A karaoke bar in Peoria, Illinois caused quite an uproar with the local gay community because of a sign placed in front of it. What did the sign say you ask? It read "WE ARE NOT A GAY BAR!!" which basically meant that gays were not welcomed.
In response to the sign, local gays protested outside the bar to express their anger. During one of the protests, a group of immature people fired paintballs at the crowd. Talk about intolerance! Because of the protests and all the negative attention the bar has gotten, the owner, Greg Quast, issued an apology statement. I'm sure he meant every word.
I think the owner is pretty stupid to have put a sign like that up. The gays should retaliate by organizing a Guerilla Queer Bar night at the bar and gay it up! Just imagine the look on the owner's face when his bar is full gay men singing to Cher. Priceless.
– Andy
I’m not so sure I agree that “We are not a gay bar” means that gays are not welcome. I read it to mean that the bar is not there to primarily serve the gay community. Maybe there were some other facts not mentioned in the story, but just based on the sign I don’t see what the big deal is.
i agree brad. where i live there’s a street that has a lot of gay bars lined up next to each other, amidst those bars is a “straight” bar. or a simply just a bar that’s not just for gay people. although they don’t put signs up like that. so i kinda agree they could have worded it better, but they could have had similar circumstances
Russ, if you live anywhere with a street full of gay bars, then you do not live in Peoria, where this happened. (And, for the record, Peoria is a city, not a small town — not a big city, but a city nonetheless.) If you read the article, then you’d know that bar employees have also been harassing gay and lesbian patrons — like telling two women that they can’t hold hands. They’re trying to keep gay people out, period — it’s bullshit and it’s unacceptable.
I say there should be a sing-in protest! Oh, and PLEASE expand your song list beyond Cher, her work may be fabulous, but it really is overdone.
I always think the best comeback to something like this, is what some of you mentioned. Gay it up. I use homosexuality as an attack on homophobes, maybe its not a good thing, maybe it hurts our cause, but hey it makes them uncomfortable. So yeah id get all my friends to come and sing every stereotypical gay song there is. I mean whats a sign? who reads anyways?
Better yet, do songs by gay and bi artists. If you need a list, just check Wikipedia for a list of singers and musicians who’ve actually come out. Then you can humiliate the karaoke bar in style!