- #Under 21 gay bars chicago cracked#
- #Under 21 gay bars chicago movie#
- #Under 21 gay bars chicago tv#
We made out while Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" played on the TV screen. Finally, this kind of nerdy guy with glasses came up to talk to me. My heart was beating fast, and I couldn't make eye contact with anyone.
#Under 21 gay bars chicago cracked#
She brought me to the bar, cracked open a book in the corner, and told me to go "mingle." It was pretty crowded there weren't any seats so I leaned against a trash can.
I had just come out to my sister, and I went to visit her at college. I had my first kiss in a gay bar in New Orleans when I was 16. There was no shame or self loathing-only love, acceptance, and the best damn dance music you had ever heard in your life. But in this special place, the people had relinquished their secret, even if just for a few hours, and they were okay. Then imagine one day taking the biggest risk of your life by simply opening a door-a tangible door-and walking into a place where you no longer have to hide, a place where scores and scores of people who had shared the same secret surround you. You push away your disgraceful feelings like a lineman pushes his opponent at the 1st yard line. You are terrified of being "found out," so you painstakingly overindulge in activities to prove to the outside world that you're just like them, that you're normal. Imagine discovering in your youth that your true identity is considered shameful, disgusting, a mental illness, and illegal. Imagine hiding a secret about yourself for your entire life-a secret that, if revealed, could cost you your job, your home, your family, your friends, and perhaps even your future. In cities like New Orleans and Atlanta, everyone thought the gay neighborhoods were safe, but the truth was, these little comfortable pockets were only a ten-minute drive from some hotbed of religious fundamentalism, and it didn't take any effort at all for bigots to bring their madness to our doorstep. As soon as they reached a dark corner, a gang of the guy's friends set upon him and beat him so badly his jaw was wired shut for weeks and he had to eat through a straw.
A friend of mine who I knew from local theatre left the bar one night with a beautiful guy who'd been hitting on him for a while. But a lot of times these guys would make threats. Like maybe they were there to be converted. Sometimes they would be drunk closet cases that would seem like they'd wandered in by mistake, and at first, there would be something sexy about them. It was literally the only place where I could feel comfortable expressing desires I had left pent up my entire life.
#Under 21 gay bars chicago movie#
When I came out, I was thirsting for my own version of the prom I'd never had, the romantic movie dates I'd never been on, and the potential for all of those things was at the gay bar. In most American cities, if you went on a date with another man among the general public, you might do something to give yourself away, turning yourself into a target for either ridicule or violence. There was really nowhere else to go to feel comfortable. In 1996, if you wanted to be gay, you went to a bar. To the four of us from Wake Forest, everything special was happening. To everyone around us, nothing special was happening. Sweet creepy smoke engulfed our nostrils, neon danced across our faces, people of all shapes and ages were celebrating together, and we all were free. We landed at a strip mall, with a dollar store and a gold exchange and a small watering hole with a rainbow flag in the window called the Odyssey. Three of my friends and I ventured down a long country road for about half an hour-we were honestly terrified. Somehow I heard about this bar far off of Silas Creek Parkway. But I really didn't quite know what I was doing. I was hosting weekly screenings of Female Trouble to shock and educate my friends. I was in college at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, North Carolina, directing a production of Steel Magnolias and wearing lots of large olive turtlenecks with pleated khaki shorts. In sharing their stories, they are taking a stance against hate, and honoring every victim of violence based on hate. Sometimes the story is good, sometimes it is bad, but one thing is for sure: everyone's first gay bar experience is a story.
I asked notable LGBTQ artists, writers, actors, and comedians about their first gay bar experience and the impact it had on their lives. It felt like I was holding on to this weird anxiety that I couldn't understand, and then all of a sudden it clicked, and the anxiety was gone, and finally I could stop hiding my Madonna CDs in Led Zeppelin CD cases. I remember looking around at the literal rainbow of people-black, white, male, female, young, old, skinny, fat-and feeling a sense of calm. I can't remember if it was an all-ages night, but somehow I got in even though I was under 21. I first found my gay bar, my community, my refuge at Attitude Bar in St. The gay bar is often the only outlet available to shape a sense of identity, an understanding, and a community.