.. .o
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Fall 2014 -- 7D
B-SIDE
Pride Night at Necto: Asafer space
Popular nightclub
provides a
gay-friendly
environment
By NATALIE GADBOIS
Senior Arts Editor
FEB. 12,2014 - We're allfamil-
iar with straight spaces, even if
we don't know the term. The frat
parties, where a combination of
Heaven Hill and Drake creates
the assumption that any boy can
grind up against any girl. College
bars, where ladies pay half price
for shots on Thursday nights, the
owners finding ways to make girls
"loose," and ways to entice the
men to show up.
Houseparties,socialcirclesand
evenclassrooms;somanyfunction
under the assumption that unless
you say otherwise, you're straight,
and that's that. These pervasive
straight spaces are what made the
idea of spending a Friday at Pride
Night at Necto nightclub all the
more intriguing - and, to be hon-
est, alittle disconcerting.
The getting ready process was
the same - dashing on make-up,
confirming with my roommate
that my outfit was the perfect
combination of cute and edgy,
consuming fiery substances from
chipped Costa Rican shot glasses
- but the destination was so dif-
ferent fromwhat Iknew.
Pride Night was started in 1984
and has remained a nightlife fix-
ture in the gay community in Ann
Arbor since then, voted, multiple
times as the best gay club in the
Metro Detroit area. The large club,
located on East Liberty, has two
dance rooms, both with live DJs,
with the famous Red Room down-
stairs playing retro-pop hits with
accompanying videos - mainly
Beyonce and '80s dance-pop the
night I was there.
The crowd is filled with close-
ly dancing couples, the gender
composition more heavily male
than any party I had ever been to
before. Both rooms feature acces-
sible stages and stripper poles,
which guests are encouraged to
hop onto.
Necto touts itself as the place
to be on a Friday night for the gay
community, an association that
comes with some complexities
and some questions. How do you
define a safe space for gays? And
once defined, how do you success-
fully construct that space?
. LSA junior Schuyler Robin-
son believes that a "gay space" is
"a place kind of free of judgment,
because as gay people we some-
times deal with stigma and feel
judged solely by being ourselves."
Robinson argues that while
Necto is a fun place, somewhere
to dance and let loose, it isn't the
inclusive safe space it can be rep-
resented as. He has seen straight
female friends be harassed and
targeted with language that dis-
criminates them just as props for
their gay friends. In an effort to
classify Pride Night as a common
ground for the gay community,
sometimes other identities can
become marginalized.
"Because people feel so com-
fortable and so non-targeted, they
almost feel like their words aren't
accountable," Robinson said.
"Because they are in their space,
they are not the minority there."
Similarly, LSA senior Taylor
Portela, a volunteer at the Spec-
trum Center, agrees that Necto is
the best place to go dance, but is
waryto define it as asafe space.
"Necto is a beautiful, terrify-
ing place," Portela said. "It is a gay
space, but at the same time it's a
gay space with a twist, so when I
bring women of any orientation
and identity they still are actively
harassed."
Portela defines the distinction
between a gay space and a queer
space, holding that gay spaces
are often dominated by gay white
males, while queer spaces are
more inclusive of women and
racial minorities. Pride Night, he
argues, is distinctly a gay space -
an unfortunate limitation for the
club.
"At Necto there are just a ton of
white cisgenders; gay white men,
dancing and doing their thing -
which is fine. It's good. I mean,
I am one of them," Portela said.
"But at the same time my friends
of color get harassed, women get
harassed..."
Neither Portela nor Robinson
believes that Necto necessarily
promotes healthy connections in
a way safe spaces ought to. The
pounding music and dark rooms
make conversation difficult, so the
club becomes marked as the hook-
up place - though he's gone many
nights, Robinson can't recall ever
making a real friend or fostering a
relationship with someone he met
atNecto.
"You walk in (and) there's
music, its dark - it's not so condu-
cive to welcoming people."
"It's like the gay version of
Rick's," Portela said.
Rick's: an Ann Arbor bastion
of drunken hookups and texts-
from-last-night anecdotes. But
is it problematic when the pre-
dominant nighttime gay space in
Ann Arbor promotes that culture?
Though they reiterate that Necto
is a fun space (a statement I agree
with entirely), at times itsfrenetic,
hyper-sexualized atmosphere can
perpetuate limiting stereotypes
about the gay community.
"(Necto) feeds into the stereo-
type that gay people are obsessed
with bodies, about putting out a
good self-image rather than trying
to connect with someone," Robin-
son said.
Portela affirms this, but doesn't
think this depiction of gay culture
iswhollynegative.
"Gay culture is very much
built around some stereotypes,
yes, but part of gay culture - gay
white male culture - is having
song-tunes and Whitney Hous-
ton playing in the background,
the '80s synth pop blast really
loud," he said. "While (Necto) is
affirming of some stereotypes,
it points toward a larger gay cul-
ture, like the club culture that is
in this atmosphere." Both men
were excited about the opening
of a new gay night in town, Candy
Bar, located at Live Nightclub.
The event premiered last Thurs-
day, and Robinson and Portela
each hailed it as a more inclusive
but still fun environment. On
opening night, Candy Bar had a
host and DJs, and featured a drag
queen performance from former
contestants on the reality show
"RuPaul's Drag Race."
"(Candy Bar is a) much better
space, because at Necto you can't
hear anyone, so I think people
can connect more and get to know
each other better at that space,"
Robinson said. "And it was really
fun. The DJ played great music,
all the attitudes just seemed much
more positive."
Though Candy Bar only hosted
its inaugural night a week ago,
Portela finds the combination of
this event with Necto to be prom-
ising for Ann Arbor's gay and
queer community.
