Hell's Kchen Wel Old Favor — Gay Bars Boxers and 9th Avenue Saloon are Comg Back

Contents:

• ORLANDO CZ: THE GAY BOXER WHO IS BREAKG BARRIERS
• HELL’S KCHEN WEL OLD FAVOR — GAY BARS BOXERS AND 9TH AVENUE SALOON ARE COMG BACK
• BOXERS GAY SPORTS BAR HAS FOUND SUCCS NEW YORK AND BEYOND
• GAY SPORTS BAR
• A GAYBORHOOD BAR SAID CLOSED ‘DUE TO HATE.’ THE FULL STORY IS MORE PLITED.

ORLANDO CZ: THE GAY BOXER WHO IS BREAKG BARRIERS

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTA Prizefighter’s Double Life, at Madison Square Garn and at StonewallA new opera productn at the Met explor the life and tragic reer of the gay boxer Ee Griffh, a welterweight champn.

Photographs om the personal llectn of Willson Lee Henrson, on the right of the bottom and far right imag, who was iends wh Ee Griffh, Vazquez for The New York TimIn the 1960s, Ee Griffh was a boxg star, known for his speed and punchg power, wh a regular prence at Madison Square neighborhoods near the Garn, he let his other si show, one of flashy outfs and unapologetic swagger, where he equented his favore gay bars and Griffh kept his two worlds separate.

HELL’S KCHEN WEL OLD FAVOR — GAY BARS BOXERS AND 9TH AVENUE SALOON ARE COMG BACK

“He was livg a double life, two liv, night and day, ” said Willson Lee Henrson, a gay rights activist who said he met Mr. Griffh early 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, the famo gay bar Greenwich Village, several months before a police raid touched off the Stonewall Rebelln and the morn gay rights boxer, who died 2013 at 75 om kidney failure and plitns of mentia, was known at the Stonewall for his open shirts and gold chas. Griffh unleashed a fatal barrage of punch the 12th round agast an opponent who had tnted him wh a homophobic slur.

Griffh never shied away om equentg gay clubs.

BOXERS GAY SPORTS BAR HAS FOUND SUCCS NEW YORK AND BEYOND

That ma him a source of enarment and pri for the gay muny pecially as police raids, prsure and harassment ntued the late 1960s, said Mr.

“He was a pneer gay rights behd the scen but was never acknowledged for , ” Mr. “He was never given cred by the gay muny or the sports muny, so he missed out on both.

GAY SPORTS BAR

“In the ‘60s, beg gay wasn’t the most popular thg, and beg gay boxg culture was like sacrilege, ” said Michael Bentt, 58, a former world heavyweight champn and an actor who was iendly wh Mr. “I mentned that there was this gay boxer who was an outst many muni and was loved other muni, ” said Mr.

Griffh a mockg lisp and lled him “maricón, ” a Spanish anti-gay slur that enraged Mr. ”A boxer wh style and panache‘He went to the nightclubs, drag clubs, gay bars and he took all ’Mr.

A GAYBORHOOD BAR SAID CLOSED ‘DUE TO HATE.’ THE FULL STORY IS MORE PLITED.

Griffh equented gay bars and clubs midtown like L Jard, the Gild Grape and Better Days.

“He went to the nightclubs, drag clubs, gay bars and he took all , ” said Jam Robson, the opera’s director. Griffh told The Tim “He was a pneer gay rights behd the scen but was never acknowledged for , ” said Mr. ”The beatg and his drkg hastened his cle, leavg the chiseled champ who was once the toast of the gay clubs now livg a cluttered efficiency apartment on Long Island wh his trophi and champnship belts storage bags.

He was gay and like all boxers, at all levels, he was judged on whether he uld fight and not on his sexual preferenc; the Pounr, who wore pk, was a nice guy but not much of a fighter and nobody held that agast Saturday Las Vegas, Orlando Cz, which is his real name, will bee the first openly gay boxer to w a world tle if he n overe the odds and beat Orlando Salido for the vant WBO featherweight tle. Cz announced he was gay last year, never lost his promoter, never lost his rankg and never lost a sgle iend om si the ugly bs of boxg. "Cz fought for Puerto Ri at the Sydney Olympics 2000 and has been a ge ntenr for a uple of years and gay for a lot longer.