Beloved Bill's Gay Neti Is Gone, Bill's Food & Drk Opens In Its Place - Gothamist

Contents:

• NEW OWNERSHIP MEANS CHANG FOR GAY 90S NIGHTCLUB
• STRIP-CLUBS OWNER HAFIZ ADDS GAY 90S TO HIS LIST
• BELOVED BILL'S GAY NETI IS GONE, BILL'S FOOD & DRK OPENS IN ITS PLACE
• THE GAY 90S
• 'THAT '90S SHOW' VIEWERS TORN OVER GAY REPRENTATN NETFLIX SPOFF
• GAY 90S
• THE GAY ’90S MIL

NEW OWNERSHIP MEANS CHANG FOR GAY 90S NIGHTCLUB

The staple Tw Ci GLBT statn will unrgo renovatns begng renovatns and a change ownership are the works for the Gay 90s nightclub – a staple the Tw Ci gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr muny and popular statn for Universy stunts – bee an unintified buyer recently entered the fal stag of purchasg the club. Robert Parker, general manager of the Gay 90s, said the buyer approached the owner of the bar, Michael Bloom, about three months ago wh an tert to acquire the club. Sara Tulchsky celebrated her 21st birthday Sunday at the Gay 90s.

“It don’t matter if you’re straight, you’re gay, you’re anythg.

The Gay 90s has unrgone a number of chang unr the current owner Bloom, Parker said. Acrdg to s new owner, the Gay 90s will stay gay. On Friday, Peter Hafiz, owner of the strip clubs Deja Vu and Dreamgirls, said he is buyg the Gay 90s and s buildg at the rner of Hennep Avenue and 4th Street He'll take over May 1 pendg cy approval later this month.

STRIP-CLUBS OWNER HAFIZ ADDS GAY 90S TO HIS LIST

While the Gay 90s has borne s name for more than half a century, wasn't until the mid-1970s that beme a gay bar and eventually a statn for drag shows and dance nights, which over the years have also attracted a large straight clientele. A longtime manager at the club, Robert Parker, said he was uncerta about the Gay 90s' future when he first heard about s sale. "But once all started to fall to place, I saw that [Hafiz's] visn was to have a bigger and granr Gay 90s.

BELOVED BILL'S GAY NETI IS GONE, BILL'S FOOD & DRK OPENS IN ITS PLACE

After hearg that the Gay 90s' longtime owner, Michael Bloom, was ready to retire, Hafiz stepped , feelg that the club would be a good addn to his clter of downtown nightspots.

"We're gog to do an extensive remolg and brg up to date as an upsle venue for the gay muny, " he said. Bill’s Gay Neti, the beloved former speakeasy that opened 1924 and enjoyed a long, celebrated life as a rtrant and piano bar, closed March wh much sadns all around. "The former Bill’s Gay Neti piano n be found the bar downstairs while origal moldgs appear the ma dg room, " says -owner Sean Largotta.

The natn’s first gay and lbian talk rad show, The Gay 90s, aired om downtown Cleveland, Oh and started off wh a bang. Dpe the potential danger, The Gay 90s aired as schled on March 26, 1993, and beme the untry’s first mercial live, “ll ” rad program by, for, and about the gay and lbian muny.

THE GAY 90S

Given Cleveland’s history of settlg disput wh explosiv, upled wh the homophobic atmosphere surroundg lbians and gay men at the time, the threat was taken serly.

Thankfully, no bomb explod at Tower Cy that night or any of the followg nights durg The Gay 90s six-year n.

'THAT '90S SHOW' VIEWERS TORN OVER GAY REPRENTATN NETFLIX SPOFF

It was, stead, the rad show self that blew down barriers, shattered myths and uned Cleveland’s gay, straight and “ between” muni a remarkably peaceful way.

Lookg back, ’s not surprisg that the natn’s first gay and lbian talk show was hosted by Cleveland native Buck Harris, a man at ease beg the “first” a number of public rol. In 1984, Governor Richard Celte appoted Harris as the Oh Department of Health’s gay health nsultant, the first state the natn to create such a posn rponse to the growg AIDS crisis. Shortly after his appotment, The Pla Dealer asked Harris for an terview regardg the crisis, sistg on referrg to him as a “homosexual” (as opposed to gay) nsultant, as was the newspaper’s policy at the time.

GAY 90S

The paper relented and, 1985, for the first time ed the word “gay” stead of the flammatory alternative. ’s 1986 “Happy New Year” list, the first openly gay person to make the cut. Later that year, Cleveland Magaze named Harris one of the 86 most tertg Clevelanrs – aga, a first for any openly gay Clevelanr.

Bomb threat notwhstandg, The Gay 90s aired durg a time of natnal crisis for the LGBTQ muny, as the AIDS epimic was nearg s worst. Regardls of the topic, which ranged om lol polics to the art scene and everythg between, Harris matas that “a good slice of gay culture” was served, often wh a si of humor.

The first half of the weekly two-hour program volved gut terviews, and there were notable on cludg, Harris’s words, “movers, shakers and founrs of the gay civil rights movement.

THE GAY ’90S MIL

Congrsman Barney Frank; gay rights activist Frank Kameny; two-time Grammy Award wng sger/songwrer Janis Ian, and four-time Tony award wng playwright Harvey Fierste.

Arbron, the rad ratgs agency, timated that 20, 000 listeners tuned to The Gay 90s on a typil night – perhaps more on a clear night when the AM signal strength was strong enough to reach listeners as far away as Akron or Canton, maybe even the “boondocks, ” Harris quips. One fourteen-year-old gay listener, however, summoned the urage to ll one night.