Michael J. Cohen, who owns Motel 23 and has hosted some of Manhattan’s most exclive gay parti, enticed young men wh accs to nightclubs and queer muny, they say.
Contents:
- SACRAMENTO'S #1 GAY NIGHTCLUB
- ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL MEN NYC'S GAY NIGHTLIFE SCENE FAC OVER A OF SEXUAL MISNDUCT ALLEGATNS
- PORTLAND’S FIRST HANDS-ON GAY STRIP CLUB FAC CHALLENG THE ERA OF MPOX
- SHJIRO ATAE OUT AS GAY AS JAPAN FAC PRSURE TO PASS PRO-LGBTQ+ LEGISLATN
SACRAMENTO'S #1 GAY NIGHTCLUB
Sacramento’s #1 gay nightclub, Fac is the place to go for dancg, socializg, and more. * faces gay nightlife *
This clud five who said that when they were their late teens or early 20s and yearng for a sense of gay muny, Cohen grabbed their genals or buttocks at parti he hosted or at Motel 23. Six of the ne accers said that bee they were newly out of the closet and didn’t know many queer people when the enunters occurred, they prumed that the cints were normal wh the gay muny, even though they were upset by them at the of Cohen’s accers add that havg accs to New York’s gay bars and parti meant so much to them, pecially for those who were unr 21, that they were willg to put up wh Cohen’s advanc. The five men who said Cohen groped them said that while they were dismayed and tried to manver away om him, they did not tell him to stop, bee they didn’t want to lose their nnectn to gay nightlife.
ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL MEN NYC'S GAY NIGHTLIFE SCENE FAC OVER A OF SEXUAL MISNDUCT ALLEGATNS
Sacramento’s #1 gay nightclub, Fac is the place to go for dancg, socializg, and more. * faces gay nightlife *
It wasn’t jt about experiencg fun nights out wh their iends — was about the sense of eedom and acceptance they felt when surround by other gay people, some s for the first time their liv, they said. Hall scribed Cohen as “a proud gay man wh no shame about his activy on social media, where he has asked adult men to send him sexual pictur, cludg those of their genals. There is no ditn that they knew about the allegatns of misnduct agast Cohen and Motel 23 reported by NBC allegatns ept to public viewCohen has hosted gay parti at glamoro New York nightclubs — cludg Goldbar, PHD Rooftop Lounge at the Dream Downtown hotel and Fishbowl at the Dream Midtown hotel — wh reliable crowds of attractive men and star-studd gut lists.
Some of the world’s most well-known gay celebri, cludg Brish Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley, actor Neil Patrick Harris and rapper Lil Nas X, have been photographed wh Cohen or ma an appearance at Motel 23. “It was known for him to be an olr man that liked the younger boys, ” said Bra Filter, a star of “RuPl’s Drag Race, ” who has performed New York Cy’s gay bars for over eight years.
PORTLAND’S FIRST HANDS-ON GAY STRIP CLUB FAC CHALLENG THE ERA OF MPOX
* faces gay nightlife *
Cohen has hosted events that drew some of the world’s most well-known gay celebri.
SHJIRO ATAE OUT AS GAY AS JAPAN FAC PRSURE TO PASS PRO-LGBTQ+ LEGISLATN
Japane pop star Shjiro Atae announced that he is gay on Wednday – a bold move for such a public figure Japan, a the untry still do not regnize same-sex unns. * faces gay nightlife *
Allegatns about Cohen’s behavr circulatg among New York’s gay men epted to public view early July, when dozens of allegatns about Motel 23 were posted on an anonymo Instagram acunt. At the door, the man, who said he had never met Cohen before and do not equent New York’s gay nightlife scene, said that Cohen was gog to let him for ee, but charge his iend, who is Black, $250 for admissn.
” Wh days, he had received a flood of msag wh allegatns, he anonymo claims posted by the acunt llectively allege that Motel 23’s owner turned gay parti and bars, which some see as queer safe spac, to toxic environments where young men were subjected to unwanted sexual advanc.
New York Cy officials are advisg patrons of Hell’s Kchen’s gay bars and clubs to swch off the Face ID on their phon. * faces gay nightlife *
Brtany Bent, 31, said that this sprg, the bar’s door staff told her she would have to pay a $150 ver to enter, while the three iends who acpanied her — all gay men — uld get for ee.
“It’s jt so crazy that any discrimatn’s happeng at a gay bar, ” she said. Seekg New York newers Long before he opened Motel 23, Cohen had a knack for nnectg wh young, gay men new to New York Cy, reachg out to them wh weeks of their arrival, five men said. “I thk he jt looked at my Facebook photos and jt had an klg like, ‘Oh, he’s got to be gay, ’” said T., who was then 17.
“He knew I was gay before I knew I was gay. “To me, was clear that he was a proment person New York’s gay nightlife. He started hostg parti at Phoenix Bar, a popular gay venue the East Village.