WEBVTT - Queer Spaces & Meeting Places: “Being around your people, that makes a difference.” 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:11.160 Ruby is definitely a queer space. It's wonderful. 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.720 That was the first drag show I ever saw. 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:19.960 I said, guys, wash your mouths out and get out 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:20.280 of here. 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.599 From just beyond the lights of Los Angeles in steamy 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:32.479 Palm Springs, California, It's Mick Robert Bill just say, and 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:37.600 this is silver lining with the old games. 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:40.639 Have you ever been to a gay bar? 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:46.760 Robert me, never, I've never even heard of such a thing. Nick, 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:48.960 I can show you my play spaces. 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:55.400 We're back, and hasn't silver Lining just been such a 0:00:55.720 --> 0:01:03.040 delightful space to share our memory, thoughts, feelings, musings. 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.039 Ideas and all things gay. 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:11.200 And oh, would you say this podcast is a queer 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:12.680 space then, Robert. 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:16.319 Well, yes, I would good. 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:24.040 Today's episode is all about the queer spaces, gay places, 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:26.640 and gathering spots that have supported us over the years 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:28.360 and continue to do so today. 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:33.319 Whether it's a venue, a club, or a weekly meeting group, 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.640 these spaces can have a great influence on how comfortable 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:41.280 we feel to let our authenticity bloom. 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:43.959 And our free flag fly. 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:47.280 So, fellows, what comes to mind when you think of 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.480 queer spaces and how do you think they helped us? 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:51.600 Become who we are. 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:52.320 Well. 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:59.200 Certainly, I think bars and nightclubs of varying types have 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:04.880 played an important part in most all of our lives 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:09.840 because they've been places that we can meet other people 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:16.680 like us, such as back in Saint Louis. It was 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:23.200 not really until the seventies mid seventies that I became 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:29.400 comfortable in the gay spaces because in the late sixties, 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:36.040 when I was first exploring the gay world, the few 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:42.160 bars that existed in Saint Louis, they were all controlled 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:47.840 by the mafia that was well known in the community, 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:53.040 and they were all places where you had enter from 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:59.520 back alleys or dark parking lots, and they really weren't 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:05.040 that comfortable, but if you wanted to meet other people 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:09.120 like yourself, you were forced to go there. 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:10.720 That sounds very primitive. 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:15.600 It was very primitive, and I think a lot of 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:20.800 it had to do with it being the Midwest. I 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:26.400 just kind of exploded when I moved to San Francisco. 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:28.760 Exploded in a good way. 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:31.880 And I hope you brought a towel. 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:38.080 One of the earlier memories for me was seeing drag. 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:44.680 I don't think I ever witnessed a drag performance until 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:50.360 well in to the nineteen eighties in San Francisco and there. 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:52.520 You yeah, almost not everywhere. 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:57.440 My first drag show was at the Go Go Club 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:02.280 in downtown Chattanooga. I can't remember this queen's name, but 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:04.720 I swear her legs were like ten feet tall and 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:07.280 she would kick them and go up and split, and 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:10.000 she had to be about sixty years old then, and 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:12.560 I'm going, how's she doing all that? But now I know, 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:16.520 don't we guys, We've learned all But that was cute 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.360 being in my little church village and then sneaking out 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.599 at twelve o'clock after room check and going downtown to Chattanooga. 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:28.240 In San Francisco, I mean, the big star there was 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:34.320 Charles Pierce, who was an absolute legend in his own time. 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.919 He would be in a swing and he'd swing over 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:43.799 the entire audience, back and forth and back and forth. 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:47.560 And that was the first drag show I ever saw, 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:51.040 and it was probably the best one I've ever seen. 