CCs was always and will always be my second home,” stated Rian Dustan in response to the Facebook news. “Thank you all for spending a great number of years and effort to create a safe space. The news was met with much sadness from the Portland LGBTQ+ community, who saw it as a “safe space.” We hope we can open our doors again to you (our family) sometime in the future, but until then, please be safe, practice social distancing, and take care.ĬC Slaughters operated in the Old Town neighborhood of the Oregon city for nearly four decades. “Unfortunately 2020 has been very hard on small businesses everywhere and we are no exception to the hard times we all are experiencing. We’d like to take the opportunity to thank you ALL for 39 amazing years of drinks, dancing, drama, and fun!” the establishment wrote in a statement. "To our friends, our family and our guests from near and far, it saddens us to inform the public that as of Sunday October 11th, 2020, CC Slaughters Portland will be closing. Thank you for the memories!ĬC Slaughters is closing its doors in October 2020, the Portland LGBTQ+ club announced in a Facebook post.
I even brought my parents once I loved it so much! Wishing you all the best and fingers crossed you find a way to continue. "Thank you for creating a place that felt like home in a big, new city," wrote Robin Wivell. "I knew I would always leave happy after a night at Oil Can Harry’s. Messages of love and memories, from patrons old and young, filled the responses to Fagan's post. So if the police arrived, a monitor at a spy hole would sound an alarm and the dancing couples would switch partners to avoid a raid, according to manager and bartender Tommy Young. Dancing among same-sex partners was illegal at the time. The venue began as a burlesque club called the Zomba Room in the mid-20th century.
The bar was also the setting of the Haim music video, "Little of Your Love." LeAnn Rimes and Ty Herndon were among the performers on its stage, reports WeHo Times. Over the years, its famous dancing patrons included RuPaul, k.d. (No cocktails were allowed on the floor.) The upstairs lounge hosted karaoke.
ANDERSONVILLE CHICAGO GAY BARS FREE
Oil Can Harry's was known for its large wooden dance floor, where LGBTQ+ patrons would line-dance and even receive free classes during the early hours of the evening. Only positive, it helps!! Any help would be wonderful." "Thank you all for this beautiful gift that we all shared for 52 years," he added. "Not sure down the road where it will lead." "I fought hard to keep it but just had to give up!" wrote Fagan, who had taken over the reins of Oil Can Harry's after the 2013 death of his partner, Bob Tomasino.
strictly due to COVID-19 and will reopen when allowed," the post read. Previously, a November Facebook post on the bar's page had announced plans of a sale but remained hopeful for a reopening. Overstreet also owned the buildings housing West Hollywood's Gold Coast Bar, Rage Nightclub, and Flaming Saddles, which all shuttered last year due to failed rent negotiations. In a Monday Facebook post, Fagan revealed that the landlord of the building, Monty Overstreet, had made the sale. The gay country-western bar, which has provided line-dancing and a watering hole for the LGBTQ+ community in Los Angeles's Studio City neighborhood for 52 years, was sold in December to a new owner who plans to convert it into a venue with jazz music, according to owner John Fagan. Quoting Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, it declared that perhaps a reasoning for its unjust closure would be found "Some where over the Rainbow." Due to pandemic restrictions, the 1851 Club had been forced to operate at 50 percent capacity and required masks of patrons. The establishment posted that it was not eligible for the aid offered to small business during the recession. There comes a time when we just have to face the truth and close the door." "We have exhausted any and every route to try to save our home. Secrets were kept, loves were lost, true LIVES were found. "A place where we can all feel accepted, be ourselves and feel safe. "For so many years the 1851 club has been our home away from home," the post read. The bar was known for its drag shows, Pride parties, and a days-long annual New Year's celebration. The 1851 Club, which for decades operated as a Cheers-style watering hole for the local LGBTQ+ community, announced the sad news to its patrons in a January 2021 Facebook post. The only gay bar in Arlington, Tex., has shuttered due to the pandemic.