We’re not sure which is more absurd — the owner of a gay club sharing photos of himself at a Trump 2020 rally, or his response after being called out by members of the LGBTQ community.
The Old Plantation (formerly The OP) is a nightclub in El Paso, Texas that regularly features drag shows, uses the reclaimed upside-down pink triangle in its advertisements, and is owned in part by a proud Trump supporter.
It’s that last item that’s generated a feeling of betrayal among the El Paso LGBTQ community after Johnny Alcantar, a stakeholder in the club who identifies as straight, posted this photo to Instagram:
Puta Kahlo, a local drag queen, commented on Facebook that she is “disgusted.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
She wrote:
“Y’all, straight people are the first to try to profit off of our community and our art but won’t hesitate to support a man who has called trans people burdens, hasn’t done shit for community but try to erase us, degraded women, and perpetuated racist and xenophobic rhetoric. It’s so easy to buy a space and slap the OP’s name on it – but how much do you REALLY know about us and what have you done for the community? ‘Cause right about now, your position is looking pretty questionable.”
And then came Alcantar’s unbelievable response.
Speaking to local NBC news station KTSM, Alcantar said he wasn’t aware of the Trump administration’s attacks on the community, and that he “didn’t have a choice” but to support the president.
“It was never my intention to hurt anyone,” Alcantar said. “I didn’t know the stuff that Trump was passing.”
“I don’t agree with everything that Donald Trump says,” he continued, “But I have to support our President because he’s our current president; I don’t have any other choice.”
He iced the cake by adding that he has “gay friends and family members.”
For anyone keeping count, here are 92 (and counting) times the Tump administration has attacked the LGBTQ community.
Meanwhile, the club’s CEO, Mark Adkins, released a statement on the venue’s Facebook page that reads in part:
“To all of our fellow patrons, and LGBT members. We apologize for any confusion going through your heads at this time. We want to make one thing as clear as crystal: The Old Plantation Nightclub does NOT support Trump’s views or opinions ESPECIALLY towards our LGBT community. The OP was built by and built for the LGBT community and everyone should already know that.”
Alcantar later addressed the issue on his Instagram story, expressing how “unfair” it all is. He wrote:
“It isn’t fair or right to be bashed just because of the position that I’m in when I have never judged the LGBT community. My post wasn’t intended to be a money jar for people’s two cents on both sides of this politic battle to promote hate in any way. Please leave your comments to yourselves and if you don’t know me I respectfully ask you to leave that negativity somewhere else.”
DarkZephyr
OK….so he’s the partial owner of an LGBTQ club and he’s Hispanic…but he supports Trump…wtf?? And how can you possibly be ignorant of Trump’s homophobia, transphobia and racism after we have had 3 of his antics?
truthseeker
Why can’t Hispanics support the President?
Catholicslutbox
Mainly because of his immigration policies and his whites first, or rather WHITES ONLY, views- in addition to his treatment towards the hispanic community as a whole.
“Lock them in cages” “make them pay for the wall” “blah blah blah” “waaah waaah waah.”
Hispanics, (in general), supporting trump makes as much sense as the Japanese supporting Roosevelt… you don’t vote for someone who does not have your best interest in mind.
ModeI
Happy Valentine’s Day, folks. I plan to enjoy it, and I hope you do too.
aracelislqv
Sure, JAn
DarkZephyr
3 years* I miss the correct feature.
ingyaom
I’ve heard some of them are very fine people.
Chris
Hey stupid! The klan is looking for a few good “white hispanics” to decorate their next rally…this would be right up your alley??
jorgecruz
I hope the LGBTQ community of Texas will let this owner know what they think of his behavior. Boycott this bar. Spend your money somewhere else.
bowlingbutch
The gay community in El Paso needs to find another bar. Unless he has been in a coma the last 4 years he knows of Trump’s hatred and is lying trying to not lose the money gay people spend at the bar he is a stakeholder of. El Paso gays should boycott the OP until he is not a part of the bar and not making money off gay people
gymmuscleboy
The linked article “92 times the Trump administration has attacked the LGBTQ community” is a joke. The first three items involve the administration TALKING to anti-gay people, CONSIDERING legitimate concerns over “disparate impact” laws, and the government shutdown! These are not attacks on LGBTQ people!
