Riverfront Times, June 22, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

1

2

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

1

RIVERFRONT TIMES

MARCH 6-12, 2019

riverfronttimes.com

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

3

$

0 5 + m r estaur o r f s r e g ants r u b !

6

Courtesy of Pit Stop STL

SAVE THE DATE! St. Louis Burger Week is back for its fourth year! Support your local restaurants for St. Louis Burger Week and enjoy $6 burgers all week long! The idea is to get people to embrace the food, and culture of St. Louis while getting them out to eat, drink, and try new places. Navigate your way through the city with our official St. Louis Burger Week passport- will be available online and participating burger week restaurants closer to the event. Grab four or more stamps, submit your information and a picture of your passport, and be entered to win gift cards and an ultimate St. Louis Burger Week prize pack.

JULY 18-25TH, 2021 PRESENTED BY:

Est. 1879

MORE BEING ANNOUNCED DAILY!

BURGERWEEKSTLOUIS.COM | FOLLOW US Interested in participating? Contact stlouisburgerweek@citybeat.com 4

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

THE LEDE

5

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

“St. Louis is often in the spotlight for things we’re not proud of, and I think Pride alone shows we really do have a sense of inclusiveness and a sense of wanting people to want to feel like they’re welcome here. Pride is an opportunity to do that.”

HARPER ZIELONKO, PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE TOWER GROVE PRIDE CARE-A-VAN, ON SUNDAY, JUNE 6 riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

5

Pride, Considered

P

ride celebrations were an early casualty of the pandemic in 2020, and though we’re in a different place this year, the typically festive month feels different.

We’ve seen new leaders step forward, such as Alderman Bill Stephens, profiled this week by Patrick Collins, and the young Missouri Courage Scholarship winners whom Melissa Meinzer highlights. But it’s also a year that state Republicans targeted trans Missourians, adopting a national GOP attack point as a political strategy.

Don’t miss Danny Wincentowski’s piece on the lives of four young friends and their families. And it’s been a year when more of St. Louis’ LGBTQ spaces have disappeared. Elizabeth Van Winkle went to the last night for one of those spots, JJ’s Club House, and came away with an essay on a troubled legacy. It’s been a Pride Month like no other, and we’ve got a lot of thoughtful pieces for you to consider.

—Doyle Murphy, editor in chief

TABLE OF CONTENTS Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

E D I T O R I A L Digital Editor Jaime Lees Interim Managing Editor Daniel Hill Staff Writer Danny Wicentowski Contributors Cheryl Baehr, Eric Berger, Jeannette Cooperman, Mike Fitzgerald, Ryan Krull, Andy Paulissen, Justin Poole, Theo Welling, Ymani Wince Columnists Thomas Chimchards, Ray Hartmann Editorial Interns Zoë Butler, Holden Hindes, Erin McAfee, Jack Probst, Victor Stefanescu A R T

& P R O D U C T I O N Art Director Evan Sult Production Manager Haimanti Germain M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Chuck Healy Digital Sales Manager Chad Beck Director of Public Relations Brittany Forrest

COVER Pride Is a MultiSplendored Thing

C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers

St. Louis celebrates a Pride Month like no other Cover photo by

ERIN MCAFEE

N A T I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

INSIDE The Lede Hartmann News The Big Mad Feature Cafe Short Orders Reeferfront Times Culture Calendar Savage Love 6

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

E U C L I D M E D I A G R O U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein www.euclidmediagroup.com

5 9 10 13 14

S U B S C R I P T I O N S Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 5257 Shaw Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63110. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (MO add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (MO add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com The Riverfront Times is published weekly

by Euclid Media Group | Verified Audit Member Riverfront Times PO Box 179456, St. Louis, MO, 63117 www.riverfronttimes.com General information: 314-754-5966 Founded by Ray Hartmann in 1977

22 24 28 31 33 37

Riverfront Times is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1.00 plus postage, payable in advance at the Riverfront Times office. Riverfront Times may be distributed only by Riverfront Times authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Riverfront Times, take more than one copy of each Riverfront Times weekly issue.

The entire contents of Riverfront Times are copyright 2021 by Riverfront Times, LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the expressed written permission of the Publisher, Riverfront Times, PO Box 179456, St. Louis, Mo, 63117. Please call the Riverfront Times office for back-issue information, 314-754-5966.

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

7

8

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

HARTMANN So Much Losing Will Missouri taxpayers ever tire of losing other people’s lawsuits?

BY RAY HARTMANN

E

ric Schmitt did what Eric Schmitt does last week.

He lost a big lawsuit outside of Missouri. Badly. And then tried to pretend like nothing happened. That’s how the man rolls.

Schmitt, working his side hustle as Missouri attorney general, got crushed last week before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices ruled 7-2 that the states represented

by Schmitt and his friend group of GOP-vote-starved attorneys lacked standing to bring forward the umpteenth Republican effort — and third at SCOTUS — to kill the Affordable Care Act. Sound familiar?

In December, Schmitt wasted Missouri taxpayer resources to join the infamous Texas case challenging the election of President Joe Biden on behalf of loser Donald Trump’s Big Lie. At the time, Schmitt loudly proclaimed, “We’re in the fight!” The fight ended in an early first-round knockout, with the case rejected out of hand by a Supreme Court packed with a 6-3 conservative Republican majority.