"I really like the set up of Live,
so that was, atmosphere-wise,
veryenjoyable,"Portelasaid."(It's)
a really nice space because it was
people of more than just one or
two identities who filled theaspace,
and I didn't hear afterwards of any
real threatening or harassment
going on."
With the induction of Candy
Bar, Ann Arbor is growing as
a destination for gay nightlife
scenes, a relief for students
who currently feel limited in
predominantly straight spaces,
However, the complexity behind
Necto proves that just the con-
struction of a gay space is not
enough - an inclusive environ-
ment comes from the clientee
and the set up of the space itself.
But wherever you choose to go,
it's Friday night, it's -20 degrees
out, and everyone just wants to
have fun.
FILM COLUMN
A eulogy for my belovedBlockbuster
In remembrance of on top of a police car (it's very There was a romantic anticipa- tion technology would finally be It was a slow, ugly, cancerous be writing this column. Without
nice ... so full of spice!). tion in strolling through this tweaked to let me zap over to the death, but I'll never forget you, you, I wouldn't be the person I
the video giant that I digress. labyrinth of cinema, eyes darting closest Blockbuster. But alas, we Blockbuster. You were my first am today.
Like Blockbuster, the stub- from one ledge to the next, look- live in an imperfect world. Casu- teacher - the first medium for go for the third and final time
gave me my love of born videotape case is gone - ing for those perfect two hours ally walking through shelves of my appreciation of film. Without inmylife, I'llsayitoutloud: "fuck
adrift behind an ever-expanding of Saturday night. There was titles was soon replaced with you, I probably never would have you, Blockbuster." The added
movies cloud of technological advance- more anticipation in knowing standing stone-still in front of felt the need to learn how to ride interjection? "You lived a good-
ment, and a eulogy for listless I'd be back in a week, able to tick a glowing red interface, qui- a bike. Without you, I wouldn't life."
By AKSHAY SETH evenings spent trying to sneak another entry off of the imagined etly mouthing arguments about
Daily Film Columnist glimpses at the nonexistent adult bucket list of titles in my head. which movie was most worth-
video section is long past due. Before long, I transformed while.
JAN, a0, 2014 - I remember Growing up, my family didn't into the obnoxious cretin-child I thought about Blockuster Y I --
pulling as hard as I could, little have much. Most weekends were who enjoyed screaming things less and less, until finally, it faded F Y
11-year-old fingers digging into spent at home, and though it like "YOU CAN'T HANDLE from my conscience altogether,
little plastic grooves on either never really mattered what we THE TRUTH" when asked how and the only person to blame was LO NG TERM
} side of the videotape case. That were doing - whether it was a math test went. Ezekiel 25:17? Blockbuster. The stupid compa-
yellow-blue ticket stub mocked playing videogames or crowding No problem. Horrible Henry ny refused to compete with the A ,
me, egging me on. It was calling around our bulky TV for NBC's Callahan impressions? Check. new kids on the block, exposing
me fat, weak - undetermined, latest miniseries version of what- "Braveheart" level declarations the chinks in armor that would
even - in its own, inanimate way, ever Stephen King story they of freedom? #YOLO. eventually lead to its inevitable
but no matter how hard I heaved, deemed worthwhile - I lived for In a blur of magnetic tape, my demise. I missed the cool young
I couldn't weasel the damn tape trips to the local Blockbuster. cinematic schooling was well professor, but the coolness had
out of its pliable shell. I loved films. No other form underway, and Blockbuster was long disappeared. Age had taken
That was the first time I said of art made me sit, mouth agape, the cool young professor amok- its toll and embarrassingly, he
"fuck you, Blockbuster" out loud. and think the way movies did. ing joints between lectures/ wasn't even attempting to hide
Pause. Before dismissing mid- The first time I remember crying screenings. the marijuana usage anymore.
dle-school Akshay as yet anoth- with a smile on my face was after Then it all changed. For the second time in my life,
er surprisingly foul-mouthed watching "Close Encounters One fateful Sunday afternoon I said, "fuck you, Blockbuster"
Indian child, let's get one thing of the Third Kind," and seeing at the local McDonalds, between out loud, only this time, there
straight: Jim Carrey and "The the melancholy triumph in Roy mouthfuls of McRib, I spotted was an added interjection of, "get
Mask" were hiding behind the Neary's eyes as he left Earth, and the strange red contraption. It your shit together."
plastic confines of that godfor- his mundane life behind to stake could've passed for a weirdly Blockbuster never got its shit
saken Blockbuster ticket stub. his existence on abnormality, flamboyant ATM, but the wall of together. Soon, Netflix would for-
Anyone would've been upset. To All those shelves, lined with movie titles next to it screamed ever change the game, and even
make matters worse, it was Sat- uniformly-dressed videotapes otherwise. Could it be? Did I not though the old man attempted
urday, and I knew scrutinizing and DVDs, were challenges. I have to beg my parents to take to throw his hat in the ring with
my father's unwieldy attempts was only allowed to check out me to the Blockbuster anymore? Blockbuster Now, it was too
at hurling a bowling ball in the one, maybe two, a week but even Was Ronald McDonald Jesus?Ml? little, too late. After bankruptcy-
vague direction of 10 unsus- if it ended up being the last thing If I could've had it exactly my plagued years of irrelevance,
pecting pins could never top that ever happened in my life, I way, another, blue-yellowversion the video store wheezed its last N A A
the sensation that accompanies was determined each and every of Redbox would have sprung up breath and keeled over, DVDs
watching a putty-faced psycho- one of those tapes would see out of thin air that very moment. and videotapes bleeding out of its 02) 696 -0979
path going chick-chicky-boom the whirring insides of my VCR. Or more realistically, teleporta- bloated corpse.
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