Year: 2016

• December 29, 2016

  I Made the List! “The Best Writing From and About Northeast Ohio From 2016”

  ​My short piece on my favorite lost gay bars, A Man’s World / Tool Shed / Crossover, made The Cleveland Scene’s list of the best writing from and about Northeast Ohio from 2016.  The Editor, Vince Grzegorek, called it “An insightful and at times scathing look at the branding experiment turned neighborhood built, as the author […]
• December 25, 2016

  A Christmas Wreath for the Phoenix Cabaret

      Two sides of the Phoenix cabaret in 2012 via Google Streetview, wreath visible above main door, R. For 5 years after it closed in 2011, a wreath adorned what used to be The Phoenix Cabaret and Embers Disco in Birmingham, Alabama. Don’t ask why I was looking up closed gay bars in a […]
• December 18, 2016

  Gay bar holiday jukebox playlist

  Holidays have always been important in gay bars, and most gay bars go all-out on decorations that change more frequently than the seasons. The Hawk’s crucifix is permanent, however, above the work schedules and sticky notes that change as often as the garlands and ribbons in the rafters.
• October 1, 2016

  Chapter: #aftermarriage Systemic violence and pulse; Lesbian Bars, Gay Places, Queer Futures?

  N.B. The panel presentation Systemic Violence: Reflections on the Pulse nightlife massacre became a chapter in After Marriage. Presented at the CLAGS After Marriage conference today in NYC on a panel about Pulse and about Lesbian Bars, Queer Futures. My slideshow is here.
• September 17, 2016

  Digital project: Mapping lost lesbian bars, 2006-2016

  I just finished the first draft of a map of all lesbian bars in the U.S. and Canada that closed from 2006 until now. It may not be the most depressing map of the 21st century, but it is seriously sobering: The  Map depicts 93 100 addresses (as of 9/27/2016) that no longer are lesbian […]
• August 5, 2016

  Lesbian bar closures, Lost Womyn’s Space

  I’ve been reading the blog Lost Womyn’s Space for a while now, but it’s proving invaluable to track what the author ruefully calls “the Great Lesbian Bar Die Off.” You can read about my interest in lesbian bars here. It’s impossible to contact the author: the blog is anonymous, there’s no “About” section, and comments […]
• July 24, 2016

  ILiADs 2016

  Attending ILiADs this week to work on http://onprostitution.oberlincollegelibrary.org  with my Oberlin College colleagues Libby Murphy and Meghan Mitchell.
• July 17, 2016

  The Closet Queen’s Guide to Cleveland for the 2016 RNC

    AIDS Taskforce Our center welcomes everyone whether they have HIV or not Ambiance Our home-grown erotic boutique has a wide range of condoms, restraints, and women’s lingerie at several suburban shops b.a. Sweetie Sugar babies and chocolate galore at the nation’s largest candy store Blow Hair & Nail Spa Sit back and relax and […]
• July 8, 2016

  Open letter to Elyria Police Chief Duane Whitely

  Dear Chief Whitely, What measures has the Elyria police department taken to address racial bias in policing? I avoid the city since I was involved in two unprovoked police stops. My boyfriend was pulled over outside Olive Garden where we shared a Valentine’s Day meal. The officer accused him of dealing drugs to me. I […]
• June 16, 2016

  Consulting an Expert: If Orlando wasn’t terorrism, why do gays feel terrorized?

  Greggor Mattson, interviewing Lisa Stampnitzky, author of Disciplining Terror: How Experts Invented “Terrorism” and Politics Lecturer at Sheffield University. GM: Experts have been walking back classifications of Omar Mateen’s massacre at Orlando’s pulse nightclub as terrorism. And yet, LGBTQ people have consistently described the attack as terrorism. How can we understand the different understandings of […]