In November, Schmitt had joined the original Big Lie case challenging Pennsylvania’s mailin voting. Same pigheaded thinking. Same taxpayer waste. Same result: SCOTUS tossed the case unceremoniously.

In August 2019, Schmitt joined a Kentucky case to argue that LGBTQ Americans must not be protected under Title IV of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Same pigheaded thinking. Same taxpayer waste. Same result. SCOTUS rejected employment discrimination by a 6-3 vote.

The pattern is rather clear.

Schmitt has repeatedly — and shamefully — misused his state office to score cheap political points with Trump and the Republican base. Not one of these

cases related to the business of the state of Missouri. In not one was the legal defeat a close call. In not one did Schmitt show an ounce of contrition.

Obviously, the big national story last week was that Obamacare had survived again, leaving the country facing the harsh reality that tens of millions of its citizens will keep their affordable health coverage. But in Missouri — where people can at least still take comfort that the state government is fighting (and willing to forgo billions) to keep 250,000 needy citizens uninsured by Medicaid — the focus really should have been on Schmitt.

The unbowed loser.

Here’s how Schmitt reacted to his latest defeat, as reported by the Kansas City Star: “We’re certainly disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision today, and that the case wasn’t decided on its merits but rather procedural grounds,” Schmitt said. “As Missouri’s Attorney General, I have a solemn obligation to defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Missouri — that’s exactly what I did in this case and what I will continue to do.”

Certainly disappointed, eh? I don’t know much as a layperson, but wouldn’t you check off the “standing” box before investing the time and energy — of taxpayer-funded lawyers — to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court?

Schmitt graduated with distinction from the Saint Louis University School of Law — a highly respected institution — but did he just miss the classes about parties needing to have standing to bring a lawsuit? Maybe he forgot what they taught in Procedural Grounds 101 or whatever it’s called.

It’s a lame excuse for lawyers to whine that they didn’t lose “on the merits” when their case was too weak to get past the clerks. The justices turned them away like telemarketers. Had they not, it’s a good bet that the Amicus Brief Gang would have lost on the merits, too.

Read the scoreboard, Sparky: You didn’t just lose by a 7-2 SCOTUS vote. You were denied entrance by a 4-2 vote of Republican justices and a 2-1 vote of Trumpappointed justices. And if you

The pattern is clear: Schmitt has repeatedly and shamefully misused his state office to score cheap political points. Not one of these cases related to the business of the state of Missouri. can’t win over Justice Clarence Thomas on an Obamacare case, you got no game.

Still, we’ve got to endure this man who has little to no major trial experience aside a stunt cameo in a St. Louis murder case — certainly not one before the U.S. Supreme Court — telling us about his “disappointment” with the justices. Right. I’m “disappointed” there will be no Pulitzer Prize for this column.

Now, about those “solemn obligations.” Turns out, other people have them, too. One is to remind Schmitt that he wasn’t appointed a judge, nor chosen Republican Party chairman. He was elected to serve as Missouri’s top lawyer, representing and protecting all its citizens in matters pertaining to the law.

The term “all” in this context means everyone. As opposed, say, to just the Republicans in Missouri. Or just the people who voted for Schmitt. And nowhere in Schmitt’s solemn oath was there any reference to an obligation to jump on every politically enticing legal bandwagon in every other red state.

Just as Schmitt was brushing off his Obamacare whupping, it was announced Missouri would join “in support of a recent decision striking down California’s assault weapons ban,” the Missouri Times reported. And that’s on the heels of joining an anti-abortion GOP le-

riverfronttimes.com

9

gal effort last month in Arkansas.

And a March case — also hopeless — to thwart Biden’s efforts to cancel permits for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Sometimes, Schmitt doesn’t bother with a lawsuit. In the past month, he has used his position to challenge the Biden administration’s environmental policies and to take on critical race theory. In some cases, Schmitt can find some legal basis — direct or contorted — as a rationalization for embarking on these political missions.

Sometimes not.

But the bottom line is that it doesn’t matter to him. One need go back deep into the twentieth century — when Democrats enjoyed unchallenged one-party rule in the state — to find as politicized an attorney general’s office as the one Schmitt operates. (Not counting Josh Hawley, who wasn’t there long enough to find his office without a map.)

Schmitt simply doesn’t waste time with boundaries.

St. Louis attorneys Elad Gross and Mark Pedroli are waging an ongoing legal effort to expose the degree to which Schmitt has blurred or ignored long-established lines to separate governmental and political activities. A particularly intriguing item regards communications related to what would become the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Schmitt’s office has consistently maintained the preposterous position that there’s no cost to Missouri taxpayers for all these outof-state legal efforts if they can be handled with existing staff.

That, of course, presumes the staff wouldn’t be devoting that time to Missouri business if not for the politicized, national stuff.

Sadly, that might be true.

Schmitt acts as a politician first, an attorney general second. A distant second.

That’s what Eric Schmitt does.

Maybe it’s a blessing that he’s a loser. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhar tmann1952@gmail.com or catch him on Donnybrook at 7 p.m. on Thursdays on the Nine Network and St. Louis In the Know with Ray Hartmann from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

9

10

NEWS

Ex-Cop Guilty in Beating of Undercover Officer Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

E

x-St. Louis cop Dustin Boone has been found guilty of a federal felony in the beating of a lack undercover officer whom he mistook for a protester.

