February 1991 ■ PAGE 3 Q-Notes
8011 No. Tryon St.
Charlotte, NC 28203
■ ■ ■
to hdv cefe^rate
c^ickie, and^icl^^
first WeddirW ^nnmrsary
on
‘lUentine's ‘Day
q^eBniary 14,1951
at ndic miiade
8 pm until!
‘DrinkjSptciai^'
gaims & (Prizes
TOUCH
With themselves...and others.
Men In Touch brings m!n together to explore the unique challenges of
being gay — in every facet of their lives. Men getting together once a
week for six weeks to focus on Growing Up, Sexuality, AIDS, Love and
Relationships, Loss and Change, and Personal Empowerment. Targeting
problems, sharing pt^rspectives, taking on change in a non-threatening
atmosphere. For more information, contact David Prybylo at MAP.
Phone 704.333.1435 weekdays.
Metrolina AIDS Project
Charlotte's Newest Club
... Is Already Closed
By David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
In the span of just four days (Dec. 28-31),
Spike's, the self-proclaimed "Grand Club
Without An Attitude," became simply an
other asterisk in the history of the Charlotte
gay nightclub scene as it opened and closed
in less than a week.
Certainly a record of some sort, the clos
ing was due to many factors but can best be
attributed to four main elements: the rental
price for the space was tot) high; the location
was unfavorable; the club's emphasis on
being a show bar was not well received, and
there simply was not enough advertising
precetling the opening of the club to bring in
a crowd of the si2e that was anticipated.
All of these issues in combination were
sufficient to cause the owner of the estab
lishment to balk at signing the lea.se for the
property on the fifth day and to simply let the
business fold and cut his losses.
Spike's was located at 933 N. Wendover
Road which is actually retail space in a strip
shopping center, but since another gay bar
(Snuffy's) had been at that location in the
spring and summer of 1990, it was already
set up as a nightclub.
The owner of the shoppmg center was an
acquaintance of a Charlotte businessman
who owned several heterosexual clubs so he
called to see if the man would be interested
in lea.sing the retail space from him to open
another club.
The man indicated tliat he was interested
in leasing the retail space from him but not at
the price that the previous owner had paid,
$8,000. They struck a deal, agreeing to lease
the prop>erty for $4,000 per month for one
year. But even that was too much to pay and
it ended up playing a big role in the club
owner's decision to not finalize the lease on
January 1.
The club's location was also not enviable;
the edge of the Gner Heights hoiLsing devel
opment. Many people were afraid to come to
the club for fear that their cars might be
vandalized in the parking lot, or, even worse,
that they themselves might be at risk of some
type of physical assault.
The fact that there had been three highly
publicized slayings in the area did not go
unnoticed by potential patrons and was com
monly named as the main reason why per
sons said they would not go to the club. With
bar safety already in a shaky position in
general with the Charlotte community (espe
cially after the murder that occurred over the
summer when a man was killed as he re
turned to his car from Scorpio) people just
weren't willing to "tempt the Fates" and go to
a club that stood next to one of the most
notorious neighborhoods in the city.
Over the course of various discussions
about Spike's failure another common phrase
which was bandied about and generally dis
missed was the fact that the club wanted to be
a showcase for female impersonation and
billed itself as a "showbar."
The gay community in Charlotte has been
consistent over the years in its financial and
emotional support for female impersonators.
However, that support has always been
tempered by the idea that enough is enough
and when that becomes too much, it's time
for the impersonators to leave the stage.
Anyone who has spent any time in the
clubs in Charlotte will tell you that the
pleasure in watching a female impersonator
wears thin after 35 minutes and is gone after
40.
For this rea.son alone (not even mention
ing Ixioking fees), it was somewhat naive of
the showcast at Spike's to think that they
could present a show which ran for an hour
and a half during the prime dancing hours of
the night on Thursday, Friday, Samrday and
Sunday without chasing away their patrons.
In effect, by denying the crowd the ability
to dance for the majority of the night. Spike's
ran away the people they were trying to
attract.
Finally, and proliably most important, the
club failed Iiecause few (leople knew aliout
it. The pre-opening advertising was virtually
non-existent, with a single ad the only ad
vance publicity that the bar received.
People kx)ked puzzled when asked about
the bar's closing — they hadn't even known
it was open. Spike's had decided to depend
upon word of mouth to get the club going and
paid a heavy price for the lack of mail and
newspaper advertising.
On Tuesday, December 31, the owner of
Spike's aiuiounced to employees, based upon
what he had seen over the four days of
operation, that he would not sign the lease.
He decided that it made more sense for him
to lose the $35,(X)0 he had initially sf)ent on
the club than to be stuck for a year and
potentially lose more money.
A Little Lesbian Valentine's Tale
By Nancy Campbell
Q-Notes Staff
Lu Childers and Lynn Rabb met 127,
years ago, on Labor Day weekend. Lu's
mother intixxluced them. Lymi was "straight"
then... but. as she tells it, "As srron as 1 saw
her, 1 said to myself, Tm gonna have this
woman!”' and then wondered why she had
thought that!
Lu thought Lynn was special, too. She
wrote her tor three months before she was
able to .see her again.
After 77, years together, they Ixiught a
hoase together in Gastonia, a two-bedroom
with a fenced yard for their dogs — four
Dobermans and a miniature dachshund. The
house is grey with black trim, and it is
evident that love flows out of tliat home. Like
many couples, they wanted to share that love
with someone and started planning a family.
Usually, the hard part would have Ireen
finding a doctor who felt warm and fuzzy
about helping a pair of lesbians become
mothers, but Lynn's gynecologist-obstetri
cian didn't bat an eyelash.
In fact, he recommended a book for them
to read: Rocking The Cradle: Lesbian
Mothers. They ordered the book from Allyson
Books and read the how-to chapters avidly.
Pregnancy didn't happen right away for
Lynn. In fact, she and Lu went through
several "donors" before they became preg
nant witii a baby boy, due March 1. Lynn and
Lu have already chosen his name, Dylan
Luis... and a back-up girl's name just in case
science has goofed in predicting a boy.
I asked Lynn, "What do you like liest
about Lu'.’" and she was quick to say, "She's
so good to me!" (here she giggled softly),
"especially when I'm pregnant. She leaves
me little notes on the refrigerator. I've got
some of them saved in my wallet. 1 date Iheni
and everything! And .she puts little iK)tes in
my lunchbox. Slie's .so grxxl to me that all the
women at work are jealous. They all wish
their husirands were as loving to them as Lu
is to me!"
Lu's best memory of Lynn is the day they
foimd out that Lynn was pregnant. "We both
love children. We've always wanted them.
We thought about adopting. And now we can
hardly wait." And then Lu added, "She's st)
understanding, too. 1 just love that alx)ut
Lyim."
Alx)ut this time Lu had to leave the room
for a minute. Lynn told about when they
realized that they were in love with each
other, and she and Lu decided to make
love. "I told her. 'I don't know what to do,'
and .she said, 'Don't W'orry, honey. I'll show
you.' And she did!"
So, Lu, what words of wisdom do you
have for couples jirst starting out, to make it
last 127, years'.’ "If you can make it through
the first couple of years, you've got it made,"
says lai. And Lynn, what do you want to tell
them'.’ "Bite your tongue ... a lot!" giggles
Lynn.
H'.