People who do not take this site with a grain of salt are living in a bubble.
truthseeker
@gymmuscleboy
I agree. I clicked the link and the things mentioned as “attacks” on the gay community are a far reach which indicates that the authors can’t find specific incidents where Trump has attacked gays. The government shutdown wasn’t an attack on gays.
But if we want to use such a vague logical definition of the gay community, I guess someone (using the article’s logic) could say Trump helped the gay community through tax cuts, job creation, border security, supporting the constitution, low unemployment, wage growth, working toward fair trade, lowering regulations, criminal justice reform, passing Right to Try, increase in black owned businesses, and so much more.
Plus, it seems odd that so many people think that particular segments of people are forced to vote in unison in a tribe mentality by saying “Latinos can’t support this person, blacks can’t support those issues, women must vote the way we tell them, gays aren’t real gays if they don’t agree with us”. If someone supports a certain candidate or a certain issue and you disagree, the best form of action is to engage in debate. It’s not productive to say “you’re stupid, you’re racist, you’re ignorant”. That just proves that these people can’t muster responses based on facts when they have to resort to name calling or feel it’s needed to throw someone out of the ‘tribe’ if they don’t agree with them 100% of the time.
leathermasterkeywest
So we should discount the substance of the article completely because a linked reference contains hyperbole? Thanks for that wisdom.
truthseeker
@leathermasterkeywest
Incorrect and you are presenting a strawman argument. The substance of the article is centered around the “92 times” article which is a smear article with hardly any of the 92 items being an attack on gays. The “92 times” article cites the tax cut bill as an attack on gays. If giving gays a tax cut is an attack, I’d hate to see what people consider a tax increase.
The author uses that article to then shame someone who they disagree with and telling that person they should no longer be allowed to own and operate a business because the business owner doesn’t fall in lock step with them on every issue. That is why we should discount the substance of the article because it has no substance and is based upon a mob mentality supported by feelings and not facts
leftofstr8
So yes, agreed, that should not be characterized as 92 times 45 has attacked the LGBT Community. But the straw argument is that this administration is supportive of, or friendly to the LGBT Community. It is NOT, plain and simple. Sure that might be a single-issue for some, but for those of us in the community, it should be a MAJOR issue, and not taken lightly.
The Administration IS never shy of talking to religious zealots who would love nothing more to stop equal rights to all in the LGBT Community and IS NOT big at all on talking to those inclusive of the community………there are multiple examples of this. Is Talking to the zealots and bigots attacking the community? No, the zealots are the one’s attacking the community, 45 and his administration, simply listen and try to console and acquiesce to them as much as they can to retain their vote.
The administration has banned Transgender service members from serving openly in our Military, when told by the leaders that there is no adverse effect on troops morale overall for gay or transgender to serve openly in the service.
The administration and its departments have issued multiple briefs in cases that would be detrimental to LGBT rights, mostly deferring to religious zealots. You can choose your religion, you cannot choose your sexual orientation. This is NOT a nation of Christian Laws, there is a separation of Church and State and there should be, the Founding Fathers explicitly said that there is no religion over another. Supporting the Cake baker was a great example of this discrimination of the religious freedom laws they are trying to pass………….but is it religious freedom or Christian freedom? If the best bakery in town was owned by jewish owners who refused to sell a wedding cake to a christian couple, they would be marching in the streets!
By the way, how about lots of the little things the article was correct on. Day one of the Administration all mentions and web pages related to LGBT Community was deleted on whitehouse.gov website. 45 refuses to acknowldedge any LGBT commemorations such as Pride. They Trump abolished the HIV AIDS committee in Washington, but now wants to eradicate the disease. and there are many other examples, but this is long enough.
