It’s sad, yes, but from the comments from others in Austin the new bar owners really don’t have much of a clue how to run a gay bar in Austin and probably won’t be in business long as a straight bar either. I want to be a gay man who sometimes likes to go to a traditional gay bar with my gay guy friends, look at the hot guys, joke about “girl this” or “she that,” have a few drinks and have a good time.Ībolishing “separate but equal” shouldn’t mean that we homogenize ourselves. I don’t want to live a life exactly like my straight friends. We, as a group, are becoming more mainstream and as that happens, we start to lose more of our identity. One issue that we’ve been encountering these past couple of decades as we fight for and achieve equality is that of assimilation. But that’s not to say I don’t like going to a club or a bar where my straight friends go. I like going to a bar that’s all gay men (which we don’t have here in Maine anymore outside of Portland-I must go to Montreal for that now). But sometimes a gay man or a black woman or an Asian couple might want to go to a club where everyone is like them where the music and the culture are all familiar. Yes, it is great that in many places around the country, there are clubs and bars where everyone is welcome and everyone goes. I personally think that was the biggest ‘fuck you’ of I have had discussions about such divisions with my friends in Maine. So that alone was a big “Fuck You” to anyone gay on its own before even the whole “dress code” thing. To add insult to injury… they were charging cover, which NO ONE charges cover around here. That’s what it SEEMS like from the outside. That was a stupid mistake in that particular location.
The new owners probably thought that because there wasn’t much of a clientele they could change direction without much of an impact. So I wouldn’t call it an “established business” because it takes us gays a little bit to warm up to a new bar that offers… nothing. And your right, the intentions of the new owners may not have been known. I’m guessing the owners of the business saw failure in the 3/4 months they were opened and maybe they did a panic sale (cut their losses and run) as renting a building there is INSANE in price. There’s not much they could have added to the strip without a major overhaul, so there was tons of potential (dancing boys behind glass and private party rooms if they spent the money) but no one was buying into it just yet. There was a lot of problems… shoddy promotions, retrofitted decor and not a very inviting when you have an established Neighborhood bar, sports bar, trendy dance club, and a bar to be seen at all in a row. The RedRoom is a new business… but not doing very well.
#GAY BARS AUSTIN TEXAS DRAG SHOW LICENSE#
So when an investor has a chance to get a building with a liquor license downtown, they jump at it without thinking. The building housed a restaurant that moved. The location are all historical buildings owned by millionaires, the businesses inside are owned by whoever can find investors. Licenses to serve stay with the building location, not with the people who own the business.
Hyhybt: Derek Williams: Snapdragon: There’s a lot of stupidity here is Texas because we have alcohol Nazis that regulate everything alcohol and how it’s served.