Bars That Were, SPECIAL
EDITION Part 2
WOW... do we have a real treat for our readers!
"Pat the Plumber" has given us permission to reprint 3
articles that she wrote for Womyn's Words!
Her articles were called Nostalgia Corner...
We will be keeping these articles in our "Bars That Were"
section, located on our home page at
www.MCFILMFEST.com
for future audiences to enjoy too!
A Huge Community Thank You goes out to "Pat
the Plumber"!
Now from Womyn's Words July 2003
Part 2 of 3
Tampa Night Life for Lesbians in the 70's
Where were you in the 70's and early 80's? Where
did you go to dance and prance, cruise and lose or meet womyn before
chat rooms, Salon, Gay Pride, gay organizations, gay support groups,
gay churches and Linda's dynamic dances?
"Womyn's Music" was blossoming in the early 70's
with Olivia records producing Cris Williamson's breakthrough album
The Changer and the Changed and Meg Christian's Ode to a Gym
Teacher. While we were able to listen to lesbian music in our
homes, we went to the bars for socializing.
Tampa's gay and lesbian gathering places in the
50's were a night club called The Knotty Pine downtown and Jimmy
White's on Kennedy Blvd. Going to those incurred the risk of being
arrested and carted off in paddy wagons after the numerous raids on
gay bars. Being arrested for just being there could mean public outing
in the newspaper and loss of job, privacy, and rights in the very
homophobic 50's and 60's on the skirts of McCarthyism and Johns
Committee in Florida.
When I moved to Tampa from Cleveland in 1975,
Jimmy White's had become "Cucojo's" It was quite large
with an accommodating dance floor and stage, complemented by paintings
and posters on the walls of intriguing, cavernous hallways.
After drumming and before plumbing, my first job in
Tampa was as a barmaid at the Sheraton Inn downtown. When I got off
work at 1:00 a.m., Cucojo's was my oasis after a night of
artificial heterosexual hyperbolic conversation. Week nights were
quiet andthus became my "safe place" where I met Zelda D., who worked
at the Springs Movie Theatre until 1:00 a.m. also. Zelda would read
and write poetry right there at the bar. It was through my friendship
with Zelda that I met Diana Estorino who published Network News,
a Tampa lesbian newsletter in the 80's, and who produced wonderful New
Year's Eve parties for us at the Armory.
Week night regulars at Cucojo's were
literally the salt of the earth - working class gay people with
socially prohibitive evenings because of their work hours, finding
friendship and acceptance at this bar owned by Mama Dee. Mama Dee
celebrated holidays and special occasions with memorable galas. Her
partner, Mama Pat, went all out on St. Patrick's Day with an Irish
feast and personally pouring a shot of Irish whiskey for everyone and
bestowing a kiss from a "real Irish Mother." Mama Pat continued that
personal touch when she operated the Carousel Lounge.
We were greeted at the door at Cucojo's by
"Big Lu," the quintessential butch of her time, and served our
respective libation by Dolly, who tended that long, long, bar with her
scooting stool, and compensated her height with a beaming smile.
Along with Art, the other bartender at Cucojo's,
Zelda and I ventured out to Tampa's gay night life - Rene's
on Kennedy, where the serpentine locomotion of the crowed dancing to
The Hustle was mesmerizing, the KiKiKi where the
leatherguys in action were titillating, and the Ohio Bar
downtown where looks and classism did not permeate the camaraderie,
diversity or character of the mixed crowed, and you could engage in
campy or intellectual conversation without the throb of disco music.
The murder of Harvey Milk in 1976 was a heartbreaking subject, as was
the assassination of the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. the
subsequent acquittal of Dan White with his "twinkie" defense in the
Harvey Milk murder is a shameless chapter in the history of injustice
to homosexuals. But that is another story for another issue.