Jurors on Thursday afternoon convicted the 38-year-old son of a former city cop of violation of civil rights for his role in the September 17, 2017, attack on Detective Luther Hall. Jurors couldn’t reach a decision on Boone’s codefendant, ex-police officer hristopher Myers.

Boone and Myers, 30, were among dozens of city cops assigned to the department’s civil disobedience team, or “riot police,” who swept up more than 120 people that night in 2017 during protests that followed the acquittal of a white ex-police officer in the killing of of a Black man. Hall, who was embedded with protesters, later told investigators that a group of uniformed officers “beat the fuck out of him like Rodney King,” even though he followed their orders.

Prosecutors alleged Boone aided and abetted others during the beating. Myers was accused of smashing a cellphone the detective had been using to record events.

Hall was among more than twenty people who alleged police brutalized them during arrests that night, but no criminal charges have been filed in response to any of the other complaints.

In a previous trial this spring, jurors deadlocked on Boone, acuitted another police officer codefendant, Steve Korte, and split on Myers, acquitting him on one count but failing to reach a decision on a charge of destruction of evidence.

The second trial began nearly

10

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Dustin Boone and his wife, Ashley Marie Boone, arrive for court. | DOYLE MURPHY two weeks ago. The case has made national headlines in part because of the trove of text messages FBI agents recovered after seizing officers’ cellphones. first batch, released following the indictment of Boone and Myers and two other officers, showed the two and ex-officer Randy ays gleefully boasting about beating protesters.

“It’s gonna get IGNORANT tonight!!” Boone wrote two days before the attack on Hall. “But it’s gonna be a lot of fun beating the hell out of these shitheads once the sun goes down and nobody can tell us apart!!!!”

The message proved prescient as the FBI and prosecutors from the .S. ttorney’s ffice began trying to prove the role Boone and others played in the attack.

Both trials included hours of attorneys on both sides of the case going over photos of a nearly homogenous group of police officers, obscured by the dark and their armor, including helmets and face shields. Just identifying who was who in pictures taken by a St. Louis American photographer became a herculean task — and an opportunity for defense attorneys to seed doubt about their clients’ involvement.

Multiple people who claimed police beat them during protests said officers intentionally worked to cover their tracks, concealing names on their uniforms and homing in on those filming so as

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

to destroy their cameras and evidence of the brutality at play.

In this second trial, prosecutors were allowed to introduce an additional batch of text messages that they said showed Boone and Myers had a habit of trying to conceal their behavior and, in Boone’s case, a bias toward Black people.

The messages span multiple incidents outside of the protests, but a judge found they could be used to better understand the ex-cop’s approach to policing. In one searing message after another, Boone used the N-word and described pummeling those who crossed his path during his short career as a St. Louis cop.

“Fuckin n*****s,” he wrote in one message to a fellow cop.

When one cop, now-former officer illiam “ eau” ethington, texted Boone in March 2018 that he hoped they had “beat that kids ass,” Boone’s response was disturbing. “We didn’t take him to children’s for nothin! Lol,” Boone texted, adding, “There r so many damn RT cameras in the fifth now, I had to literally drag him behind a privacy fence to avoid one. an’t believe how inconvenient they have made things!”

That, prosecutors alleged, helped show Boone was willing not only to beat suspects, but to take steps to hide what he was doing.

To Boone and Myers, Assistant .S. ttorney arrie onstantin told jurors, abusing protesters was fun. Prosecutors were able to show

that Boone livestreamed the attack on Hall and other events that night to his then-girlfriend, Ashley Marie Ditto. As part of the investigation, they recovered Facetime logs showing the times of the broadcast — and Ditto’s enthusiastic response: “That was S !!!!”

It was only after Boone and Myers learned that Hall was actually an undercover police officer that they regretted their actions, onstantin said. Prosecutors claimed Boone later married Ditto in a rush, hoping to prevent her from testifying.

The couple walked to court hand in hand last Thursday as Boone arrived for a second full day of jury deliberations. Reporters for KSDK and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who spent the day in the courthouse, reported that jurors sent a series of notes on Thursday, saying at one point that they had deadlocked.

U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber instructed them to keep trying.

Shortly before 4 p.m., jurors delivered their decision: Boone was guilty on all counts, and they were hung on Myers. “ s a police officer for the ity of St. Louis, Dustin Boone violated the sacred trust placed in him to serve and protect members of the community,” U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming said in a news release. “Our hope is this conviction serves as a deterrent to those who consider abusing their authority and a step toward restoring the community’s faith in the justice system and law enforcement.”

Special gent in harge Richard Quinn of the FBI St. Louis Division said, “ aw enforcement officers must obey the law as well as enforce it. Those who violate their oaths do a disservice to the communities they are sworn to protect and serve.”

The verdict leaves a question mark on any future prosecution of Myers, but it signals Boone is headed to federal prison. The violation of civil rights charges carries a maximum punishment of ten years.

S reporter hristine yers reported that Boone was allowed to remain on bond while awaiting sentencing. He and Ditto were in tears after the verdict, Byers added.

Two of Boone’s codefendants, ays and another former officer, ailey olletta, previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. n

McCloskeys Back Down, Take Plea Deal Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

M

ark and atricia c loskey, the infamous “St. Louis gun couple,” have pleaded guilty to criminal charges and are giving up the weapons they pointed at protesters on July 28, 2020. ark c loskey — who is currently trying to turn the armed temper tantrum into an entire campaign platform for his run for a U.S. Senate seat — pleaded on Thursday to assault in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor that will cost the mansion-having lawyer a fine of .

