A (LONGISH) TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
May. 22nd, 2005 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wheelieterpThis has been an interesting weekend, to say the least, ended by a very interesting day.
I got up late this morning and was running about an hour behind schedual to go to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
luckykid13's Softball double header. As I was just about to arrive, I get a call from him on my cell phone telling me that he has been hit in the face with a ball and is at San Francisco General but his Chihuahua, the LOVE CRUMB, JuneBug LoveShakes is in the dug out at the game. So, I went and collected Junie and we hung out at the game waiting for Daddy to get back. Junie was happy to see me, as she was in her carry bag (Like a duffel with mesh sides) in the dug out in a corner. So we went for a walk where she could do her bidness, then back to the stands to settle in and wait. She snuggled up on my lap and kissed my face for a bit, and then she started to figure out that Dad was NOT actually anywhere around. Then she started to get cranky.. All of luckykid13's teammates who tried to approach got barked and lunged at.
Needless to say,luckykid13 was many, many hours in the ER. The games ended. The team left. One of his teammates drove his car back to his house, and Junie and I went to my car. Which would not start(More on that later). After finally getting it started Junie and I drove to luckykid13's house and met the teammate to get the keys. Then we walked around the Castro for a bit, waiting for Dad to call and tell us where to meet him. Now, it was a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco and the Castro was particualrly Bear-o-licious.. And I was walking around with a tiny little dog in a BIG PURSE.
The good news was that we went into A Different Light Bookstore where I was able to buy a copy of Stone Butch Blues. The team habitually meets at the Edge Bar, who is their sponser, so Junie and I headed up there. Now, I am not a bar person, and it was crowded and loud, but I knew thatluckykid13 would go there from the ER when he finally got out, and it was a sunny beautiful day and I had a new book. So, we sat outside on the corner, Junie in her bag and me with my book. Eight pages into it and I read the following, describing being arrested in a gay bar with drag queens and the Butch dykes:
"...They'd handcuff a brother's wrists to his ankles or chain him, face against the bars. They made us watch. Sometimes we'd catch the eyes of the terrorized victim, or the soon-to-be, caught in the vice of torture, and we'd say gently, 'I'm with you honey, look at me, it's OK, we'll take you home.'"
Me, a big, burly, hairy guy sitting on the corner with a tiny dog in a big purse, crying into a book. And I will tell you the truth, I never felt more like a man.
You see, there is this circular thing that happened to me today. The Edge bar is located on the corner of 18th and Collingwood. When I was a young faggot, it was a place called Francine's. Francine's was a DYKE bar and the only one in the Castro. Francine herself was a trans woman (MtF) and a lesbian. This was the first bar I ever hung out in. Needless to say, there were not many men in the place, but seeing as all my friends at the time were lesbians, and I was WAY underage, and the Dykes in Francine's didn't care, It was still home. I loved that place. The dykes there cared for me and took care of me. Protected me and schooled me. The butches always walked me the corner Walgreen's for ciggarettes if I was drunk, cause "This neighborhood ain't no place for a cute, young fag to be when he is drunk. You walk passed the Badlands, and someone'll take one look at you and chew you up and spit you out." Those women, Michelle and Becky and countless others who's names and faces I have long since forgotten would have reffered to me as "Brother" and would have caught my eye and promised to get me home.
The Edge was full of drunk men today. Stuffed to the gills, actually.. Hanging out the same windows that were tinted and always shut when the Bar was Francine's and the only haven for women in "Gay mecca". But today it was full of drunk men, and a few lesbians, and even some drag queens. It was loud and rowdy, while Francine's always seemed kind of quiet and subdued. It was very different, but I think Francine would have approved.
P.S..luckykid13 is ok.. He needed some stiches, but I will let him tell that story.
