So I was over at Joe My God and saw THIS article about Portland, Maine's only gay bar closing.
WHAT THE FUCK PEOPLE?
In 1990 I was bodily carried up a flight of stairs into my first gay bar by my two best friends. I was literally kicking and screaming. What an entrance! Once I was in, however, I found an oasis of belonging and safety. My experiences of POSITIVE gayness now began.
The argument is being made that we don't necessarily need our own venues as the "acceptance" level of the community at large continues to grow. You know what I say about the acceptance level of others? FUCK THEM.
I'm painfully aware that I shouldn't be one to lecture on external validation but SERIOUSLY?! We are deserting our own small businesses so that we can have the breeders pat us on the back and say "Oh I love those to homoxual men" right up until you decide you want to be as affectionate with your partner as they are with theirs and BOOM you are being asked to leave because the majority of patrons don't mind you being there until you decide to kiss your partner and they heave up their cocktail.
See. THIS is why we need to continue our patronage of our OWN venues. Because we cannot be 100% ourselves even in 2016.
So go ahead. Go to your str8 bar where they lerv you. Then watch the level of affection the str8's engage in, and you match it. You'll be kissing pavement before your tongue leaves your mouth.
Oh....and if you think we shouldn't be affectionate when we are out and about having fun, grow up. There is NOTHING we should be prevented from doing when out and about (law permitting). And yet, there are incidents every damn day in this country and across the globe of our LGBT family being harassed, assaulted and killed because they only wanted to be able to do what everyone else around them was.
Our venues deserve better.
Damien
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