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:55.880 But I really didn't start out in bars because I'd 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.839 just come out in Laguna Beach when I was sixteen 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:03.560 years old. And my next step was Hollywood, and they 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:08.080 had a wonderful coffee shop called the eighty seven twenty 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:12.440 seven Melrose, and it was where young guys could go 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:17.440 and meet without having any interference from the police or 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:22.120 anything wandering the streets. So the eighty seven twenty seven 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:26.320 was a big savior for me because I had no 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:30.880 peers to talk about in high school and it really 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:35.320 filled the bill. But in the seventies and in the Castro, 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:40.800 the most popular place was the Midnight Sun where you 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:46.120 could go and they played the greatest videos, short clips 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:51.560 from Broadway shows, and it was just a fun place 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:55.120 to be. It was just a really happy time in 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:56.040 San Francisco. 0:05:56.600 --> 0:06:02.760 Wasn't that one of the first video bar's ever anywhere? 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:04.479 Yeah? For me. 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.640 The first bar I walked into in West Hollywood was 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:11.000 in nineteen seventy eight, and it was a place called 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:14.320 the Blue Parrot. It was the first of its kind 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:19.040 west of the Mississippi. It was open windows, Florida ceiling 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:23.320 windows that looked onto Santa Monica Boulevard and you could 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:27.800 look into the bar to see who was there. And 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.000 the windows were painted in a very tropical kind of 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.680 scene of banana palms and that kind of stuff. So 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:38.160 it was very inviting and it was the first place 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:41.160 I saw Barchester guys behind the bar, and I knew 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:43.599 some of them from, as it turns out, from the 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.680 old Jim Morris Club that I was training at, which 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:51.640 was the first openly gay gym in America, and that 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:55.400 was opened by a man named Jim Morris who was 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:59.560 an Olympic weightlifter. He went to the Olympics and he 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:04.560 metaled and he was also the first professional bodybuilder. 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:04.960 To come out. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.640 And he opened a gym hole in the wall gym 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:14.160 behind the skating rink at Los Aenega in Santa Monica. 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:20.880 There were coult models, professional porn stars, members of law enforcement. 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:24.640 It was a bodybuilder's gay heaven. I met a lot 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:27.480 of people there. You made dates and things like that, 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:30.960 I mean, exchange recipes and all that sort of stuff. 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:35.440 But when you were on the gym floor, you worked out. 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:38.920 It was a serious gym. It really shaped kind of 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:39.440 who I am. 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:48.040 Was there a big difference between gay gyms and straight gyms. 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:50.240 Well, it was a lot more fun. It was a 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:51.520 lot more naughty. I mean. 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.880 For a few years I worked there at the front desk, 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:59.200 and so I had to do what we called dick patrol, 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:02.040 which means right before the gym closed, you had to 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:05.960 go around to all the little nixing cannies around the gym, 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:10.600 but particularly in the sauna. Never saw so many bodies 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.520 just flying on the other side of the wall. And 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:17.760 I said, guys, we're closing in fifteen minutes. Wash your 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.440 mouths out and get out of here. That's what I 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:21.160 used to say. 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:23.160 And that was the Dick patrol. 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.120 That was Dick patrol. We used to do Dick Patrol. 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:28.160 Did you really tell them to wash their mouths out? 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:28.520 Yes? 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:32.280 Oh cute quick, and they probably needed that they. 