Along with Mark, Patricia Mcloskey pleaded guilty to seconddegree harassment, a misdemeanor that carries a , fine.

As part of the plea agreement, both will give up the guns they deployed during the incident — ark’s ri e and atricia’s pistol — and which made the couple instant darlings of conservative pundits and Republican officials. ut ark c loskey’s claim that an “angry mob marched to destroy my home and kill my family” — as he touts in a pinned post to his campaign Twitter account — was not borne out in the evidence evaluated by Richard allahan. In a statement released Thursday, the prosecutor wrote that “there was no evidence that any of [the protesters] had a weapon and no one I interviewed realized they had ventured into a private enclave.” allahan’s statement (which was first shared on Twitter by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joel urrier) describes the protesters as a “racially mixed and peaceful group, including women and children, who simply made a wrong turn on their way to protest in front of the mayor’s house.”

The statement noted that “While there was a back and forth conversation that resulted from Mcloskey’s display of guns, upon meeting the Association’s security guard further down the street,

The McCloskeys surrendered these guns as part of their plea deal. | THEO WELLING [the protesters] followed his directions and peacefully exited the neighborhood through a gate onto Lake Street.” allahan’s statement covered more than the evidence and the plea deal. He went out of his way to note that the plea agreement had nothing to do with the fact that the two defendants were lawyers — or that there has been “talk of a possible pardon” from Governor Mike Parson. riving his point further, allahan finished his statement with

Workhouse Emptied in Move to Full Closing Written by

JENNA JONES

W

ith a self-imposed deadline to close the Workhouse approaching, St. Louis Public Safety Director Dan Isom announced last week the city had moved the last of its detainees to the City Justice Center.

“This is a major accomplishment,” Isom said in a press phone call. “We are pleased with our current progress despite the case backlog due to COVID-19 and other major factors. The city is working hard to meet its goals, and repairs and upgrades are going well at the CJC.” Isom says the staff is meeting its timeline to close the Workhouse, officially named the Medium Security Institution, while keeping the health and safety of detainees and staff as a top priority.

However, as part of a “contingency

The city cleared out the Workhouse but will leave it open for “overflow.” | HEATHER TAYLOR plan” if the CJC becomes overcrowded, the Workhouse will have a single unit

open to host any overflow of detainees.

The overflow to be held at the Work-

riverfronttimes.com

a carefully worded message for arson, whose office is slowly addressing a backlog of thousands of clemency applications — among them nonviolent drug offenders trapped in lengthy sentences by a repealed law.

“If by happenstance,” allahan wrote, “the Governor does take the time to consider a pardon in this case, I hope it will trigger an interest in the backlog of pardon applications who may or may not merit executive clemency, but at least deserve an answer.” n house has not been decided. Isom said he hopes the number will be “fairly minimal.”

The CJC can hold 850 people. On the day last week that the workhouse was emptied, there were a total of 569 people confined, according to the mayoral office’s spokesperson Nick Dunne. Isom said with the last of the people being moved from the Workhouse, the CJC is at about 95 percent capacity. However, since the two jails will now combine their staffs, Isom feels there is an adequate amount of staffing at CJC. “We have developed contingency plans as we work to get the CJC fully upgraded so that the entire MSI complex can be rendered obsolete. At this point, there isn’t a need for an overflow into [the Workhouse],” Isom said.

“However, we are always planning for contingencies.”

Isom added the city is working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office “to make sure the proper people are being held” in jail and that they are keeping their numbers down to avoid overcrowding.

Continued on pg 12

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

11

WORKHOUSE

Continued from pg 11

“The population has been greatly reduced,” Isom said. “We are at a point in which we can manage the numbers in our CJC facility, but that will be an ongoing process as we work with our partners to keep those numbers low.”

The city is still working on repairs at CJC as they transition away from the Workhouse. Isom said that work should not impact the ability to hold those incarcerated in the city. Federal inmates have also been moved to other states to reduce capacity. Isom said the administration is working on a plan to ensure the detainees remain connected to their families.

The city is paid to house federal inmates, so St. Louis will see a loss of that revenue as those people go to other facilities. Isom said a decrease in the cost to feed and provide medical care to them will help cover the lost fees and there could be other budgetary adjustments to absorb the rest. Dunne said the mayor’s office also provided Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed with a list of recommendations for revenues that could offset the budget shortfall.

“These are revenue sources the budget director Paul Payne has identified that already exists, so we won’t be making any unnecessary cuts or will be at

12

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Closing the Workhouse has been a goal of activists for years. | HEATHER TAYLOR any additional expenses for the taxpayers,” Dunne said.

The Workhouse has long faced calls for its closure. The 56-year-old facility saw a flashpoint in 2017 when detainees were filmed screaming through the windows about blistering heat. Those locked inside claimed temperatures sometimes

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

hit 110 degrees, leading activists to ramp up the campaign for its closure.

Then-Mayor Lyda Krewson quickly installed temporary air conditioning units, but critics saw the move as a Band-Aid. The situation escalated from there, with a class-action lawsuit alleging “hellish conditions.”

With rare video footage released last month, the public was offered a look inside the place some describe as hell. The video shows insects crawling near the kitchen and the roof leaking water. The footage included views of sections shut down by Superintendent Jeffrey Carson, who said in the video he “didn’t like the feel” of certain aging parts and described a unit as “like an old dungeon.”

