Vice versa gay

LGBTQ+ West Virginians have found community at a bar in Morgantown, from early days as "The Class Act" to its latest chapter as "Vice Versa.". Now recognized as the first lesbian magazine in the United States, Vice Versa appeared at a time when sodomy laws banning “unnatural sexual acts” criminalized same-sex activity across much of. The first issue of Vice Versa, appearing in June , was mailed to friends of Eyde.

When she learned it was illegal in the U.S.A. to mail any material about gays or lesbians, she delivered the zine by hand to readers. And Lisa Ben is also a hero of mine because she did some of the earliest gay parodies, done by a gay person. In the lesbian organization Daughters of Bilitis released a 45 rpm record of two of her songs. vice versa From the ONE Archives. According to Erica Davies at Out History, Vice Versa was North America's first lesbian zine.

"Lisa Ben" - an anagram of "lesbian" - covertly created and published Vice Versa in Los Angeles beginning in , using equipment at RKO studios where she was a secretary. For more than 30 years, the space at High St. The same rule applied to the entertainers, because the police were not on their side, even if they were attacked on their way home.

They first met at the Class Act in The DJ stand was where the steps are at the bar now. At the time The Class Act was open, the club had no air conditioning, so the temperature inside would reach up to degrees in the summertime. Mickey Jay arrived in Morgantown in from Baltimore to study at West Virginia University, where he joined a fraternity. After a rough coming-out experience, he ended up finding his chosen family through the community at The Class Act, but being underage at the time made things a little difficult getting into that space.

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Some of these attempts were successful, and he would enjoy a night of fun at Class Act; other times he was kicked out of the bar. Both houses called The Class Act home, and had an intense rivalry whenever they were in The Class Act at the same time. The House of Opulence was known for its beautiful house members. While the House of Opulence were known for their traditional drag shows consisting of lip syncs and elaborate looks, Euphoria was known for its over-the-top productions, sometimes held during the day, something that way atypical of a gay bar setting.

It was the first time they ever did a play at the bar. Jay lived in Morgantown and went to The Class Act from Burke passed away suddenly a year after moving to Orlando. After running a few businesses including an antique shop, Yost and Morgan were looking to get into the bar business. They had attempted to buy the location a few years before they were successful.

They responded to an ad in the newspaper of a non-disclosed location in Morgantown with a liquor license that was up for rent. Morgan and Yost bought the sound system, drinking glasses and bar products off of the previous owner, and the tables and chairs from the landlord, and got to work on transforming The Class Act into Vice Versa in There was plenty of work that needed to be done before opening day, including an update to its cleanliness, stage setting and flooring, amongst other improvements.

For an year-old Brittany Thayer, Vice Versa was one of the first queer places she had been to. Her first visit to Vice Versa was in when she was a senior in high school when a straight friend of hers took her to the bar. One of the things that stood out for her about Vice Versa was the wide range of ages and experiences of the people who were at the bar. Paul Liller, better known by his drag persona Dimitria Blackwell, was driving to Vice Versa for a performance with Jade, another drag queen, when they got pulled over by a police officer.

As it turned out, the officer had seen a Dimitria performance in the past. Dimitria has called Vice Versa home for the last 12 years. After it was over, I was hurrying up to get out of drag so I could go buy him a shot to thank him, and he was gone. A week later, Paul was at Vice about to get ready for the show when he saw Steven again.

He immediately dropped everything to go buy him a shot. I explained to him who I was, and we did a shot. Drag queens often have a hard time finding people to date who will accept the drag queen side of things.

As bars and restaurants started to reopen for sit-down dining, Morgan and Yost dealt with repetitive questions on social media about when Vice Versa was going to reopen. Morgan said that the bar can only seat people with the tables and chairs that they have.