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:39.080 I have to tell you, I have never felt better 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:45.400 in a queer space than during the seventies and dancing 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:49.280 in San Francisco. I would get out there and I 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:54.680 would just let myself go on the dance floor, and 0:08:54.880 --> 0:09:00.480 I absolutely loved it. I literally I was stepped out 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:04.360 of the body that was Bill and into another person 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:09.160 because it was just so exhilarating to be dancing with 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:10.960 all these hundreds of men. 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:16.360 It was that disco music. It was this into your blood. 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:18.839 I mean, there were so many great places to go 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:22.679 and dance, and I literally felt like I had an 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.920 out of body experience when I was dancing. I just 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:26.959 let it all go. 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:32.200 Yeah, eight thousand club sparks for me and Miami. I 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.360 will never forget walking in there in my little twenty 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:40.520 eight inch waist jumpsuit white and the smell was in 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.920 there and I'm like, we're going, what is this? And 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.640 somebody heard me from around me and came just like 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:53.640 pop something in my nose and I inhaled because let's 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:57.040 just say, I dang. I was going, I went, what 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:01.040 is it? It's pauper's man, I go wow. And then 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:02.720 it came out on the other side and did the 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:10.040 same thing. Okay, I get it. 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:15.480 And you know, let's not forget when the bars closed 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:21.640 and you hadn't picked up anyone. The natural place to 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:28.520 go was the baths for me, especially on the weekends, 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:37.560 and San Francisco had probably fifteen sixteen different bathhouses that 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:42.800 time in the seventies, and they were extremely extremely popular. 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:47.200 There was Rich Street south of Market, but then there 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:51.640 was also Dave's Baths down at the end of Broadway 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:57.280 in San Francisco, and that was always jammed with people. 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.679 Yeah, I really didn't when the baths all that much. 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.240 There is one place that I hold very dear in 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.280 my heart to me, however, and it was a place 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:13.280 called Prowl. This place, Prowl was the creation of one 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:16.880 Michael John. Inside it was like a three story building, 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:23.040 and the entire building was gutted and instead this wonderful 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:27.520 craftsman by the name of Michael Pereira, who was a 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:31.800 cult model and a mister iml. He lives out here 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:36.160 in the desert now and he built, literally rebuilt the 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:41.679 set for mad Mes Thunderdome. And so when you walked in, 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:47.600 you were transported to this wild world in which there 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:51.640 were dark crawl splaces. It was built on three levels, 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:55.120 and you took this big stairway up to the upper 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:58.600 level where there were crawl spaces in dark rooms. But 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:02.400 I remembered the very enter was like a jail, all 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:07.480 made of wood, and inside was a sling. And so 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:10.960 it was very much a place where the voyeurs and 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:16.160 the players would meet, and there are just some wild 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.559 nights about it. And I, like I said, I meant 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:21.880 a lot of hot guys there. And then remember this 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:29.920 is unlicensed, okay, this is like illegal okay. And there 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:36.119 too you would meet not undercover but off duty law enforcement, 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:41.280 because of course Michael was paying off the LAPD for it. 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:43.520 So that's how things had changed. 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:45.880 Times have changed. 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:50.960 We'll be right back after a quick break. 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:05.800 Welcome back to silver Linings with the old gays. 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:13.040 What are some other queer spaces that have had an 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:14.840 impact on your life? 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.920 Church is definitely a queer space. It's wonderful, was it? It 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:22.800 still is. Church is fun. People think of it as 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:26.559 this is boring religious place, but gay people, we bring 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:31.360 it all up. Every church I've been in is Luckily, 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.400 I've been in churches that have been open to days 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:36.880 and questioning because they didn't know a lot about it. 