The music of that time affected our interaction in
the social culture. Especially remembered are those songs we danced
to, sang to, and had flirtatious liaisons while listening: The
Rose by Bette Midler, Love Hangover by Diana Ross,
Best of My Love by the Eagles, Misty Blue by Dorothy
Moore, When Will I See You Againn? by Three Degrees,
Rapture by Deborah Harry and Blondie, Don't Leave Me This Way
by Thelma Houston, I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor, YMCA
and In The Navy by The Village People, and This Is My Life
by Shirley Bassey, extraordinarily performed in drag by Lady Alexandra
at Cicojo's.
Because the bars in St. Pete closed at 2:00 a.m.
and Tampa's closed at 3:00 a.m., a cheerful group from The Patio
(owned by Marilyn of Marilyn's Closet and then Rhoda and
Peggy D.) would toodle over the bridge to rendezvous for "last Call"
at Cucoj's or the Carousel. We would all go to
breakfast with the drag queens at Ayres Diner on Dale Mabry
or Steak and Eggs on Kennedy where the atmosphere was not
blatantly homophobic.
When I stared working for Griffin Plumbing, I had
my evenings open to attend the women's softball league games at the
ball field on Sligh Avenue. Along with my good friend Nikki Economou,
we hooted and rooted for our favorite team which included the
athletic, graceful Dory, who was then a student and now a respected
physician in Tampa. Nikki and I were among several women who had
crushes on Dr. Dory way back then. The team coach was an encouraging,
spirited woman named Cindy... memory fails me with the team name.
Nikki Economou was instrumental in the development
of the TampaAIDS Network and was deservedly recognized at
"the AIDS Answer Lady" working for the Florida Department of Health
and Rehabilitative Servers. She left this area in 1987, and wherever
she is, the "Greek Princess" is missed and loved.
In the 1980's the club scene changed in Tampa with
the emergence of larger, more sophisticated bars - Tropical
Heatwave, Margie's. B.J.'s, Rumors, Papillon, and Kim's Fantasy Room.
These larger venues brought in nationally known lesbian entertainers
and I fell in love with Theresa Trull after seeing her perform at
B.J.'s. Barbara (B.J.) opened the Flamingo in Clearwater
in 1988 where our "over 40" group had many an enjoyable meal and
meeting.
The USF gay organization produced concerts
featuring Lucy Blue Temblay and Castleberry and DuPree. And we could
listen to our music on WMNF's Women's Show with Joan Scoville
starting in 1979. Blessed by WMNF and their independent voice,
unfettered by ownership of the rightwing megawatt megachannel
monsters.
In the early 80's we were going to the movies to
see films reflecting ourselves - Lianna, The Rose, Personal Best,
and Cher as a lesbian in Silkwood.
Lest I forget Pasco County... I spent much time in
the 70's with a lover in Port Richey. At that time, Pasco County
sisters were quite isolated (no gay bars at all) so we gathered at
T.J.'s Pour House on US 19 where the closet proprietress welcomed
us. Thankfully I get to see some of those women from that group when
they drive down to attend Linda's dances. It was within that group of
women that I met the late Pat Gonzalez, who was one of the original
organizers of the Springs Shelter in Tampa.
Our Community is indeed a constant circle of cycles
and changes.
-Pat the Plumber
Foot note: "Pat the Plumber"
is now retired and living in the Tampa Bay area. You may contact her
at
wackygirls@webtv.net
Look for more Nostalgia from "Pat the
Plumber" next week....
What a great last couple of week with Big Movies being released on
DVD. Among the best being released are Oscar
nominated and Oscar Award winning films.
"The Queen" an intimate,
revealing and often humorous portrait of the British Royal
Family in crisis immediately following the car crash death of
Princess Diana, stars Helen Mirren
as Queen Elizabeth II. "DreamGirls"
all about the 1960's era music industry with very
similar comparison with , shall we say Diva Dianna Ross!
Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce and Jamie Foxx
hold you to your concert sitting couch and chairs. Both are 2 for the
home coffee table kids! Still on tops though is a great "have-to-have"
DVD, "Another Gay Movie."
SING FOR THE CURE: A Proclamation of Hope 
1. Museum
of Science and Industry »