Mayor Tishaura Jones made a promise to close the Workhouse a prominent part of her mayoral campaign. But as the deadline she set nears, critics on the Board of Aldermen claimed that shutting down now would force overcrowding at CJC and put detainees and staff in danger. With last week’s announcement, the mayor has struck something of a compromise, hitting her deadline to close the aging jail, but leaving it as an option to alleviate any future overcrowding at CJC. Isom said the closure of the Workhouse was just one part of a threepronged approach to help the city reimagine public safety. The city is working with the U.S. attorney and the circuit attorney to try and clear the COVID-19 backlog of cases. Isom added the administration is investing in diversion programs “to help those who don’t belong in jail in the first place.”

“We want to get support and treatment and help those in need,” Isom said. “So, these are all the things we are doing to reform the process — and close MSI.” n

THE BIG MAD BAD IDEAS Chasing disaster in O’Fallon, a very McCloskey surrender and statebacked loan sharks Compiled by

DANIEL HILL

W

elcome back to the Big Mad, the RFT’s weekly roundup of righteous rage! Because we know your time is short and your anger is hot: GONE FAST: As if O’Fallon, Missouri, simply could not get any worse, the (now-ex) police chief announced a new, stupid change for his department: more police pursuits. After five police chases in two weeks, police Chief Philip DuPuis promised more in an interview with Fox 2. If you’re not familiar with the area, kids are always walking everywhere. What could possibly go wrong as cars fly by kids crossing the street just trying to get a damn hamburger from McDonald’s? Dupuis claimed officers know when to back off.

Forgive our skepticism: Police pursuits resulted in 1,699 fatal crashes nationally in the years 2014 to 2018. Missouri had 63 of those deaths, with bystanders comprising nearly half the dead. And if you’re wondering whether Dupuis had anyone in mind when describing his chase thirst, he made it clear: “Our message here in St. Charles County is you might want to think twice before coming across the river, because all of the agencies in St. Charles County are going to be doing everything they can to catch you and put you in jail,” he told Fox 2. Ah yes, the old white flight tale of dangerous St. Louisans out to wreak havoc on the good suburbanites.

But maybe it’s all moot. Dupuis, who arrived eight months ago from Texas, has quit. He cited Missouri’s new Second Amendment Preservation Act and its potentially disastrous ramifications. Gotta respect that — this guy knows bad policies.

SURRENDER: We’re starting to think Mark McCloskey might be full of it. Our dude literally made “NEVER BACK DOWN” a Senate campaign slogan, mashing down that caps lock like one serious-ass boomer. And then this new fan of plaid snap-button shirts bails and takes a plea deal, admitting to misdemeanor assault.

Patricia McCloskey pleaded to misdemeanor harassment. They agreed to pay a fine and give up the guns they pointed at people in front of their house a year ago. That’s Mark “NEVER BACK DOWN”

McCloskey admitting he was the one who committed a crime that day and handing over his AR-15. Mark, an attorney who assured us “I am a proven fighter against this mob,” apparently surveyed the case and was afraid of fighting. Damn, it’s almost like you can’t believe what this guy says. Next we’ll learn (maybe from reading special prosecutor Richard Callahan’s statement on his findings) that it wasn’t a dangerous “mob” that the McCloskeys confronted, but a group of unarmed people cutting through the neighborhood.

It’s a lot to process. We are reminded of that immortal speech by Charlton Heston: “You can have my guns when I willingly surrender them to you to avoid an unfavorable outcome in court.” We may be off by a word or two. Mark, is that how it goes?

HOME DISILLUSIONMENT: While even society’s worst problems sound just a little more manageable when uttered in a sophisticated British accent, an episode of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight made it no less upsetting to learn Missouri (among others) is helping a privately run loan operation screw over poor and minority homeowners. On the June 20 show, Oliver targeted the Property Assessed Clean Energy program, a clean energy and home improvement program that, critically, is operated by private entities who are empowered to use the government’s tax collectors to extract loan payments — loans that can be approved without determing homeowners’ ability to pay it back. As Oliver poshly noted, “When PACE programs go wrong, they can go very wrong” — and that is the situation in Missouri. In April, a ProPublica investigation found more than 100 homes in St. Louis and Kansas City at risk of being sold at public auction because of unpaid PACE loans. It also appears that contractors — yes, contractors are also acting as loan salesmen in this crazy system — don’t always make sure elderly or impoverished homeowners know what they’re getting into. Also, because the loan amounts are pegged to home property taxes, the result is a familiar, racist map of home values: ProPublica found that 28 percent of borrowers in minority areas are at least one year behind in repayments, compared with 4 percent in mostly white areas. The report featured a Black resident living in her Walnut Park home valued at $8,000; she had been convinced to take out loans that will ultimately cost her $25,000. Those are numbers that can turn poverty into homelessness, and while Missouri’s legislature deserves credit for passing a bill this year to add oversight and consumer protections to the program, the damage has already been done. n

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

13

14

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

“Taylor” loves playing baseball on boys’ teams with his friends, and his parents worry what anti-trans legislation, including a bill directed at student athletes, would mean. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI

THE BOYS O

Four young friends, three of them trans, navigate childhood in St. Louis County as Republicans wage war on them and their parents

BY DANNY WICENTOWSKI

n a recent afternoon in June, four boys, none older than ten, tumble out of the front door of a home in west St. Louis County, their playgroup already in motion.

