DECEMBER 1976
hewspapers. And we don't seem o attract hustlers (money boys) ike other city bars do because so many free and willing 'chickens" make them pale by comparsion.
I and I'm sure many readers have had some pretty harrowing experiences in other cities with a chance encounter at a gay bar. Lulled as we are by the safety and comraderies of our own gay enviornment. we presume that it's the same elsewhere.
A picked pocket or a bloody nose wakes us up to reality. There are many punks who prey on the supposed vulnerability and frailness of gays in midtown. bars stretching from New York to San Francisco.
3. VARIETY! Sure we don't have as many places as the big, big cities, but what we do have can please most any gay interest or "appetite." Leather bars. Disco Bars. Neighborhood Bars. At my latest count at least an even dozen. Pretty good for an area our size. And three baths too. And five outdoor cruising areas.
Three gay organizations. Dozens of cruisy 25c movie places. Etc. etc. etc. ( sound like the Gay Convention Bureau and Department of Commerce.) Just a short ride to Painesville, Warren, Akron, etc., and you'll find many more. As we all know -the arts are centers for gays and with our great activity (more theaters then you'll find in ANY CITY outside of New York), universities, music and art schools, the possibilities of makin' it here are endless.
Of course, I'd like to see some additions: a quality restaurant catering to straights and gays... a small theatre club featuring local and touring entertainers... and a "press" that's hep to what's really going on in popular music, theatre, entertainment, litérature, fashion, etc. Not to minimize the merits of High Gear I'd like to see Cleveland have "mixed" publications like the Village Voice, New York and Afte Dark. And if that isn't practical, let our Plain Dealerand Press cover our gay interests (like the N. Y. Times) because what's gay today interests everyone today.
while on this subject, dia everyone see the almost full page write-up the Plain Dealer gave our own Dick Deutsch, owner of the Shaker Club? There, for all to see, was a write-up and photos of Dick's Shaker area apartment. From the description it's worth paying to see and I'd be willing if the payment would go to making our proposed Gay Center a reality.
I must report on my weekend. in Florida over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was great. The weather was warm. The people! met were hot. And all the gay. places were tres gay I'm happy today. Magnifico. So GO! Here's how: a night coach flight to Ft. Lauderdale (and back) costs. around $200. Arrange for a rented car (Greyhound is the best)only $59 a week or around $15 a day all mileage included. Get off plane, into rented car, and drive 15 minutes to the Marlin Beach Hotel in the Gay Heart of Ft. Lauderdale.. facing the beach alongside a lot of gay action. The hotel is superb. First-Class. Clean spacious rooms, half of which faces the beach, the other half facing the large pool.
and
What does one do at the Marlin? Awake to a continental breakfast in your room for $1.00 or dine in the hotel restaurant. Then get a deck chair and pad ($1.00) near the dozens of others that line the pool. Then let your hair down and sun away while you meet all the others that are also gay. Bar drinks and luncheon are served poolside so you don't have to budge until
afternoon when you may wish to see the poor unfortunate gay youths at the beach who can't afford the hotel. (What a way to cruise without going on).
At 4 p.m. freshly tanned slip a shirt over your bikini and be one of the hundreds at the Marlin's Tea Dance in the patio bar overlooking the pool. Disco,
HIGH GEAR
drink until the sun sets. Then Jean up for Dinner which is served in the Marlin's award winning restaurant. After Dinner go down to their massive Disco Room three bars one of which is windowed onto the bottom of the pool where flying fishes (and other gay fauna) play. Two o'clock is curfew time so if you haven't persuaded someone to share your lodgings for the night hop into your car and see Ft. Lauderdale until the weeee. hours of the morning.
-
There's the Copa a massive Disco ballroom that holds thousands cheek to cheek open from midnight until? For something more tacky there's Tacky a sawdust covered bar with a book-store and movie rooms next door that stays open
"If You Asked Me on Your knees, I Wouldn't Do It."
24 hours. (By the way the Marlin gives all guests a great guide on what is where and how to get there.)
One of the great Ft. Lauderdale showplaces is Tangerine all white and modern on several floors with a fantastic disco floor, great restaurant,. piano and entertainment room, cozy alcoves and the handsomest people. Check the bookstore right next to them for other "get down" pleasures. In need of a bath? There's a brand new Clubhouse elegant as can be that used to be a women's health spa. Hanging chandeliers, movie room, play room, sauna, steam bath,' whirlpool, restaurant, sun deck,
and room accommodations that rival the finest hotels. In and out privileges too so you can stay, play, go away, return, at no extra charge. Details of all the above places can be found on the ads on pages 17 and 27.
TO YOU, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE
By Steve Blevins
You told me you felt
I sapped you dry in
relationship.
I said I thought
that wasn't always the case. You said I wanted to prove how good I was by proving how bad you were.
I said you wanted to prove how bad you could be. You could be bad.
You still can.
But I didn't need
your being bad then,
I don't need it now,
to make myself
feel good.
You are not the you
you were. You are newer than the you I remember.
our
You aren't the lover asleep beside me,
the one who patched my pants, who
undressed, who
danced in my arms.
You aren't the stranger who accuses me,
who would kill out of jealousy. You aren't the letter
that came on my birthday. You aren't the man
I just called on the phone. I'm speechless.
I'm talking to you. I'm not.
You
are leaving. You have left. My heart is bereft of its beloved roomer, my room mate lover. in your mother's car you carry your posessions away. I love you.
You'll have none of that. I cry and cry. You gave the gift of tears.
Page 33
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