I got up late this morning and was running about an hour behind schedual to go to
luckykid13's Softball double header. As I was just about to arrive, I get a call from him on my cell phone telling me that he has been hit in the face with a ball and is at San Francisco General but his Chihuahua, the LOVE CRUMB, JuneBug LoveShakes is in the dug out at the game. So, I went and collected Junie and we hung out at the game waiting for Daddy to get back. Junie was happy to see me, as she was in her carry bag (Like a duffel with mesh sides) in the dug out in a corner. So we went for a walk where she could do her bidness, then back to the stands to settle in and wait. She snuggled up on my lap and kissed my face for a bit, and then she started to figure out that Dad was NOT actually anywhere around. Then she started to get cranky.. All of luckykid13's teammates who tried to approach got barked and lunged at.Needless to say,
luckykid13 was many, many hours in the ER. The games ended. The team left. One of his teammates drove his car back to his house, and Junie and I went to my car. Which would not start(More on that later). After finally getting it started Junie and I drove to luckykid13's house and met the teammate to get the keys. Then we walked around the Castro for a bit, waiting for Dad to call and tell us where to meet him. Now, it was a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco and the Castro was particualrly Bear-o-licious.. And I was walking around with a tiny little dog in a BIG PURSE.The good news was that we went into A Different Light Bookstore where I was able to buy a copy of Stone Butch Blues. The team habitually meets at the Edge Bar, who is their sponser, so Junie and I headed up there. Now, I am not a bar person, and it was crowded and loud, but I knew that
luckykid13 would go there from the ER when he finally got out, and it was a sunny beautiful day and I had a new book. So, we sat outside on the corner, Junie in her bag and me with my book. Eight pages into it and I read the following, describing being arrested in a gay bar with drag queens and the Butch dykes:"...They'd handcuff a brother's wrists to his ankles or chain him, face against the bars. They made us watch. Sometimes we'd catch the eyes of the terrorized victim, or the soon-to-be, caught in the vice of torture, and we'd say gently, 'I'm with you honey, look at me, it's OK, we'll take you home.'"
Me, a big, burly, hairy guy sitting on the corner with a tiny dog in a big purse, crying into a book. And I will tell you the truth, I never felt more like a man.
You see, there is this circular thing that happened to me today. The Edge bar is located on the corner of 18th and Collingwood. When I was a young faggot, it was a place called Francine's. Francine's was a DYKE bar and the only one in the Castro. Francine herself was a trans woman (MtF) and a lesbian. This was the first bar I ever hung out in. Needless to say, there were not many men in the place, but seeing as all my friends at the time were lesbians, and I was WAY underage, and the Dykes in Francine's didn't care, It was still home. I loved that place. The dykes there cared for me and took care of me. Protected me and schooled me. The butches always walked me the corner Walgreen's for ciggarettes if I was drunk, cause "This neighborhood ain't no place for a cute, young fag to be when he is drunk. You walk passed the Badlands, and someone'll take one look at you and chew you up and spit you out." Those women, Michelle and Becky and countless others who's names and faces I have long since forgotten would have reffered to me as "Brother" and would have caught my eye and promised to get me home.
The Edge was full of drunk men today. Stuffed to the gills, actually.. Hanging out the same windows that were tinted and always shut when the Bar was Francine's and the only haven for women in "Gay mecca". But today it was full of drunk men, and a few lesbians, and even some drag queens. It was loud and rowdy, while Francine's always seemed kind of quiet and subdued. It was very different, but I think Francine would have approved.
P.S..
luckykid13 is ok.. He needed some stiches, but I will let him tell that story.![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-05-23 06:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-23 06:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-23 06:46 am (UTC)But you're right it is more diverse now. I remember back then it use to be such an issue if a guy stepped foot into a lesbian bar. They got vicious. You don't belong in this bar. Please leave kind of attitude. And the men would allow them in the bar. But then get all drama and bitchy cause they were in the mens bar. LOL it was kind of funny actually. Thank god those days are over
no subject
Date: 2005-05-23 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-23 06:18 pm (UTC)Hearing about Francine's is very interesting - I'd love to bend someone's ear about all the changes here in the last 20 or so years.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-23 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-23 06:50 pm (UTC)...old man. ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-05-24 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-24 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-24 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-24 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-28 07:43 am (UTC)OK if I friend you? I found you through ted's (
no subject
Date: 2005-05-28 07:45 am (UTC)