Homo Dumpy Gay Bars
posted by on May 15 at 9:42 AM
We should have that gay marriage decision from the Supreme Court of California in about 15 minutes. In the meantime, the Weekly Volcano, the South Sound’s alt, takes a long, hard look at the South Sound’s gay bars, shrugs its shoulders, and asks, “Why don’t [our] gay bars shine?” From the WV:
What could a person assume about the South Sound’s gay community when walking into Tacoma’s Club Silverstone or Jakes on 4th in Olympia for the first time? Despite the fact that most of South Puget Sound’s gay bars appear to be thriving, the conditions of some of them still validate negative stereotypes about the South Sound. Granted, the expectation that all gay bars must rest on top of the design food chain is itself a stereotype, the distinction between being hole-in-the wall-sheik vs. a Third World booze and pull-tab dispensary deserves scrutiny….Some also argue that gays are more likely to tolerate lower standards because it goes along with the internalized negative image of gay life. Therefore, conditions are substandard because gays don’t consider themselves worthy of anything better, and may even avoid places that imply a healthier self-esteem.
The writer, Brad Hoover, imagines that us homos up here in King County—urban elitists in our swank gay bars, apple martinis in our soft hands, Ginch Gonch undies in our tight trousers—are looking down our noses at the South Sound’s skanky gay bars with their “incoherent aesthetic[s],” dark interiors, and beaten up furniture. In actual fact, of course, gay urban elitists in Seattle are still in mourning over the passing of Pony, a pitch-perfect homage to the kind of dark, dank, squalid gays bars that Hoover points to as harmful to gay men’s self-esteem.
Odd, I would like the Eagle if it had guys that were in better shape and closer to my age (mid 30's). Purr is too stuffy and the Cuff is just tragically mixed to enjoy one self...
I like edge and a bit of nasty in a gay bar. They should all be that way. Oh and no straight people allowed!!!
Tacoma used to have multiple gay bars; 733 Club, Destiny's, something that had Toad in the name (with a gay restaurant), The Gold Ball and many more. The Gold Ball was crazy. I also miss the gay vibe that the old Thekla had on Sunday nights. Too bad Pony isn't coming back.
"In actual fact, of course, gay urban elitists in Seattle are still in mourning over the passing of Pony, a pitch-perfect homage to the kind of dark, dank, squalid gays bars that Hoover points to as harmful to gay men’s self-esteem."
Except for those gay urban elitists who... uh... don't go to gay bars.
Aren't all bars dumps?
There's a big difference between ironic, hipster, shabby chic (Pony), and depressing, dingy dumps like the South Sound bars.
I loved Pony, but most of it's gipster clientle wouldn't be caught dead in a real dump.
He is reading into these thing like a literature professor.
My favorite "hole in the wall" gay bar was the Glory Hole.
Anybody see this?
Where is this "Mad Hatters?"
Amen to that, Dan. R.I.P. Pony.
Someone with some funds needs to wake up and fill this hole in our collective hearts.
I'm just glad The Bus Stop is rising from the dead.
The Eagle plays the best music of any bar, gay/straight/otherwise. I like that its appearance is so unassuming.
Free pool and kick ass music. I don't care how old the clientel is or what they are dressed like. Free pool, and kick ass music.
The only hole-in-the-wall-sheik I know of is Osama Bin-Laden.
Gay bars are so Twentieth Century.
@#1: I think your statement about straight people comes off as sexist. You don't see black people being whiney about white people coming to black church's. (And what is a gay bar, if not the gay church?)
I understand you might want a place where you can be gropey without straight people smacking your hand away. Get over it. Fine-tune your gay-dar.
I also felt like PONY was a pitch-perfect bar. Amazing place to bring a date, gay or straight. And nobody tried to grope my crotch there.
I don't necessarily agree with Mr Hoover when he says that teh Gay like their bars dumpy because we hate ourselves. I've had discussions about the dingy bar issue with me friends who live in Tacoma and Olympia and they all say the same thing: The gay bars down south are dumps because the communities in those cities simply don't seem to care about Community.
I can't speak for Olympia since I never lived there but four or five years ago, things were looking up for the Tacoma community. Out in the Park was growing steadily every year and there were multiple resource centers around the city for the gays. Then Destiny's closed and all that was left was Silverstone and On the Rocks. That year, Pride seemed pretty lame compared to years past and the next year was significantly smaller and downright boring.
A lot of the guys and girls who had made things great in the previous years had moved to Seattle or other places and the Fire seemed to die out. Since then, as stated above, people stopped caring. It isn't just the bars, it's the Southend Community as a whole that's gone to the dumps.
I would go to a gay bar if it had a pool table that weren't overrun by frat guys.
Also, pool tables are always plural. Please make a note of it.
The writer gets it.
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