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:38.800 My current church is the same way. My pastor is 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.240 getting ready to go to a gay function that I'm 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:44.720 attending just to understand it. But then I just found 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:46.320 out his brother's gay too, huh. 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:50.800 Speaking of Also about other public spaces, there's a place 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:54.880 known as the One Institute, and it's based at USC 0:13:55.640 --> 0:14:00.240 and it is the first research library into queer life. 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:04.480 And if you want to know the history of being 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:09.200 queer in America, not just in America but around the world, 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:13.120 there's an incredible resource library and it's a place to 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:17.280 really understand the history of being queer. But the beauty 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:21.720 of a gay bar or a place like the one institute. 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:26.280 These are places where you could just be yourself with 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:29.320 other people who were just being themselves. 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.320 Because back when I was first entering gay spaces, you 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:38.120 definitely experienced racism. This segregation was still there. When you 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:43.360 walked in, you still got stared at and people made 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:45.760 you feel like you weren't worth shit, why are you here? 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:51.320 And it hurt. It hurt dearly because I would go 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:54.360 in with this big smile, ready to go, and they 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:56.320 would turn around if there were a bunch of people 0:14:56.360 --> 0:15:00.280 of color there, and so it was hard. But WHICH 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:05.920 through it and kept going back. But I've seen it evolve. 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.760 And the thing is, it's a two sided thing. It's 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.960 a two sided thing. But someday I hope we get 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:14.680 it in this country. 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.680 Yeah, when I first moved to Los Angeles, this was 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:23.040 a pretty racist place. And what changed it was the 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:23.960 civil unrest. 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:28.880 Well I know that even before I moved to California, 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:36.320 the LA police had a reputation for targeting the gay community. 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:41.400 I remember times actually where it wasn't safe in West Hollywood. 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.280 The parking lot at the Jim Morris Club when it 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:47.600 was the Athletic Club was on two sides of Westnell 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:51.040 and I remember walking from the parking lot on West 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:55.040 crossing the street to get to the entrance, and a 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.760 car pulled up and a guy pointed a gun at me. 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:04.520 And you know that that did exist, you know, and 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:08.560 that's why these were places of real refuge for us. 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:12.160 I don't think many people understand that now, you know, 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:19.040 because especially here, because California has become so much more accommodating, 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.120 because there are so many queer people here, you know, 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:27.160 at other minorities, you know, I mean, we're literally a 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:28.800 state of minorities. 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:32.720 Yeah, and so we all have to get along with each. 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:35.720 Other, and we all know we're in it together. 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:36.640 That's right. 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:42.680 You've often talked about activism throughout our conversations. Do you 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:46.960 want to talk about how that was a space for community. 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:48.280 Yeah? 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.560 It Actually what happens is is it kind of develops 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:55.560 within a queer space and then it moved outside. Like 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:59.920 my time at the athletic club coincided with AIDS, and 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:04.280 I remember many times the guys in the gym were 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:09.320 organizing the marches. And I also remember a demonstration in 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:14.000 the early nineties where this is when Pete Wilson, then 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:17.000 the governor of California, who said he was going to 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.240 support gay rights and then then turned around and signed 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:25.399 one of the most homophobic pieces of legislation. Basically he lied. 