Suffice to say, this administration is NOT supportive of the LGBT Community and has actively worked via briefs and policies to cause harm to the community. If you are part of the LGBT Community, you should be ACTIVELY calling out this administration for this prejudice, in the same breath that you heap praise for what you see it doing as positive!!!
truthseeker
@leftofstr8
Glad we agree that the tax cuts and simply meeting with people should be excluded from the list. President Trump has shown that he’ll meet with all people. I’m sure if a representative of a gay organization wanted to meet with him to discuss an issue, he would meet with them. They just haven’t wanted to meet with the President. Prison reform advocates wanted to meet with him, he met with them, then urged Congress to pass bipartisan prison reform legislation.
I would hardly say that the Trump administration is an “enemy” of gays. Regarding the ban on transgender service members, there are a lot of things that prohibit people from serving such as weight, having a criminal record, bad credit, certain tattoos, too many cavities, acne, or suffering from mood disorders or severe episodes of depression. Many transgendered individuals suffer from mood disorders and a vast majority suffer from severe episodes of depression and require hormonal and mood therapy drugs to cope with this. In my opinion, I don’t think someone suffering from those issues should be on the battlefield to then return home and suffer from PTSD on top of that. So I have no issue with the ban on transgenders in the military and don’t find it discriminatory.
Regarding the cake baker you mentioned, that wasn’t an administration policy or executive order. It was a ruling from the Supreme Court with a 7-2 ruling in a narrow scope decision with even some of the liberal justices siding with the baker. Regarding the removal of White House web pages, that is standard protocol of all new administrations. Those pages were not removed but transferred to the Obama White House government page. The same will happen after Trump’s term. More proof of this is the POTUS Twitter account. All Obama tweets were moved to POTUS44 on Twitter and the same will happen with POTUS45.
Plus, if the biggest “threats” to the gay community are that there isn’t an LGBTQ web page on the official White House site or that Trump doesn’t say “It’s Pride month!!”, I think you’re safe HAHA. Even if he did acknowledge Pride month or tweet about it, I’m sure you’d still attack him for it. His daughter was attacked for wishing people a happy Pride month. Those two things are hardly things that “cause harm to the community”
Apolodorus
Trolling trolls trolling by the meter. Seeking engagement in a site whose politics they purport to abhorr but, seem strangely fixated with.
pharaon.em.joe
@truthseeker
Delusion, convince yourself.
auntpolly
The ONLY reason he met with anyone about prison reform is because he was flattered to have Kim Kardashian and Kanye stroking his ego. You may remember him taking out a full page ad in the newspaper demanding the execution of the Central Patk 5? And last I heard he still holds that view even after they were exonerated, he’s no friend to any community other than the 1% so he can further stuff his pockets full of cash.
Mick406
truthseeker
How dare you to speak the TRUTH?!!! Ha. I applaud you for being brave and speaking the truth.
These articles are always filled with innuendo and false statements. Anything to fan the flames.
So, this guy didn’t know Trump was anti LGBT, etc. That’s strange, I didn’t either!!! And STILL don’t know it! Everything connected with Trump being anti gay is always attached to some other group, such as religious people and serving in the military. Yes, they are his principle voting populace but that doesn’t mean he supports everything THEY stand for.
As for serving in the military: “The administration has banned Transgender service members from serving openly in our Military, when told by the leaders that there is no adverse effect on troops morale overall for gay or transgender to serve openly in the service.” What a full of shit statement! I served for 34 years and 90% of the “leaders”, such as myself, were against bringing in people who would end up being liabilities. As the commander of a battalion, I know and saw first hand simply what bringing in women did to us, much less having some LGTB person not only making demands but putting requirements on us that were near impossible to fulfill. They are of little help on the battlefield.
There ARE some women who have performed admirably, but when going to the field, they were a tremendous liability. They could not carry their own heavy gear. We had to help them, plus not count on them during their ‘monthly cycle’ or other female ‘issues’, or when they were pregnant. Bringing in women has cost the military a fortune to sustain rendering little benefit. The military should have made it where they were all Administrative and stayed back doing office work. They were not able to perform in combat. Period!!! Any gay person who served exactly like all their hetero counterparts and didn’t make waves over their sexuality were more than welcomed. Make sure you read that line again!!! I made it with no problems!!!
It’s the ‘special needs’ and ‘agenda’ people who cause anti feelings toward gays, in the military or out of it. And read that line again too!!!
