guerrilla queer bar shout out

i feel like i'm breaking new ground left and right over here at GIMB lately. first the highlight of queen city discovery. next, coming soon, will be a sneak peek at a really exciting free meal i'm going to be eating soon in exchange for publicity on my blog (i'm giving it a shot... we'll see what happens). and now today i'm doing what i normally don't do, which is use my blog as my own personal soapbox about non-food related things my friends are doing just because i damn well feel like it.

i want to point you all to lauren's article in the enquirer today about cincinnati guerrilla queer bar (they also have a facebook page). guerrilla queer bar is a group organized by ethan, a hilarious and fascinating guy who i have met a couple of times. ethan came bouncing into cincinnati not too long ago pretty much determined to make the city his own and he is succeeding as far as i can tell.

i thought we were doing pretty good with cincinnati imports because we get about 50-70 people at most of our events and we just started doing them in february. however, the first guerrilla queer bar happened in may and they get 150-200 people every time. it's amazing.

if you don't feel like reading the article, the basic premise is this: CGQB picks a bar and emails its group members to let them know where to go that night. the point is to get a big group of queer and queer friendly people to meet up at a normally "straight" bar. there are themes (gender bending, cowboy, etc.) and awesome drink specials. the atmosphere is social and friendly and dynamic. everyone dances and chats and some people make out and grope each other but it's totally cool if you don't want to.

the thing that i think is so cool about CGQB events is that, despite the name and the premise, it's pretty much devoid of gender or sexuality (or any other) expectations or requirements. ethan and his posse want everybody to just come and have fun, whatever that means for you. no matter who you are and how you are planning to end your evening, CGQB promises you a good time in a welcoming environment.

in addition, it is one of the cheapest nights out you can have. there are always awesome drink specials (i think the event at sully's had free drinks for ladies, and you could define "lady" however you wanted) and no cover. that is even cheaper than sitting home and drinking franzia in front of your tv all night. it's crazy.

anyway i just wanted to let you all know about how you should be spending your free time and also to say to ethan: good work, and to lauren: awesome article. and now back to our regularly scheduled food blogging.