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:30.080 And there were protests, and I remember marching down Santa 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:34.600 Monica Boulevard, passed the gyms, and we marched down Los 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:39.640 Sienega and into the Beverly Center and we all got 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:43.480 in a huge circle in the Atrian and we owned 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:48.080 for about ten minutes. And at that point I felt 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.760 an energy I've never felt before, and I felt the 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:56.000 strength that we never had before. And you know, in 0:17:56.119 --> 0:18:02.040 coalition with the Latinos who had been screwed over and 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:06.240 by a lot of other people in the state. As 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:11.800 a result of that, California is not a republican state anymore. 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:17.840 Yeah, I think when we're talking about being comfortable in 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:24.520 public spaces, we can't overlook the pride parades and pride 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:30.960 festivals that now exists throughout the country. But I know 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:38.680 that the first Pride parade I experience was in nineteen eighty, 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:45.760 right after I had a ride in San Francisco, and 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:52.240 going down to Market Street and being among hundreds of 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:58.680 thousands of your fellow human beings is one of the 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:07.320 most uplift thing magical experiences I think you can possibly describe. 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:13.480 And it's such a wonderful sight to see people in 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:17.719 that number celebrating life. 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:21.800 Yeah, yes, I remember I was at Palm Springs first 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:23.919 one here it was so cute and short in about 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.840 fifteen or twenty minutes at Ruth Hardie Park, and then 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:32.119 was Long Beach their first one downtown. They were small, 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:35.359 but they were so mighty, you know. And now to 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:39.240 see how both both have grown a lot, it's like, okay, 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:40.520 it's getting my la now. 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:46.040 And especially the Palm Springs Parade too. There are so 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:52.640 many straight people there that are just absolutely enjoying themselves 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:54.720 and talking. 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:57.879 About the Palm Springs Parade. I know you and I 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:03.200 have talked about this before, but seeing the high school 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:09.879 group of the Jay straight Alliances, these young people marching 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:13.479 down the street, I go back to my high school 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:17.159 days where I'd have been kicked out. But the straight 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.960 gay alliances to me, are the highlight of the parade. 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:22.879 Yes. 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:29.000 What about any significant gay or queer owned spaces that 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:34.080 stand out to you either today or throughout your life. 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:37.560 Well, you know there are restaurants there or restaurants in 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:40.600 Los Angeles that were gay owned. One of them that 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:44.560 I was looking at was called the Academy, and the 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:48.199 Academy was a leather uniform kind of a place. 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:52.400 You go there for like Sunday Brunch and the Big one. 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:58.520 Studio one, Hello Hello, Studio one, and the Batlot Hello, 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:03.000 that was gay owned. Yeah, uh, like Studio fifty four 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:07.399 was gayled. Studio one was in this big warehouse building 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:11.600 in West Hollywood, and it had the first I'd ever 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:16.200 seen of a circular urinal in the center. It also 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:20.080 had giant reels like to look like movie reels like 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:22.840 thirty five MILLI, you know, big prints, and they were 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:26.919 always hanging from the rafters. And the light show was fantastic. 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:33.520 And Studio one was experience. Studio One's the first secular 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:37.480 show that I ever did. I was scared shitless. The 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:40.560 owner didn't know who I was, but my partner went 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:42.760 in and killed till the show. He goes, well, do 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:44.960 you think you can fill it up? And he goes, yeah, 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:47.760 So I filled up two shows in the back lin. 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:50.600 Yeah, the back line. There's lots of cameras. Oh my god. 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:53.320 It was fun. It was It was I can't remember 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:56.119 anything bigger in my life. Musically than that because it 0:21:56.160 --> 0:21:58.560 was the first the beginning, I had just gotten back 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:01.119 from the Philippines. I had shown their pads out here 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:04.840 wayts since everywhere it was it was cute. Oh and 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:09.240 I had hair, and I had a ponytail, a ponytail. Yeah, 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:13.000 the ear rings and the ponytail went away. But yes, 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:14.760 oh thanks for bringing that up, Nick. 