Three of the boys are trans. All four are friends, bonds they’ve maintained during the past year of pandemic oom calls after first meeting as classmates and teammates in St. Louis-area youth leagues.

Equipped with pogo sticks and basketballs, the boys run toward the backyard, passing through a group of adults sitting beneath the shade of a patio. ne boy is brie y detained when his father notices, and objects, to his son’s lack of shoes.

“He’s never felt anything but pride in being trans,” the father

says moments later, watching his son dash around the corner to rejoin his friends. “The school threw a party in his classroom on the year anniversary of him transitioning. The first graders in his class who knew him by a different name — it was nothing to them. It was drama free.”

“I really mean it,” he adds. “The only bullies in our kid’s life are in the state legislature.”

Not every trans kid is raised in such a family, surrounded by supportive friends, relatives and teachers. But for Missouri parents of trans kids, con ict with the legislature is part of the package: For years, conservative lawmakers have repeatedly advanced antitrans proposals that target trans children directly: In 2021, they included an attempt that would

restrict trans student athletes to playing on teams that matched the gender assigned at birth. Another bill, even more far-reaching, sought to expose parents to criminal charges of child abuse if they gave their trans kids doctorprescribed hormones and puberty-delaying treatments.

Those bills failed to become laws in 2021, but that may only buy families of trans children more time. On this day, while the kids play in the backyard, their parents are already worrying about next year’s legislative session.

“It’s this idea that my kid doesn’t know who he is, or what he feels,” says the mother of one of the trans boys. “They’re basically telling me that my kid is not human.”

It’s more than an idea. For some trans families, fighting the is-

riverfronttimes.com

souri legislature has become a regular part of their lives. Three of those families opened up to the Riverfront Times for this story, describing both their pride in watching their children ourish — and a duty to defend them in hostile territory.

O

n March 10, Daniel Bogard, a rabbi in St. Louis’ Central Reform Synagogue, arrived in the state capitol, one of more than a dozen speakers registered to speak in opposition to House Bill 33. The bill moved to ban doctors from administering “any medical or surgical treatment for the purpose of gender reassignment” before the age of eighteen.

This was a near repeat of 2020,

JUNE 23-29, 2021

Continued on pg 16

RIVERFRONT TIMES

15

PR IDE Is A Many-Splendored Thing

Farheen Ali Khan received a Pay It Forward Award. | PROVIDED

Missouri Courage Scholarships Support a New Generation Written by

MELISSA MEINZER

S

hortly after 2015’s landmark Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage in the United States, rural Dent County in Missouri made unfortunate national headlines. While it didn’t last long under massive public pressure, the county had decided the ruling was “an abomination” and voted to lower the flags at government buildings once a month for the next year.

This stuck in Dent County native Jacob Wilson’s craw in a pretty major way, so he decided to start a scholarship fund for the queer kids trying to thrive against such hatred. Days into his quest, Geneviève Steidtmann joined his efforts. Their plan was to raise $12,000 — $1,000 for each month the flag would be lowered. Donations poured in from around the globe and quickly surpassed that goal.

“Suddenly we were like, ‘Maybe we have a bigger responsibility here — what if we opened this to all of Missouri?’” says Steidtmann, now president of the executive board for the Missouri Courage Scholarship. Wilson and Tori Gale serve as vice presidents.

Support for the fund continued to pour in, and the nonprofit has been

16

RIVERFRONT TIMES

growing ever since. It partners with LGBTQIA and Pride organizations as well as high school counselors across the state, and they work with zero administrative overhead.

“This is our sixth year; we’ve now given out more than $130,000,” Steidtmann says. “We’re giving scholarships to trans kids who live in these tiny towns of 300 people. I don’t know how they get through the day!”

This year, the review committee considered anonymous applications, including grades and essays, from 263 students. Scholarships went to 24 kids from across the state — including a few St. Louisans.

Parkway Central High School graduate Farheen Ali Khan, eighteen, received a Pay It Forward Award. That particular scholarship highlights students with aspirations toward political science or journalism, and Khan has amassed an impressive resume of public service already.

“I founded and ran an organization in my school district called Students for Progressive Change,” says the Mizzou-bound Khan. “One of the things we wanted to change was our discrimination policy — it was really vague, not protecting anyone. We wrote our own policy and worked with the administration and the school board to be inclusive of gender identity and sexuality.”

She was also recognized with The Princeton Prize in Race Relations in 2020. Khan works with a variety of local organizations including St. Louis Pro-Choice Student Activists and Planned Parenthood.

“Being born and raised in MisContinued on pg 19

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

“Aiden” wrote out notes for his testimony against anti-trans bills. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI

THE BOYS

Continued from pg 15

when similar bills drew doctors and advocates from across the state to oppose them at committee hearings. Also in opposition were multiple families of trans children and teens who were themselves undergoing, and benefiting from, the hormone treatments lawmakers wanted to ban.

Bogard had been among those families. This year, the rabbi woke before sunrise and, leaving his young trans child at home with his wife, made the two-hour drive to Jefferson City to face the House Committee on Children and Families.

Bogard had arrived early for the 8 a.m. hearing, but there were so many speakers he was pushed to an afternoon over ow session. hen he finally rose to address the committee, the rabbi described what it was like to lie awake at night thinking of suicide rates and how puberty would force his child “to feel every day like your body is betraying you.”

