bar Raiding Fun!

I know I said I'd stay away from political issues, but sometimes I just can't resist it, so here goes anyway:

In the wake of two raids in Texas gay bars, Atlanta's police force decided they should join in the fun as well. The recently raided the Atlanta Eagle, taking over 20 officers into the bar to manhandle the patrons. They force the bar goers on to the ground for TWO HOURS while they pretended to search for things, or pick on the homos on the ground, or watch "the game"… whatever they had to do to pass time during the two hours of their illegal raid on the bar.

Why did they raid said bar? Because they were told there might possibly be some sex going on in the bar somewhere. Did they find any sex going on in the bar? Nopers, but they stuck around for two hours just to make sure. Have the EVER raided a hetero strip club for all the sex that happens in those diseased cesspools? Nope, but that's just boys being boys, you know? Nothing wrong with that…

These raids Have. To. Stop. They are being perpetrated illegally and unethically by the powers that be because they feel like gay people are scum and should be erased from the world. And if they just rile them up enough, they'll go away! And why, pray tell, might these Southern US cultures have the notion that gays are evil, bad, and deserving of eradication? Because we have allowed Christian fundamentalists to take over the political atmosphere and frame gay people as the opposite of god.

I shouldn't be shocked really. This kind of raid was common in black bars and establishments 60 years ago, for many of the same reasons. The white folk in charge were afraid that the black community would organize, or even worse, establish roots in "their" community. Hell, raids on gay bars even happened in Northern states and cities perceived to be progressive. Stonewall, anyone?

I can only hope that justice is handed down against the Atlanta PD in this issue and fast. A strong message needs to be sent to these ass hats that they cannot continue to abuse their badges to further their bias. I also have to wonder about the moral compass of a police force that is able to muster 20 willing officers to administer such hate without any of them standing up or speaking out. Even now, none of the 20 officers offers remorse for their actions.

This is what out and out hate legislation leads to. When our politicians stand up in public and congratulate their constituents for passing laws that enshrine hatred into the system, or even speak out in support of those laws, the idea that it's ok to discriminate against gays is drilled into the masses collective mind. Saying that gays are second class citizens by denying them marriage rights and adoption rights gives people the mental OK to perpetuate physical and social discrimination against gay people. This is what those laws have accomplished, and I sincerely hope that the right wing is satisfied in understanding that every single bruise caused in these raids, every single human rights violation, is on their hands. This is their doing.

An Excellent Response To A Shitty Situation

After the letter that was used to threaten gay bars in the Seattle area was sent out earlier this week, the LGBT community has come together to stand up against the threats.

Perfect response, if you ask me.

Enjoy The Experience, The Tour Sucks

Boystown is not so much a theme park, but more an experience.

When you come to Boystown, you can't truly expect to see all it has to offer in one day. People go to Theme Parks early in the AM and plan on hitting all the rides. It's go-go-go all day long, with merely 30 second-5 minutes of fun in between the 15 minute-2 hour waits. But, like I said, Boystown is not a theme park. Instead, Boystown needs to be taken in as an Experience, something like a Lollapalooza. You're not going to see everything or every band. It's just not possible. You are going to get an overall experience and enjoy it none-the-less, but you just can't expect to see it all in one night.

A good friend came into town this weekend and brought with him a Boystown Noobie. Being a guy from a more rural area, I'm not completely sure he was prepared for all that B-Town has to offer. It was his desire to see "all of it," and I decided to at least give it a try, knowing full well that we'd have to get there early and plan on one drink or less at each bar. We had a solid plan of starting on the South side of Halsted St then working North, hitting Spin first then progressing through the various bars on the strip, and maybe hitting up Jackhammer for the after-hours experience.

Things did not go well. After the second bar, when it felt as if we guzzled our drinks simply to move on to the next bar, we began to not really enjoy the plan. Truth be told, there are many bars on the strip that I'd skip altogether, and only a handful I'd recommend to all visitors. As we made our way into our third bar, we realized that hitting all the bars was just not going to happen. Sidetrack became our home for a few drinks, then we swung next door to Cocktails for a few more drinks and bad "straight" go-go boys, and finally walked across the street to Roscoe's to end our "bar hours" adventure. Even hitting up 5 bars in the course of 4 hours seems like a lot, and trying to see anymore in that time-frame would have simply been insane.

However, it wasn't all bad because we did get to see the Cornerstone of Boystown, the bars on the corner of Halsted and Roscoe. Honestly, if you want to true breadth of Boystown, I think Sidetrack, Roscoe's and Cocktail are it. These are the three general bars, and it seems to me that everything else is a bit niche. There's bars for the circuit party scene, the "club" scene, cowboy bars, leather bars, sports bars, bars for the uber pretentious, etc., which are all bars to plan for if you want to go.

I've learned my lesson, to be sure. Next time I have a B-Town Noobie come to town, we'll start with the Cornerstone bars and then plan on any other niche bars they'd like to see, and cap the evening with either Jackhammer (for the bearish or "wilder" set) or Charlie's (for the partying, dancing set, or for my straight friends). I would also highly recommend the same for anyone that comes to Chicago to party in Boystown. It's not a theme park, so save the rides for when you leave the bar ;)