from the week of March 11 2007
I have one thing in common with The Roxy, which has been one of New York's biggest gay dance spots for years. The night club opened its doors in 1991, the same year I came out. That's where the similarities end.
In the past few years I've lived in New York, I've been to the Roxy a few times and written about it (not always positively). But now the last disco ball has spun and over the weekend the club closed its doors for good.
Love it or hate it, the Roxy is such an institution in the city's social life that even the serious New York Times eulogized the place.
What I found most revealing in the Times story were the candid comments by the club's promoter, John Blair, who said that when he started the Saturday night gay party at the Roxy, “we were just coming out of the dark ages of AIDS, and there was a real move away from the sort of pageantry of clubs and drag queens and that whole thing where the clubs threw glitter on the people.”
Blair goes on to explain an actual coding system that he and his business partners used for the Roxy’s loyalty cards and mailing lists. “We rated everybody on a scale from 1 to 4 based on how they looked,” he admitted. They kept the rankings in a database, so that for certain events they could direct their invitations to a specific mix of loyal customers and trophy guests.
"We gave out very few 1s — that’s the worst-looking, or for straight people," he said. "Then, most people got 2s; if they’re pretty, they got a 3. Four is for people we have to let in free — either they’re really hot or they’re a friend of mine or somehow important in the club community."
Wow. I've always suspected these things took place, but I had no idea that it was a formal policy. My guess is that a lot of those so-called 1s and 2s won't be shedding any tears because the club is closing.
Posted on March 12 2007, 11:33AM | Permalink
I had a great time last night at the Gay Men's Health Crisis 25th anniversary gala. Congratulations to Dr. Marjorie Hill for a successful event.
I also had a chance to speak to Rev. Calvin Butts (shown above), the pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. Rev. Butts, the chairman of the board of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, received a community hero award from GMHC last night for his work on AIDS.
Butts spoke very candidly and openly about the AIDS crisis and repeatedly referred to the organization as "Gay Men's Health Crisis" instead of abbreviating it to the more neutral GMHC.
The star-studded event also included a speech by Senator Hillary Clinton, a performance by Cyndi Lauper, and appearances by Rosie O'Donnell and Phil Donahue, the honorary chairman.
Other honorees included Dr. Mathilde Krim, the founding chairman of amfAR; Craig R. Miller, the founder of AIDS Walk New York; fashion designer Michael Kors; and Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams, co-founders of their own self-titled furniture and design company.
Corporate awardees included Davis Polk & Wardwell and Viacom.
Posted on March 13 2007, 11:45AM | Permalink
Meet Hattie and Amorie. They are one of 10 gay or lesbian couples profiled in a new feature put out by the ACLU called, appropriately enough, 10 Couples.
The two women sit on their front porch and talk about when they first met in church and later started flirting in front of a tree near their front yard.
But years later when Hattie had surgery, Amorie sat in the hospital waiting room for hours and was never told her partner's status after the operation. "As a married couple, the husband and wife would always be told," Hattie said. But in their case, the hospital never bothered to inform Hattie's life partner.
The other black couple is Octavia and Deborah. The Detroit couple is shown together making dinner - tilapia, garlic bread, french fries and shrimp tossed salad.
But when Deb developed a blod clot and had to go to the hospital, the couple had problems getting medical coverage because Octavia couldn't add her partner to her work insurance policy.
The web site featuring the couples compiles short videos of 10 same-sex couples who have made commitments to each other and who have been harmed in various ways when the government has refused to recognize their relationships.
A lot of people really need to see these images to see that black gay and lesbian couples are affected by the laws that discriminate against them.
Posted on March 15 2007, 11:29AM | Permalink
Who was that familiar looking man in the business suit marching through Times Square yesterday to protest General Peter Pace's comments about homosexuality?
Why, it was none other than former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. McGreevey joined iconic AIDS activist Larry Kramer in the protest Thursday.
Is this part of a new activist streak for the former governor? Well, it was his second gay political act of the week. Earlier in the week, he came out to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center in the Village for Kramer's speech on the twentieth anniversary of ACT UP.
Before the protest, when New York magazine asked McGreevey if he would make posters for the event, he replied: "My daughter's better at that than I am."
As it turned out, McGreevey held a cup of coffee instead of a protest sign. But hey, he was there.
Click on the Towleroad photo above to see a larger image of the ex-governor at the protest.
Posted on March 16 2007, 11:38AM | Permalink