TheGayHotSpot.com tipped us off to a disturbing incident at Jam, a popular gay nightclub in Salt Lake City: Wednesday night after midnight, customers outside the club were bombarded with what’s believed to be at least six high-temperature flares.
“At first I assumed someone on the patio was setting off fireworks for some reason and thought, who would be crazy enough to do that in such a crowded area?” said Fernando Noriega, founder of TheGayHotSpot.com. “Then as soon as I realized it wasn’t and I could see them falling from above us, I knew what was happening.”
He attempted to catch sight of the attackers while others called 911 and went for water to put out the flames. Noriega says he saw three young white blond males in a red Pontiac Grand Am heading north on Beck St.
It’s believed the perpetrators may be part of a polygamist group that lives nearby but, so far, the police have not identified any suspects.
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Located in Salt Lake’s Marmalade District, Jam has become immensely popular with local gays: Just this week we reported that Dancing with the Stars cast member Derek Hough, a hometown boy, was spotted there (trying to keep a fan from taking his picture, naturally).
“This is an isolated juvenile prank [but] unfortunately the kids that did this could have accidentally injured someone or burned our building down,” said Jam owner Brian Morris. “We have hired a second security person to watch our patio area on busy nights to keep something like this from happening again.”
Rather than a protest, a special celebration will be held at the club on August 22 to show “these kinds of actions against the gay community in Salt Lake City will not be allowed to stop us from living our lives out and proud,” says Noriega.
From now on, lets keep the flaming on the dance floor and out of the parking lot, okay?
Fernando Noriega
Thanks queerty for getting the word out! We will throw one back at JAM for you guys!
realgay
The bar owner is naive. Gay people unlike heterosexuals are usually attacked by people YOUNGER than they are. These heterosexual teenagers went their to hurt, terrorize and bond with their buddies that they scared gay men. Any gay person going out should have a camera phone ready to use quickly to capture stuff like this.
mike ramon
Well where’s the mayor, the chief of police and the religious leaders condemning these barbaric actions by a couple of goons. Had it been a straight bar and gay men threw those flares, everybody and their cousin would be condemning it. Flares are a dangerous weapon they can set you ablaze and kill you or disfigure you. I would charge them with attempted murder and attempted arson.
Anonymous Coward
A cell-phone camera can be our best witness. Everyone has one, any more. Many of them are surprisingly good. When something happens, TAKE PICTURES. A picture of the back of the car, with the license plate, would help the investigation immeasurably.
Randall Reynolds
If only these Mormon idiots knew they were wasting their entire lives on mythology….
MoJo
Fruck’N A$$holes!
Neo
@Randall Reynolds: When you accept the teaching of a raving mental case as fact you’re already far down the unreasonable scale to start with.
They cannot be reasoned or negotiated with, they are just backwards with an inferior belief system.
Lord Almighty
Good lord, what a queen! “Flaming” indeed.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@mike ramon:
Yeah. I wonder if this will be classified as domestic terrorism.
Spike
Hello, it’s Planet Utah, mormons openly discriminate against gays and anyone with color, with pride and no accountability. Why any gays would choose to live in that state is inconceivable.
Kyle
It’s interesting to me that this place and the gay people were attacked with violence at there are only 10 comments (mine included), and the article about a dead Playgirl model which is the preceeding story has almost 50 comments of condolscenes. It’s no wonder that Chick-Fila’s happen or that Gay Marriage will be banned in more states come this November.
Kyle
at = and there are only…
tookietookie
This will only get worse with a Romney presidency.
MikeE
@Kyle: be fair. the dead playgirl model thread only has 5-6 condolence comments. the rest is either comments wondering how that topic has ANYTHING to do with LGBT issues, or it’s some rantfest on drug use.
erasure25
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: Exactly. If a shooting at the offices of a certified hate group is “domestic terrorism,” then why not this? Oh that’s right, cuz there is a double standard against gays.