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BILERICO-Dear Chicago Gays: I'm so sorry!

By Ameriqueer
Please check out my latest piece at the Bilerico project, "Dear Chicago Gays: I'm so sorry!"

About a month and a half ago, I was in Chicago for Market Days where I met up with a few of my friends from Chicago. No surprise, most are gay men, but one in particular is a straight, Indian woman with a great sense of humor. It just so happened that on Friday night, we decided we ought to show her all of the glorious bars of Boystown--dancing and partying all night long.

We somehow ended up in Cocktail (huge surprise, really).

For those of you who don't know Boystown well, Cocktail is a tiny bar at the corner of Roscoe and Halstead that features glittery and muscular male go-go dancers. Our foreign female friend had never seen go-go dancers before. She was fascinated, but needed some social lubrication (tequila) before she could approach the dancer and daintily slide him a $1 tip. Six shots later, she was covered in glittery stripper-sweat and excitedly doling out all of her dollars for more shows.

A few weeks later, I got a giggly phone call late one night.

"Where is that go-go club you took me to again?" She chortled out...

Continue reading my latest piece at the Bilerico project, "Dear Chicago Gays: I'm so sorry!"

Comments

Unknown said…
Now I'm not familiar with the Chicago gay bar scene, but my frustration with going to gay bars is that unless it is specifically targeted as a for women place, it can be impossible to tell which women are interested in women and which are not. I usually just stick to hanging out with the people I came with because I don't want to offend some straight girl. And on the other hand its frustrating because (besides the fact that I do not wear make up or jewelry) I come off as femme to a lot of people so most people mistake me as a straight ally when that is not the case. My other problem with gay bars is that I have still received unwanted behavior (example: forceful grabbing) and have felt unsafe. That is a problem with all bars/clubs and is not limited to your average dance club. But I still love to dance so I guess I'm just going to have to keep going in groups.

I think gay bars should be open to everyone, however straight people should not be offended (as many have been) if someone of the same gender flirts with them. A simple "No thanks" does the trick.
9/22/09, 1:22 PM
Ameriqueer said…
Amen! And, inappropriately touching anyone is always inappropriate regardless of what their sexuality may or may not be. Its not OK for a straight woman to grope me, but its also not OK for a strange gay man to grope me (EVEN IF HE IS CUTE!)

Certainly, my closest friends are allowed some liberties, but if its not explicit, you need to keep your hands to yourself and respect people AS human beings and not objects!
9/22/09, 1:28 PM
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