All this Trump is pro-white and racist stuff is merely ASSUMPTIONS. I have never seen him directly do anything racist or promote an only White agenda. What you have is a President who promotes law and order. Get that? LAW AND ORDER! Liberals and criminals don’t want to abide by laws. Illegal immigrants are law breakers. This guy may be Mexican in bloodline, but not all Mexicans identify with Democrat politics. I know many who are furious with the border crashers. I know many Mexicans who vote Republican.
And speaking of ‘bubble’ people, a lot of people on this forum live in their own bubble of not wanting to know the truth. They simply dislike this President because he doesn’t believe in a free-for-all (as in chaos and defying laws) that brings down our successful country. There are scads of ignorant people out there espousing Socialism, which will turn us into a Third World country if successful.
Mick406
leftofstr8
“equal rights to all in the LGBT Community”
I want to know what equal rights YOU don’t have.
I’ve got them all. I have never been denied a right. Everything out there open to heterosexuals is open to me too, whether it be education, health care, food stamps, or restrooms. What is it that you don’t have? I’m actually curious. What is it? What were you denied. You . . . personally.
This is a catch-all phrase that means nothing. What do you want? The right to get naked in the streets and have everyone watch people giving BJ’s? Heteros don’t have any Pride activities or go out in public flaunting their sexuality. You get to do that. What more do you want? I just don’t understand.
ShowMeGuy
WTFH ! ! ! ! ! ! !
queerty02
Do ppl have to do windmill arms while screaming “I hate fags” repeatedly to demonstrate that they’re anti-gay now? Hun you are stupid.
auntpolly
Spot-on.
RIGay
Clueless and ignorant. Yup. A Trump supporter.
Pii
Or a Russian provocateur.
MadMikenCT
We don’t need links or reminded of examples over the last 3 years. Look no further than the day he chose Mike Pence as his running mate.
jimmypalmieri
AMEN
1898
a gay club called the Old Plantation??? wow… way to be welcoming of the Black community…
Invader7
The a-hole con artist is a true maga – as in maggot. Taking the gay community money and turning around and supporting ANTI-gay Neo-Nazi FASCIST Drumpf. Time to BOYCOTT Ms. Juanita Alcantar. You can try that crap in homophobic Mexico or another Latin American country .NOT in the USA you LOSER. Drumpf wants NO brown skinned people in the USA,including you Johnny. But the Orange TERROR will con ou and take your support. $$ and vote(s). And then turn around and has said numerous times degrading things about Latinos. Ms.Alcantar you’re a piece of work. You CHOOSE to support the Donald HITLER Drumpf !!!!
jimmypalmieri
If I lived in El Paso. I’d NEVER put another dollar in this CREATURES pocket. He is benefitting from the LGBTQ community, and supporting a monster who is harming us. GAY FOLKS….POOL YOUR MONEY….OPEN YOUR OWN PLACE…even if it’s tiny at first. Boycotts work. Make him suffer as we are. Drag queens started our revolution…..CONTINUE IT FOR US….THIS MAN IS HURTING YOU.
samoia623
You made my day by saying what you said,,thank you for never supporting this DEGENERATE BAR OWNER AGAIN!! We are STRONG in numbers & must take each other’s side when where being attacked! Tiny hands trump is ATTACKING THE LGBT COMMUNITY & for all the gay people out there that can’t comprehend trumps a DISGUSTING RACIST BIGOTED IGNORANT VILE DEGENERATE well now they know. Peace my brother & thanks again!!??
jimmypalmieri
sending LOVE from WEST Hollywood
brooklynbobby
I totally agree boycotts do work. I worked in a gay bar in the 1970’s anybody remember Anita Bryant and the orange juice boycott? Vodka and Cranberry became a very popular drink back then!~
jimmypalmieri
PREACH BROTHER
brooklynbobby
The “principal owner” makes a totally crappy argument on FB for NOT taking them to task for this investor. That’s bullshit. Buy him out or face the future consequences. Go On YELP leave a one star review and a comment explaining it. If he’s such a minor investor it shouldn’t take much to pay him off and say goodbye bigot!
