4B -Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com

4B - Thursday, October10, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

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Each week we take shots at the biggest
developments in the entertainment world.
Here's what hit (and missed) this week.
Mattel reveals "The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire"-inspired Barbie dolls
at New York Comic-Con

an't stop
Cyrus told Matt
he's too old to be
. on "Today"

&

vril Lavigne and her
husband Chad Krueger
release duet, "Let Me Go"

'vsigrvy 'Nieruz

AUT AND PROUD
Aut Bar crafts inclusive community
I .oalJbar nff ewrs

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A-CU UCUV11C Z5 newly burgeoning term "LGBTQ-
Space for all IA," his turn of phrase implies an
all-inclusive outlook for the future.
identities It provides a place of safety for the
community - a piece of common
SEAN CZARNECKI ground over light brunch, beer or
Daily Film Editor laughs at the bar.
"Gay, straight, lesbian, transgen-
bar's windows are tall and der, cross-dresser - you name it,"
ed. No drape is drawn. No said restaurant server Robert King.
dimmed. One can see its "People come in here, and they feel
erior from outside - the comfortable."
t golden walls, black-and- King motioned toward the pho-
photo portraits, hanging tos on the wall. He doesn't believe
ups. Stamped at the base of most customers even realize
dows is white lettering that they're photos of gay people, if it
'atit\ and proud. Out and even crosses their minds.
It's 4 p.m. in Kerrytown, At 4 p.m., Sam Cash is working,
Bar has just opened. too. He's bartended here now for
wrer Keith Orr calls Aut six years.
raight friendly." Like the "It's like a gay 'Cheers,' " Cash

said. "At first, I always thought gay
bars were like,you know,just danc-
ing and everyone going crazy.
"It's the only gay bar in town,
but I don't think people really see it
like that. It stands on its own - the
place with the patio, the place with
the good brunch. I guess maybe
when they opened, it was alittle bit
different."
Before 1995, when Aut Bar
opened, another gay bar was
already in business. But its conduct
toward -customers disturbed Orr.
At a time when the AIDS epidemic
was at its peak, it was "painfully
obvious" to him that the bar wasn't
gay-owned.
"Across the nation, bars were
where fundraising was happen-
ing and where information was
being disseminated and sometimes
where you were finding out if peo-
ple were alive or dead," Orr said.
"Our local gay bar refused to do
anything, to have AIDS mentioned
- any fundraising - not even a col-
lection jar."
Orr and his partner, Martin
Contreras, had already been run-
ning a Mexican restaurant when
it became apparent that a new bar
was needed, one unashamed of
its demographic and rooted in the
struggle of the community.
"Straight folks are absolutely
welcome," Orr said, "as long as they
understand that it's a safe place for
the gay community. And we need
safe places - still."
The placeinwhich Aut Bar rests,
Braun Court, is a hub for LGBTQ
activism. Next door stands Orr's
second business, the Common
Language Bookstore, and next to
that, the Jim Toy Community Cen-
ter. Looking out through Aut Bar's

*1

Aut Bar hosts karaoke every Tuesday and trivia every Thursday.

windows, across the patio, you can
see Shout, a venue that the Michi-
gan International Gay Rodeo Asso-
ciation rents outeach year.
Orr elaborated on the urgency of
activism as a whole.
"It energizes people and reaf-
firms them," he said. "If you're an
NRA member, all you have to do is
turn on the TV or go to the multi-
plex, and you get reaffirmed every
minute of every day. If you're a gay
man, you don't necessarily have
that constant reaffirmation in soci-
ety."
One of the ways by which Aut
Bar revitalizes the community
is OUTFest - a celebration of
National Coming Out Day. When
Orr and Contreras came into
business, they took over the cel-
ebration from the Washtenaw

Rainbow Action Project, rebrand-
ed it and moved it into the Kerry-
town area.
"The first year, it was all about
having a free event that had
enough sponsorship to cover the
expenses," Orr said. "Each year,
we added more fundraising com-
ponents (such as) a silent auction,
sponsorships (and) we rented
vendor booths, even selling little
trinkets like rainbow beads. It all
adds up.
"One year," Orr added, "we
raised up to $22,000 after expens-
es."
Aut Bar also hosts events for
the HIV/AIDS Resource Center
that services Jackson, Lenaw-
ee, Livingston and Washtenaw
Counties. This fall, it'll hold a
wine raffle. From each of their

participants, the bar asks for a
single bottle of wine, which they
collect and put into one big pot,
and for as little as $5, winner
takes all.
"I love it because it's a very
democratic event," Orr said. "We
use a lot of people to raise a lot
of money, each giving a little bit.
This is my favorite type of fund-
raising. ... And we call it an Ann
Arbor Wine Seller because you
get an instant wine cellar if you
win."
Their most famous fundraiser
occurred in 2001, in the upstag-
ing of Fred Phelps, leader of the
Westboro Baptist Church, when
he decided to picket their busi-
ness. They pledged to pay a dol-
lar every minute Phelps protested
outside the bar. They reached out
to their email list to do the same.
"Let him stay as long as he
wants," Orr said.
Within one minute, somebody
had pledged a dollar. Where some
fundraisers take a whole year
to plan, this was planned in half
an hour. They ended up raising
$7,500 in one day, in one hour.
"If you answer hate with hate,"
Orr said, "hate wins."
Though the bar is empty at 4
p.m., its workers are still about.
Outside, the weather grows cold,
each hour dimming into evening
into night, each more drizzling
and bitter than the last. But inside
the bar, it's warm.
King-was more than happy to
tour the upstairs bar. The floor,
the walls, the entire room is col-
ored in black and white and blue.
As he explained, the room follows
the color motifs of the Leather
Pride Flag. King talked about
himself for a while; he explained
why he came to Ann Arbor,
where the community is strong
and vibrant, and he spoke about
how work used to be a four- to
five-day-a-week routine. Now, he
comes to work five or six days a
week.
Then, we shook hands - kara-
oke is on Tuesdays, he said, trivia
on Thursdays - and I went out. ,