It wasn’t the first time ogard had driven to the state capitol to

testify against legislation. He had watched as multiple young trans people struggled through tears during their testimonies, breaking down in sobs under questioning from lawmakers.

Bogard also wasn’t the only father to bare his feelings for legislative committees in March. Days earlier, during a hearing on a bill seeking to restrict trans athletes, Brandon Boulware, a Kansas Cityarea attorney, told lawmakers how he had had first rejected his daughter’s transition and forced her to wear boy’s clothes and play on a boys sports team — until the moment he realized that his child was miserable and deteriorating before his eyes, and that his attempt to correct her life “was teaching her to deny who she is.”

A clip of Boulware’s testimony was shared by the American Civil Liberties Union and soon went viral, racking up millions of views and drawing coverage in national outlets.

The video was inspiring; Bogard doesn’t dispute that. But he points out that, for trans families, these moments come at the cost of unveiling yourself, and your deepest hurts, before a committee of

A Many-Splendored Thing Is PR IDE strangers — including lawmakers who view you as a child abuser.

“These stories of my child’s journey through gender — these are personal, private, intimate, vulnerable things that we’re being forced to share,” Bogard tells the RFT in a recent interview. He notes that when he first testified against an anti-trans bill in 2020, his child had just come out.

“The very first people we told, literally the very first outside of family, were the people in that hearing room in Jefferson City.”

One year later, Bogard concluded his March 10 testimony begging the committee members to vote against the bill banning trans medical care. Citing the high suicide rates of trans teens, he explained that puberty blockers are “life-preserving.”

“Let these kids put off these hard, life-altering decisions until they are older, so I beg you,” he continued. “I don’t know how else to say it, I beg you — please don’t make my child and their health care a topic for debate in the state.”

But there is no debate — at least, there shouldn’t be. Among those testifying against the bill were two doctors from St. Louis Children’s Hospital. They pointed out that hormone treatments for trans children are carefully conducted over a span of years and, importantly, that puberty blockers are reversible. That was in contrast to claims by the bill’s sponsor, Republican Representative Suzie Pollock, that hormone treatments “permanently and prematurely medicalizes children for a condition that overwhelmingly resolves or desists by adulthood.”

Pollock had appeared in the hearing only brie y, at the beginning of the 8 a.m. session, just long enough to deliver a twentyminute presentation before leaving for other appointments, never to return.

Before her exit, she had defended her bill by claiming, without evidence, that the parents of trans children seeking hormone treatments are being “threatened,” as the kids are “being told that if this is what they want, they need to tell [their parents] they’re going to commit suicide.”

At another point in her presentation, Pollock argued that “children have developing brains” and “don’t grasp long-term consequences.” Under questioning by committee members, she insisted that she had filed the bill not out

Rep. Suzie Pollock claimed she filed legislation to block medical care for trans kids “out of love.” | SCREENSHOT of an intent to discriminate, but “out of love.”

“I guarantee you,” she said, “if this bill passes there will be children who will become adults and will thank me.”

The bill didn’t pass.

A

fter an hour of playtime in the yard, the boys are called back to their parents.

“Conor,” who is ten, had traveled with his mother in 2020 to testify against that year’s antitrans bills. His best friend, “Aiden,” who is not trans, had been invited to come along. (At the request of the parents, all names of children have been changed for this story.)

Before the trip to Jefferson City, Aiden and Conor had been friends for several years. They had already been teammates on a coed sports team in a private league.

Aiden says he remembers worrying that the law would separate them in the future.

“I did not want him to be on the girl’s baseball team,” he explains now. “I wanted him to be on my baseball team. I wanted to be with my friend.”

Aiden says he wants to show me something, and disappears inside the house. When he returns, he’s carrying a framed sheet of paper containing the handwritten notes for his testimony against the antitrans-athlete bills in 2020: He had covered the page’s borders with wiry illustrations of basketballs

and footballs. In a child’s block letters, he had written that the bills were “NON FAIR” and that “a team means working together with everyone on the team.”

From another chair, “Chase,” who is eight, interjects to mention that his classmates often debate whether boys are stronger than girls. This sparks an immediate group discussion between the four friends.

“It’s not true,” Chase explains confidently. “Some people think boys are stronger than girls, but sometimes actually the girl is stronger than the boy. But girls are not stronger than boys. Strongness isn’t with gender — just because boys are built different than girls, that doesn’t affect the strongness.”

Conor, the oldest of the group, has been playing with a Rubik’s Cube throughout most of the group interview. He perks up.

“Even if it was true that boys are stronger than girls,” he offers, “if you wanted to be on a sports team, you’re going to practice anyway.

If you’re practicing hard enough, you can be stronger than them.”

Chase agrees. “I’m one of the strongest kids in my class, and I was a girl before. So, it doesn’t matter if you were a girl or a boy.”

The boys’ discussion moves to a particular teacher who (according to the grade school rumor mill) had insisted that boys are given harder games and challenges because they are “built tougher” than girls. Conor interjects with

riverfronttimes.com

a relevant detail: He remembers hearing the same teacher describe how she herself had joined a men’s sports team “because she wanted something harder.”

“I found that cool and amazing,” Conor says. “It was like, yes, this was the boys team and they play rougher because they were built bigger and tougher, but she could still play on the team. If you feel like you’re good enough to play at the next level, you should be able to.”

