The gay bar Mainestreet, in Ogunquit, Maine, have been told by town officials to have bartenders put their shirts back on — because it’s a public health hazard.
A code enforcement officer told bar owner Norm Paquin he also needed to shield the display of liquor bottles from the street; Paquin has already taken care of that request. The controversy stems from resident Harriet Yaffe — who says she “love[s] the gay men” — who doesn’t want her neighborhood to turn into a “tacky town.” If it continues, claims Yaffe, “it’s going to become another P-town.”
Uh, lady? You freakin’ wish. Do you know how much the gay bars pay out in taxes?
And for the record, shirtless bartenders are not a health hazard. This:
Maybe.
Michael
It’s all about making compromises. If the shirtless bartenders wore hair nets, the town could probably get on with their lives.
Hilarious
Who invited her to “tacky town” in the first place? If she doesn’t want to see shirtless gay men then she shouldn’t be frequenting gay bars.
What a moron.
ernie
yeah, i worked at that bar for years and nothing the bartenders are doing is that scandalous. even on the outside patio (which is the source of all this hubub) the bartenders are in jeans and shoes and everything, they just aren’t wearing shirts. no health hazzard, that woman is just being over prudish about it. Its a beach town so you see more skin than that anytime you walk around the town square.
dvd-junkie
Unless a shirtless Jack Radcliffe tended bar, raising my blood pressure – if not systemically, then at least “locally” – to dangerous levels, everyone should be fine.
jason
I wouldn’t want to walk into a regular bar and find a woman serving drinks topless or with a string bikini on her.
We in the GLBT community need to understand that we aren’t special and we need to abide by the same rules as anyone else.
Overall, I see these topless bartenders as indicative of a sad trend in the gay male social scene where everything is sexualized. We’ve become a community based on sex, not rights.
testington
@jason: you must not go to straight nightclubs very often. It is VERY common to have shot girls in hot pants and wifebeaters/belly shirts or simply in a bikinni. I can think of several bars I have been to with girls in bikinni’s standing behind the beer tub