Corona kills another Atlanta gay bar. This one vows to return.
Plus: Pride party death, Raphael Warnock on LGBTQ issues, weekend events
If your Instagram feed hasn’t already told you, in-person voting in Georgia opened this week. With just 18 days left in this national telenovela, go tap on that touch screen and get it done. If you’re reading this newsletter about all things LGBTQ Atlanta for the first time, please subscribe. It’s easy (and free).
Last month, Amsterdam. This month? The iconic Eagle. The leather bar – the site of an infamous raid that brought reforms to the Atlanta Police Department – is closing. Within weeks, the Midtown nightclub will shut its doors after 33 years and become the latest LGBTQ business so severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic that it couldn’t survive.
But owner Richard Ramey is ready to flip the script on COVID-19. His closing announcement came with a big asterisk.
“We are not going out of business,” Ramey said. “We are not closing permanently. We are going to come back bigger, better, stronger than ever. It’s been a very emotional year. I am just beyond words what this year has done to so many of us.”
He’s already looking for a new location and hopes to reopen in 2021.
“My goal, if science and the world will accept it, I’m hoping for a June opening. We will have to wait and see,” Ramey said.
Get all the details about the Eagle, and stay on top of our continuing coverage of how coronavirus is impacting LGBTQ Atlanta.
Q ATLus maps LGBTQs spreading out across metro Atlanta
Claiming an LGBTQ place at the table gets increasingly equal consideration. Finding our spot on the map is broadening its scope too. This issue of Q ATLus magazine looks at expanding geographical options in Atlanta. We also track businesses facing different COVID fates, three people coming out at 15, 35 and 55 and the week’s best virtual events.
Meet the Atlanta trans woman training police about humility
In the latest episode of Podcast Q, we talk with Chanel Haley about her work training police, prison officials, businesses and other transgender people.
“When it came to living in the South, living as a person of color and being trans, advocating for oneself is really important,” Haley said.
“Everything that I had to do, I had to learn on my own to be able to navigate through the systems to be able to survive and make it to where I am today,” she added. “It’s an important skill that people need to understand and learn.”
We also talked about Haley’s selection as one of several LGBTQ delegates from Georgia to the Democratic National Convention, voter suppression and its impact on transgender people, trans visibility in the racial justice movement, and turning the energy of protests into lasting political change.
What LGBTQ Atlantans are talking about
Raphael Warnock (photo) – the leading Democrat trying to unseat U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler – took his campaign pitch directly to LGBTQ supporters on Monday and told them he’s an ally. The longtime Baptist preacher also explained how his faith would help combat anti-LGBTQ legislation in the U.S. Senate.
A man lost consciousness and later died early Sunday while attending an unofficial Pride afterparty hosted by GA Boy Productions. The man’s partner told police that the man ingested ecstasy during the event. The afterparty was part of a full schedule of Pride Weekend events from the party promoter that came under criticism on social media for ignoring state-mandated COVID-19 requirements.
Justin Holsomback – an LGBTQ Democrat hoping to unseat a Republican incumbent on the Fulton County Commission – wants to broaden the county’s nondiscrimination policy, expand free PrEP access to combat HIV and address homelessness among LGBTQ people. The commission has been without an LGBTQ member since 2017.
Things to do
FRIDAY
Wussy screens a seasonal favorite outside during the Hocus Pocus Drive-In. Watch from your car in the parking lot behind Plaza Theater, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
DJ Kimber and her boys (photo) dance with the oldies during a Heyday 80s Block Party, outdoors at the Basement in East Atlanta, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
SUNDAY
Southern Fried Queer Pride hosts Mx. Peach Pit, a virtual drag pageant of kings, queens and in-betweens. Broadcast live from Out Front Theatre on Twitch, 8 p.m.
That’s all folks!
Enjoy your weekend, wear a mask and make a plan to vote if you haven’t already. Let me know if there’s a topic you want to see in Q Conversations or a guest you’d like to hear from on Podcast Q. Reply to this email, leave a comment if you’re reading the web version or drop me a email. Thanks for reading and subscribing!