You’ve made it through another week! Your reward is a virtual hug – we all need one of those right about now – and another issue of Project Q’s newsletter. It looks a little different this week, thanks to the addition of a new Podcast Q episode. (More on that below; listen above.) If you’re new to this newsletter about all things LGBTQ Atlanta – welcome! Please subscribe.
Richard Ramey on why the Atlanta Eagle is closing
Now about that podcast … The new episode of Podcast Q is a deep-dive interview with Richard Ramey, the longtime owner of the Atlanta Eagle. He gives us all the juicy details on why he’s closing Atlanta’s iconic leather bar and his hopes for a new location to open next year.
“I thought we could operate through the summer. But I kept trying to figure out how we were going to survive the winter. And that’s when I decided maybe this was the time for us to throw in the towel for a while and give everybody a break, Ramey said.
Sit back, hit the play button above and enjoy this episode. (You can also subscribe to Podcast Q through your favorite player.)
Highlights
(0:34) “I just couldn't operate a nightclub during a pandemic”
(4:44) The 126-year history of the Eagle building
(8:29) An amicable parting of the ways
(12:47) The personal struggle to close the bar
(15:20) A VIP closing weekend
(17:16) More parking and no stairs
(22:19) Looking for new space near the Eagle
(25:10) A red sign with 306 on it
(27:44) Walking into the Eagle for the first time 33 years ago
(33:29) The first Pride as Eagle owner in 1997
(35:27) “We better keep fighting”
(37:38) Eagle raid was the beginning of Atlanta police reform
(41:34) Lawsuit “was to make sure civil rights were protected”
(45:51) Fighting back against the Red Dog Unit
(47:38) Goals for the new Eagle
Join us for a live Q Conversations with Nikema Williams
Join us Monday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. for a live virtual discussion with state Sen. Nikema Williams – chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia and a candidate for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District.
Williams was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2017 and in 2019 was tapped to chair the state Democratic Party – becoming the first Black woman ever elected to the post. Earlier this year, following the death of U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Democratic party leaders named Williams to replace him on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Project Q Atlanta founder Matt Hennie will host the Q Conversations with Williams. They’ll discuss Tuesday’s elections, her support of LGBTQ issues, voter turnout and suppression, the racial justice movement and the coronavirus pandemic. And we’ll probably discuss her opponent in Tuesday’s race – a convicted felon pardoned by President Donald Trump who has compared LGBTQ people to pedophiles.
Two LGBTQ Atlantans featured in new Biden campaign ads
Two LGBTQ Atlantans nabbed starring roles in a series of national campaign ads released this week to highlight Joe Biden’s pro-equality agenda in his run for president.
“I really didn’t know if I was going to get selected and I was super surprised and excited,” Atlanta transgender activist Feroza Syed told Project Q Atlanta. “Who wouldn’t be excited to be in a campaign commercial for the next president of the United States?”
Syed and local queer activist Jauan Durbin are featured in one ad discussing visibility during a Biden-Kamala Harris administration. Durbin and Morehouse College senior Keon Berry are featured in a second ad talking in Cleopas Johnson Park in downtown Atlanta.
Our political coverage also includes:
Jon Ossoff: I’ll bring ‘deeply rooted’ LGBTQ inclusion to U.S. Senate
Biden’s Georgia campaign gets backing of 48 LGBTQ leaders
Meet the newest LGBTQ lawmaker in the Georgia House
Meet the priest likely to be Georgia’s first LGBTQ state senator
LGBTQ candidate wants Fulton to expand bias policy, PrEP access
Georgia senator’s ‘vile’ bill targets transgender youth
Marjorie Taylor Greene taking her hate for LGBTs to Congress
Q ATLus mag stamps your ticket to boo-scare season
Scary stuff both real and imagined vie for attention in the new Q ATLus magazine. We offer in-person and online Halloween parties and costume ideas. Looming larger than the holigay is Election Day, so we implore outliers to vote, and the big races loom large. There’s also Q Advice for fugly old trolls.
This gay Gwinnett couple is winning pandemic-era Halloween
Ben Ku and his fiancé are using YouTube, supplies from the hardware store and inspiration from a popular video game to make Halloween safe and special this year.
Ku, the first openly LGBTQ member of the Gwinnett County Commission, and Heath Hall built a 10-foot-long candy chute with PVC pipe to deliver candy in a socially distant way to trick-or-treaters outside their Tucker home. Halloween is Saturday.
“With COVID, we were thinking what are we gonna do?” Ku told Project Q Atlanta. “We get a lot of trick-or-treaters. Given that Halloween is on a Saturday, and if the weather holds up, we may get a lot of trick-or-treaters who may not get the memo that trick-or-treating is discouraged by the governor and the CDC.”
They assembled the homemade candy chute with the help of a YouTube video.
Things to do
FRIDAY
Get necro-dance-y for Calavera, a Day of the Dead costume party with DJ Joe Pacheco at Heretic, 10 p.m.
SATURDAY
Pop on that costume and hop on the party train to a dozen LGBTQ Halloween costume contests (photo) at our favorite bars and clubs, 9 p.m. – 3 a.m.
SUNDAY
The gay pro soccer fans of All Stripes enjoy an Atlanta United Watch Party match on TV outside at Georgia Beer Garden, 7:30 p.m.
That’s all folks!
Thanks for supporting Project Q Atlanta by subscribing to our newsletter. Here’s your homework: Register for our Q Conversations on Monday and vote on Tuesday. Already voted? Then remind five others to do the same. We’ll see you on the other side!
Why the Eagle's closing, gays win Halloween, join our live event