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Massachusetts lesbian bar faces boycott after lifting face mask rule (www.thepinknews.com)
submitted 5 days ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
80 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

And a Boston globe article that had a paywall and the title wasnt as fun:
https://archive.li/Bh47J

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[–] 127 points 5 days ago (13 children)

Context a lot of people seem to be missing by only reading the title:

This bar was catering to immunocompromised patrons. Not just women but women who can’t go to other public venues. This seemed to be a big part of the bar’s success.

It would be like a board game pub not letting people play board games one night a week.

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  • [–] 117 points 5 days ago* (9 children)

    But then if you actually read the article, the bar has only been open since last year and has been failing horribly, while the owner is working several jobs and lives in her car to try and keep it open. This was pretty much a last ditch effort to try and make enough money to not have to shut down and now the community members who have wanted a place like this to exist the most are getting all pissy and boycotting it. Essentially guaranteeing it's closure.

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  • [–] 22 points 4 days ago* (2 children)

    I think the mistake was trying to run a bar instead of perhaps renting an event center or something a few nights a week. You just don’t have a community large enough to sustain that kind of space, which is the endless tragedy of queer spaces that aren’t in like New York, Los Angeles or London.

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  • [–] 32 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (5 children)

    Yeah, this is 100% right.

    My State is full of people like this. They scream and moan about things not catering to them... and when what they want does cater to them they won't support it, and they don't understand that businesses need customers to exist...

    they just seem to want business to exist that cater to them... but don't actually want to ever patronize to such businesses. but the second that business decides to try and make itself more appealing to more customers... it's EVIL. And if you patronize this business... YOU are evil now too.

    And if you try to point this out to them... they just go mental. They don't understand that businesses have costs, they think the notion of profitability/sustainability is also EVIL.

    Same with housing. They protest for cheaper housing. OK, we need to build more housing then. And then when more housing is proposed to be built, they protest it too. The same people most of the time.

    Generally here the people who scream the loudest are the most hypocritical. They screech at everyone we need more small independent businesses... but they all shop at Amazon and Target exclusively.

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  • [–] 13 points 5 days ago (4 children)

    I agree with you on everything but the housing part. The opponents are more often property owners in the area who have "something to lose" - in their resale value and the neighborhood getting more congested (but let's be real, their main reason is not wanting to live by the filthy poors)

    That said, I wouldn't have moved here if there was a 20-unit building on the block so I imagine I wouldn't be thrilled about one getting built.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 days ago* (3 children)

    tell that to half of my renter friends who scream about rent prices but who also think no new apartments should exist and who are up in arms whenever a new apartment building is proposed in the city.

    you don't have to be own property to be a hypocritical dumbass on housing policy. just entitled enough to think you should have cheap housing costs and NOBODY ELSE ever should...

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  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago (2 children)

    I'm not saying NO ONE is a hypocrite but the most vocal opponents - and the ones most likely to show up to a city council meeting to complain - are property owners in the affected areas. The general whiners aren't moving the needle much

    I worked on a (unfinished as we did not "win") documentary about Chicago's bid to host the 2016 olympics so I spent a LOT of time at those and it was exclusively rich people living in gentrified areas

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  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago* (1 child)

    do you go to city council meetings?

    I have. It's not just property owners. it's a lot of different people who show up, and most of them are dumb as rocks and spout ignorant nonsense, because what they are really doing is vocalizing their feelings that they don't like change.

    and then when someone who is informed or smart shows up, people shout them down as if they are pushing a conspiracy on them, or concern troll them with ridiculous scenarios or demands.

    You can blame the rich all you want, in my life experience in housing policy, everyone is an idiot about it, the difference is the rich have the lawyers to gum up the system, but often poor people will do the same way via an advocacy group.

    Being poor or renting doesn't' make you a saint, despite what lemmy idealists seem to think.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 days ago

    do you go to city council meetings?

    Yes, read the second paragraph in my post lol

    I haven't been to one since COVID (and now I've moved) but I was also at almost every meeting about the redevelopment of my neighborhood. I lived in a working class commuter area and the only opponents to the apartment buildings were the rich homeowners in the neighborhood over. Their biggest stated concerns were the congestion.

    They wanted more chain stores but lost the fight. Even their alderman came out in support of construction so they lost

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  • [–] 23 points 5 days ago

    Considering how deep in the red the bar is that it's relying on volunteers, success might not exactly be the word. Since it's got on one remaining owner who was only in it to support two owners who've left, the bar is not going to be around much longer without a dedicated, forgiving customer base. I have seen similar establishments with much more accommodating followings close.

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