El Paso Gay Bar Owner Attends Trump Rally

(image via Instagram)

An owner of a gay bar in El Paso, Texas, has come under fire for attending Donald Trump’s recent rally in his city.

Johnny Alcantar, one of five owners of The Old Plantation (known as the OP), not only took in the event but posted photos on his Instagram with other Trump supporters next to a Trump banner.

The post has since been deleted from Alcantar's Instagram but not before being screen captured.

Alcantar has since disabled commenting on the post, but left the photo up.

A local drag queen and DJ, Puto Kahlo, noticed the post and shared it via social media saying he was “disgusted.”

In his Facebook post, Kahlo wrote, “Y’all, straight people are the first to try to profit off of our community and our art but won’t hesitate to support a man who has called trans people burdens, hasn’t done shit for community but try to erase us, degraded women, and perpetuated racist and xenophobic rhetoric.”

The post has been shared over 700 times at this writing.

Owner and CEO of the Old Plantation, Mark Adkins, apologized in a statement saying,”The Old Plantation Nightclub does NOT support Trump’s views or opinions especially towards our LGBTQ community.”

Adkins went on to say Alcantar is a minority stakeholder in the club and does not “represent The Old Plantation, its ownership or our community in any way.”

Additionally, the statement noted Alcantar had been spoken to about the Instagram post and “expressed his regret for posting about the rally on social media and his fundamental lack of knowledge about the ways in which Trump’s administration is working to stifle the rights of the LGBTQ community, as well as the rights of others in the greater El Paso community.”

The CEO closed his message saying, “It’s very easy to forget how to express and show love and respect when politicians, including our own president, are spreading division through their words and policies. We have faith, however, that love will always win.”

Local news station KTSM spoke with Alcantar who said he only attended the rally to see a sitting president.

"It was never my intention to hurt anyone," Alcantar told KTSM. "I didn't know the stuff that Trump was passing."

"I don't agree with everything that Donald Trump says," he added, "But I have to support our President because he's our current president; I don't have any other choice."

Alcantar also mentioned he “has gay friends and family members.”

Now, there's a tired old trope...

Some members of the El Paso LGBTQ community are calling for a boycott of the club, which recently reopened after years of being shuttered.

What do you think, readers?

Is it plausible a straight man who invested in a gay bar in Texas had no inkling of Donald Trump’s attacks on the LGBTQ community?

Should the local community hold the bar responsible for a “minority stakeholder” attending a Trump rally?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Melissa McCarthy On Her First Visit To A Gay Bar

Speaking to PrideSource, actress Melissa McCarthy was asked about her experience the first time she stepped into a gay bar after growing up in rural Illinois:

"I thought, “Where has this been all my life?” That’s the honest to god truth.

"There was a feeling of anything goes, you’re OK, no one’s gonna find you odd. What you’re wearing, who cares! What you’re doing, dancing all night! There just was a celebration innately built in.

"It’s like, I didn’t go there to be somber, I went because I was like, there’s such a feeling of unity and I never felt… I just… I really did, I had such a strong reaction to it.

"It’s like, I think, certainly, from many of my friends I was with as they came out and struggled with their families or had delightfully surprising responses from their family, to have a place to go where they were just fully accepted, a lot of joy went with that.

"So I kind of sat in the backdrop of that and enjoyed it."

McCarthy plays lesbian "Lee Israel" in her latest film, poignant Oscar-worthy dramedy “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” currently in select theaters.

Nashville Gay Bars Receive Ominous Hate Mail With Images Of Donald Trump & An Assault Rifle

(screen capture via NewsChannel 5)

NewsChannel 5 in Nashville, Tennessee, reports that a disturbing flyer with an image of a gun has been sent to at least several gay bars in the city.

Melvin Brown, owner of the bar Stirrup, told the local news channel he received the flyer in his mail last Thursday.

The flyer depicts the letters “LGBT” but instead of representing ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender,’ above each letter are images of the Statue of Liberty, a gun, a beer bottle and Donald Trump.

On the back of the flyer was a stamp of the word MAGA, the common Trump campaign slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’ and a return address that led reporters to a vacant lot in downtown Nashville.

"When you put a picture of an assault riffle on there, which was used in the Pulse shooting, and you mail it to every LGBT bar in Nashville - that is coming from a hateful place,” said Brown. “To say that it's disturbing is an understatement.”

The flyer, which some are calling ’targeted hate mail,’ didn’t mention or appear to be associated with any particular political campaign, but Brown says he believes it was inspired by the midterm elections.

“The midterms are right around the corner and I think somebody is trying to incite a reaction,” Brown added.

At least four gay bars in the Nashville area have reported receiving the flyer.

Watch the report from NewsChannel 5 below.

News Round-Up: January 30, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Nick Jonas covers Clash Magazine (in sexy leather pants) for a piece that chronicles his creative evolution from boy bander to A-list pop music artist/actor. #ThirstTrap

• San Francisco's oldest gay bar closed its doors this past Sunday after 108 years. #OurHistory

• Party drug GHB is making a comeback (witness the death of reality star Joel Taylor last week). Click over to The Gaily Grind for lots of good info on the dangers of the drug.

• A new study shows a "vote by mail" program across the U.S. would increase voter participation in elections.

• Following Donald Trump's "State of the Union" address, the Human Rights Campaign's Sarah McBride will join other equality activists for "The People's State of the Union response over at NowThisNews.

• I recently featured out singer/songwriter Calum Scott's new music video for his soaring romantic anthem, "You Are The Reason" here on The Randy Report.

But sometimes you want a little more pep in your giddy-up. So, check out the newly-released bouncy John Gibbons remix of "You Are The Reason" below.

News Round-Up: December 15, 2016

Some news items you may have missed:

• "Cause we need a little Christmas, right this very minute..." via Randy Report fave, Alexander Abramov.

• Could New Zealand approve same-sex marriage before super-gay Australia? Maybe.

• Interesting article from the Indy Star on the closings of gay bars across the country. The writer points to the popularity of gay dating apps as well as the growth in tolerance for LGBTs as causes for the decline of gay watering holes.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin denies he had anything to do with cyber-hacking the DNC during the U.S. presidential race. What a surprise.

• A Louisiana judge has struck down Governor John Bel Edwards’ executive order protecting LGBTQ state workers and contractors from discrimination.

• After 8 years of forward movement for LGBT rights in the U.S., leaders of the movement are preparing to shift back to a defensive stance with the incoming Trump administration.

• Just hours after Vanity Fair gave the Trump Grill a bad review, Donald Trump tweeted an attack on the magazine and it's editor. This is really how it's going to be for the next four years?

Cute Straight Guy Explains Why He Goes To Gay Bars

I've posted videos by popular YouTuber (and LGBT ally) Chris Thompson before, and always like his point of view.

Apparently, I missed a recent video he shared where he mentioned going to a gay bar (did I mention he's openly heterosexual?)

It seems he got some backlash from some folks who didn't like the idea of a straight guy in a gay bar.

So, Thompson is back with this explanation as to why he hangs at a gay bars occasionally.

For the record, I have NO problem with straight dudes in gay dude bars. None.