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:20.080 Well, yeah, Studio one was an experience and I've forgotten 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:21.280 how much it's fun. 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:25.000 I oh, yes, yeah. 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:30.920 As far as queer owned places in Palm Springs, there 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:36.600 is one particular place that I have always loved and 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:41.119 you can find anything gay in there, and that is 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:46.800 the que Trading Company. I mean they have greeting cards, 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:52.640 they have magazines, they have books, they have calendars, they 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:58.199 have lube, they have poppers, they have dildo's. It's almost 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:03.040 it's like a gay department store. You can get anything 0:23:03.359 --> 0:23:07.000 in the world there that you want that's gay. Where's 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:10.960 that It's right down from the tool shed on the 0:23:11.000 --> 0:23:14.119 same side of the street, literally next door to the toolshed, 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:17.320 has been there for years and years. I think it's 0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:18.919 next door to Gear. 0:23:20.320 --> 0:23:22.960 It's up from Gear. Okay. Yeah. 0:23:23.160 --> 0:23:28.959 One of the things I enjoy so much particularly in uh, 0:23:29.320 --> 0:23:35.320 my neighborhood of the Cathedral City Cove is seeing how 0:23:35.440 --> 0:23:39.840 many houses display the Pride flag. 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:42.600 Every day, all day long. 0:23:43.000 --> 0:23:46.800 And sometimes I'll get up on the roof of my 0:23:47.040 --> 0:23:50.520 house and I've just looked over the neighborhood and I 0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:56.800 see all of these Pride flags waving, and that gives 0:23:56.880 --> 0:24:01.520 me a really wonderful fear belonging. 0:24:02.080 --> 0:24:06.399 And also I think it's so great that at city 0:24:06.520 --> 0:24:09.720 Hall right now that they are putting up the Pride 0:24:09.760 --> 0:24:12.080 flag every morning. 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:14.680 Because they are all pride and gay. 0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:19.800 Yes, you know, I would be remiss. 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:23.520 I think we would be remiss in not mentioning the 0:24:23.600 --> 0:24:28.400 investment that Lance Bass has made in West Hollywood. He's 0:24:28.440 --> 0:24:33.280 bought a couple of bars, yeah things, and really helped 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:38.000 to revive the street after COVID, because I don't know 0:24:38.000 --> 0:24:41.560 if you know, but COVID really devastated the small businesses 0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:46.200 in Los Angeles, and you know, the investment of somebody 0:24:46.359 --> 0:24:50.840 of Lance's stature in West Hollywood should be recognized. 0:24:51.320 --> 0:24:52.679 Plus he has a nice bar. 0:24:53.160 --> 0:24:56.040 Yeah, and doesn't he also have an underwear store? 0:24:56.400 --> 0:24:59.320 Yeah? I mean he bought like three or four properties 0:24:59.560 --> 0:24:59.880 and that. 0:25:01.440 --> 0:25:06.960 What about online queer spaces I was reading where contrary 0:25:07.040 --> 0:25:11.720 to what we have been talking about, that actually today 0:25:11.800 --> 0:25:14.840 we are living in the golden age of gay liberation. 0:25:15.440 --> 0:25:18.639 And the reason why are three things. 0:25:18.800 --> 0:25:26.040 I'm trying to remember them prep okay, GPS, location okay, 0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:31.600 and dating apps. It doesn't matter whether you're on any 0:25:31.640 --> 0:25:34.720 of them. The fact that those three things are now 0:25:34.840 --> 0:25:38.360 a part of gay life means it's a freedom. It 0:25:38.480 --> 0:25:44.120 exists in cyberspace. It is a whole new world, and 0:25:44.160 --> 0:25:48.560 it has a whole different set of norms and values 0:25:49.359 --> 0:25:53.600 and language and lingo. And I'm just learning. 0:25:54.359 --> 0:25:58.760 And I really liked the old days of just walking 0:25:58.880 --> 0:26:02.600 into a bar and you could talk to someone and 0:26:02.680 --> 0:26:07.520 pick them up. But today it seems like the gays 0:26:07.560 --> 0:26:11.080 that go to bars, it's strictly a social kind of 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:16.240 a thing and everyone is just talking together and everything. 0:26:16.280 --> 0:26:18.560 And then of course when you want to go home, 0:26:18.920 --> 0:26:22.800 first thing they do is they get onto the gay 0:26:23.119 --> 0:26:29.520 dating sites. And I really preferred meeting someone in person 0:26:29.720 --> 0:26:34.320 because on the gay dating sides, you don't really know 0:26:34.400 --> 0:26:35.560 what you're dealing with. 0:26:35.720 --> 0:26:38.280 Well, you should go to the toolshed, you should go 0:26:38.320 --> 0:26:40.480 to a lot, you should go to the toolshed, because 0:26:40.600 --> 0:26:45.880 behind the toolshale is a little business, the tools that's 0:26:46.000 --> 0:26:47.440 where you can plump. 0:26:47.200 --> 0:26:49.719 Down a little bit of money and go inside. And 0:26:49.800 --> 0:26:50.800 it's a sex club. 0:26:51.200 --> 0:26:53.440 Oh it's the one behind the antique mark. 0:26:53.720 --> 0:26:54.200 That's right. 0:26:56.000 --> 0:27:01.919 No, I'm through, you know, I'm my bi. 0:27:03.400 --> 0:27:07.239 When you were young, you pick up somebody at the 0:27:07.240 --> 0:27:11.640 toolshed and then you go over to the other place. 0:27:11.640 --> 0:27:14.000 That wings you don't have to bring that person home. 0:27:14.520 --> 0:27:18.080 Frequently, on the dating apps, I get these calls from 0:27:18.160 --> 0:27:21.600 guys saying, meet me at the Toolship and then we'll 0:27:21.640 --> 0:27:22.440 go next door. 0:27:22.640 --> 0:27:29.159 Really, yes, times haven't changed, really, no, heaven't. 0:27:32.160 --> 0:27:37.000 In closing, let's ask the question what is our silver 0:27:37.200 --> 0:27:41.080 lining about cultivating and being in queer spaces. 0:27:42.240 --> 0:27:50.760 Well, mine is strictly being comfortable and at ease with myself. 0:27:51.760 --> 0:27:54.400 That's what I love about it the most. 0:27:54.760 --> 0:28:01.960 And being able to discover who you are and interacting 0:28:02.240 --> 0:28:06.360 with really very interesting people. 0:28:07.600 --> 0:28:10.919