GROWING AMERICAN YOUTH

TUESDAYS

7:30 PM

UNDER 21 ONLY

631-5330

why settle for anything less?.......

MAN'S

COUNT

CHICAGO 5015 N. Clark St.

NEW YORK

28 W. Fifteenth St.

eat, drink, dance, enjoy some steam; live shows featuring top entertainers

a total experience!

Around Town

Looking around, it certainly seems as if things are starting to look up for the gay community here in Cleveland. There are several new clubs supposedly opening up, and I certainly

hope they will be an improvement over the places we seem to be stuck with now.

The owner of the CHANGE, who closed his place in November in '74, has decided to try again, in the West 117th area. Let's hope he has learned something, and that he will be open to his gay customers for their benefit, as much as his own. The owner of the SHAKER CLUB wants to attempt an extention of the bar in the downtown area, or so we hear. Maybe a central location will make the crowd a little less snobbish. The SHAKER CLUB is a fine place, and has tried very hard to cater to most of their customers, but it is still the same atmosphere as the 620, with people posing. And speaking of the 620, there is something in the air, that the owner, and a friend, are planning to try a new club in the same area of town, as well as keeping the 620 going. Maybe they will get smart, too, and make it an open club, for mwn men and women, instead of just opening a repeat of one of the most oppressive, grim bars I have ever had the misfortune to walk into. I mean really, segregated bars went out ten years ago. Cleveland is the laughing stock of the entire Midwest, because we have bars that are segregated by gender. Several promising things are Unfort

Unfortunately, the only gay bar in town that is open to men and women, (besides the SHAKER CLUB) is TWIGGY'S. They have fine music, and all that, but gay people are getting tired of the hassles from the straights that go in there. And the management doesn't seem to want to make an effort to make their gay clientele feel safe, or comfortable. Well, that is what being in a gay bar is all about. It is supposed to be a place away from the straight world, where people can open up and be themselves. Not screaming queens or anything like that, but relaxed. How many readers can relax in TWIGGY'S?

However, hope is appearing on the horizon. There are rumors of several new places being opened by people from out of town, that will include live entertainment, restaurants, and internal security, for the protection and comfort of the gay clientel.

Outside of the bar scene, a lot is happening, as well. The GEAR FOUNDATION is filing incorporation papers this month, and will be established for the purpose of maintaining an endowment fund for the gay community. Money will be donated by the gay community (tax exempt, of course) and then the board of trustees will review applications from various gay organizations and people, and disburse the money on an aid basis. None of the people involved are to recieve compensation, and it looks to be very promising as a potentially national program. From Cleveland, yet!

FELLOWSHIP COMMUNITY CHURCH is celebrating its' first year anniversary this month, with a spaghetti dinner, and a special service to follow on the 23rd of the month. Donation is $1.00, and I think we should all turn out in support of the first church for the gay community, in this city, to make it to the end of a first year, whole and together.

Speaking of which, FCC will once more attempt to discuss membership with the UFMCC, at the Great Lakes District Conference, being held in Akron on the 22 and 23 of this month. Originally an MCC study group that could not get recognition from the District, FCC is still interested in becoming Fellowship MCC. A strong move among the members