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Gay bar becomes a haven in storm-ravaged Galveston
Tue Sep 16, 4:22 AM ET
As Galveston told its
remaining residents on Monday to leave the Texas island
devastated by Hurricane Ike, Robert's Lafitte, a gay bar, was
planning a pre-curfew drag show and Tina Turner sing-along.
The first of two bars to reopen after Ike's onslaught on
Saturday, Robert's Lafitte is a haven in the storm -- for gays,
straights, anyone who needs a place to drink and find comfort.
"You can see there's not too much worry and stress on
people's faces," said Dixie Monroe, a transgender barmaid who
wore a tiger-print cowboy hat and a low-cut top.
Outside, Black Hawk helicopters clattered overhead and
emergency teams searched for people stranded in the flooded
city of 60,000 people. Up the street lay a huge field of
splintered wood.
Big Mouth Robert, the establishment's owner and a former
female impersonator, said the bar took 3 feet (1 metre) of
water and closed when Ike's fury blew out the windows. But
after a mop-up the next morning, Robert's Lafitte was back in
business.
"All of our customers kind of demanded it," said Robert.
"It's their bar and they kind of dictate what's going on. We're
survivors."
Tina Turner is the artist of choice at the bar, given that
she survived another Ike -- her abusive husband Ike Turner.
The bar is setting out food donated by locals for people in
need. Some 20,000 people are thought to be still on the island
and food and water are scarce.
"It's more than a life saver. This is like the Coast
Guard," said Brian DeLeon, a straight restaurant worker who had
not visited the bar before.
"These are the people who take you up out of the water and
make life livable. Once I get back to work, I'm coming back
here."
(Reporting by Tim Gaynor; writing by Mary Milliken; Editing
by Chris Wilson)