samoia623
Him saying that he doesn’t support trump BUT going to a rally for that VILE DEGENERATE RACIST BIGOTED IGNORANT COWARDLY REPUBLICAN LOWLIFE TINY HANDS trump is a SLAP IN THE FACE too the GAY COMMUNITY!! He is taking out of both sides of his mouth & that’s not a compliment!! The gay community should BOYCOTT his club no matter what! If you cannot stick up for urself & ur community well then what the flock good are ya!! BOYCOTT BOYCOTT AND THEN BOYCOTT SOME MORE,TEACH THIS DISGUSTING OWNER OF THE GAYBAR A LESSON HE WILL NOT FORGET!! By BOYCOTTING his club you hit him where it HURTS IN HIS POCKET BOOK,YEP HIS MONEY !! This is the only way to teach this DEGENERATES a lesson , DONT BETRAY YOUR OWN KIND!! These trump followers are the most IGNORANT COWARDLY SCUMBAGS!! Remember BOYCOTTING IS GOOD WAY TOO TEACH A GOOD LESSON TO ALL THE DEGENERATE trump supporters!! Have a great day my brothers and sisters in the GAY COMMUNITY!??
brooklynbobby
But he does support trump that is exactly why he went to the rally.
gymmuscleboy
@samoia623 Understandably you are very upset about the situation. What would you say are the most important things that Trump has done to harm the gay community?
gymmuscleboy
Eclatant
Meanwhile, the club is called “The Old Plantation.”
What did you expect?
yaletownman
The guy is Hispanic and that alone isn’t enough to stay away from a Trump rally so I guess the anti-LGBTQ thing just went right over his head. Self hatred is a fascinating condition that manifests itself in the most bizarre ways. One seems to be that it just requires the sufferier to abandon all awareness of self and their world.
Curtispsf
WORD.
ChadDarnell
You lost me at “identifies as straight.” Because his instagram says otherwise…
Curtispsf
OMG. I didn’t realize that there was a “Hallelujah Chorus” of Russian Troll-Bots supporting President Agent Orange’s every decision. Y’All remind me of Log Cabin Republicans who told us that “Trump supports the LGBTQ community”. How’s that promise working out for you? Not so great, right? F**k Trump and all his apologists. Next thing you know, they’re going to start claiming that he shits gold which is passed out at every LGBTQ Pride Parade to “deserving” members.
ladron
Boycott the racistly named club until this idiot sells his interest away (at a lower amount than what he paid as he’s now damaged the club’s worth). Reopen the newly named club with plenty of signage “under new management” – and viola! Evil is exorcised and gay men and Latinos can go on with their proud lives.
garyrj
Apology accepted, but you should had done your homework. Our witless leader has been negative against the LGBTQ family forever. The GOP as a entity has been negative against the LGBTQ family, for ever. Trump as a person is a putrid pus of a being, he’s been like that all his life, history has proven that. Anyone who sides with him will connected to him forever. The apology isn’t enough, do something for the community as penance. IMHO
paul dorian lord fredine
he really must think we’re really so stupid as to believe his lame ‘but i didn’t know’ excuse. was he in a coma for the past 4 years (i’m including the campaign)? and to say he ‘doesn’t have a choice’? you always have a choice, dumbass. you chose to vote for him. you choose to continue supporting him. you choose to ignore all the negative things he’s said and done to both the gay and hispanic communities. you can choose now to change your mind and do something about it but you choose not to. see? tons of choices but you have to have the balls to make that choice and not bury your head up your ass while kissing his.
vbnudeguy
The El Paso LGBT community simply needs to vote with their wallets and stop going to the bar. It’s as simple as that.
Kieran
Gays who self-righteously preach “tolerance” should be tolerant.
Newsflash: Not all gays are deranged Trump-hating leftist loons. Get a clue.
redzebra1
Just as absurd as the Hispanic Republican voters!
blueyedirish
OK, if this club is still open in 2 months, shame on the gay community of El Paso! Any SELF RESPECTING LGBTQ person who enters the doors of this club is supporting this outrageous bigotry, and hatred for us!
Close them down!