Beltway Area Indymedia

Councilmember Jim Graham's bill to allow the Gay clubs the stadium closed to reopen in and Ivy City warehouse district is in trouble. Ward 5 councilmember Harry Thomas is trying to gut the bill, saying he fears the clubs will repel development.

(Audio: 1 min 49 seconds)

Most of the about 50 community residents at an earlier hearing on the bill who opposed it used frankly homophobic arguments. The real question is, who's bankrolling this campaign to stop the gay clubs?

Here is a quote from Ward 5 councilmember Thomas: "we have so much economic development planned for this neighborhood." Gee-it seems to me that rich people fearing the clubs will repel gentrification are behind this campaign of hate. All those homophobes are placing their own homes in danger by supporting the real estate interests that don't want the clubs.

The proposed location for the clubs is a warehouse/industrial area, not someone's residential block. In short, it is similar to the old SE location, where most residences were several blocks away(there were none on the same block). If the clubs open, however, developers won't want to put high rise condos within eyesight.

Nobody but developers would be displaced by the clubs-unlike that baseball stadium that created this whole mess in the first place.

It is widely suspected that one of the reasons Williams put the stadium where he did was that an eminent domain project was the only legal way to shut down the Gay red light district that was occupying "valuable real estate" and repelling "redevelopment" for blocks.

The club landlords are supposed to take their money and retire-and clubs that were tenants as well as club owners are supposed to take their lumps(getting not one dime from the city) and get out of town. There not supposed to REOPEN now, are they??!!

One legitimate argument came up in the hearings-that Jim Graham is alway the first to shut down African-American nightclubs in his own district, which is of course true. I propose this solution: Mr Graham, you stop closing African-American clubs is Ward 1, and Mr Thomas, you stop interfering with plans to reopen the Gay clubs in Ward 5!

Gay clubs won't make anyone homeless, but the condos and upscale shops they will keep away most certainly would! All those developers can take their "progress" and stuff it where the sun doesn't shine!