Over the course of the discussion, the boys aren’t prompted by their parents. Their words are their words. They analyze and re ect on the issues of gender as they know it. When asked about their transitions, the three trans boys chatter back and forth, comparing experiences of choosing their names, telling their parents about “liking boy things” and coming out to their friends. They then spend several more minutes refining all the ways that boys and girls aren’t automatically tougher than each other.

On the other side of the patio, “Taylor,” also eight, explains to his father that the argument was so common amongst his class that it made him want to come out “later” to his parents.

“If I could have earlier, I would,” he says, haltingly at first. “ ut for some reason, some people believe that boys are stronger than girls.

I didn’t want them to think I was changing because I wanted to pretend to be stronger. So, I told them

JUNE 23-29, 2021

Continued on pg 19

RIVERFRONT TIMES

17

PR IDE Is A Many-Splendored Thing

Bill Stephens Is Proud to Serve Written by

PATRICK COLLINS

O

ther than a lone political scientist at Saint Louis University, nobody expected the 12th Ward to elect Bill Stephens to the city’s Board of Aldermen. “As the campaign drew to a close, I knew we’d done a great job,” Stephens says. “I wasn’t planning to lose, but I was certainly aware of the possibility.”

Instead, by fewer than 100 votes, one of St. Louis’ more reliably conservative and Catholic wards elected Stephens, an openly gay atheist whose many passions include studying languages, performing in drag and playing rugby. At 28, he’s the youngest elected (though not appointed) official in the city. Stephens describes the ward he now represents as incredibly diverse, home to police officers, firefighters, immigrant families and what he says is an unusually high number of drag queens.

Like most wards in St. Louis, the borders of the 12th appear to be random, although certainly they are anything but. Starting at the intersection of Hampton and Goethe, a jagged line extends in a generally southeasterly direction to Interstate 55, forming a boundary defined at various points by thoroughfares such as Morgan Ford Road, Holly Hills Boulevard, Loughborough Avenue and South Grand Boulevard. Weber Road, beyond which lies St. Louis County, sets the southwest boundary.

The ward includes the Carondelet, Boulevard Heights and Princeton Heights neighborhoods. It also includes Willmore Park, one of the city’s largest, in which Stephens is working on an environmental project that is in its early stages and that he believes will benefit the entire city.

Stephens kicked off his campaign by introducing himself as gay and atheist. Then he got down to the business of winning the election, a process during which his identity wasn’t much of a factor.

He believes that an incredibly diverse range of identities accrue to the community when people come

18

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Newly elected St. Louis Alderman Bill Stephens credits the LGBTQ community with inspiring him to run for office. | ERIN MCAFEE out. “That presents the beauty of our diversity, of course,” he says, “but it also presents the friction points. We’re united by our gay identity, but when so many other parts of our identity come into play, sometimes there’s friction.”

Pride, he says, can be an occasion to set that friction aside and focus instead on the commonalities.

Has the increase in mainstream acceptance lessened the importance of Pride? “From school to working at the library to public office, at every point the T community was there for me,” he says.

“So I think Pride is very important.

For me it’s a very intentional reaffirmation.”

Stephens credits the T community with inspiring him to run for office. “That community made me who I am,” he says. But he also credits his tenure at the St. Louis Public Library. As Celeste Covington, Stephens did several drag storytelling events, which led, ultimately, to him being encouraged to apply for a youth services provider position at the library.

“I wouldn’t say I even looked that

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

By fewer than 100 votes, one of St. Louis’ more reliably conservative and Catholic wards elected Stephens, an openly gay atheist. good in drag, but I sure can read a story,” he says.

The public service aspect of working at the library primed him for a run. “Much like the Board of Aldermen, when you’re working at the public library, you never know what’s going to come your way,” he says. “If you’re on the oor and someone asks you a question, you help. You’re not

there for the salary, but because you care about the public. Both the library and the board are such fulfilling jobs for a humanist.”

When he’s not at City Hall, Stephens is a hardcore student of languages. At Webster University, he studied French. He’s currently at Saint Louis University, where he’s pursuing a degree in Greek, Latin and French, and he would eventually like to pursue a doctorate in historic linguistics. “I wouldn’t be content with an empty plate,” he says.

Like all skilled politicians, Stephens skirts the issue of what office he might set his sights on next. But with the prospect of the number of wards in St. Louis being reduced from 28 to 14 in the near future, it would be difficult for Stephens to speculate on his future, even if he were inclined to do so, which he’s not. “As an atheist, I believe this is our one shot,” he says. “Let’s leave the world — and the city — a better place than we found it. I want the work I do in the next two years to benefit generations to come.” n

A Many-Splendored Thing Is PR IDE SCHOLARSHIPS Continued from pg 16

souri is a hard thing when you’re LGBTQ,” Khan says. “Being recognized in a scholarship like this, I’m incredibly grateful. It’s OK to be who you are! It’s an amazing thing to show other people what they can do.”

Madison Symone Alexander, eighteen, just graduated from Incarnate Word Academy and received the Tower Grove Pride Award. She’s bound for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

“Growing up in predominantly white schools and being one of the few, if not the only, Black kids in my class from first grade until my senior year of high school, I experienced more than I would like to say,” says Alexander. “The murders of Michael Brown and George Floyd each time sparked a fire in me to make the difficult decision between courage and complacency.”

As president of the school’s Diversity Club her junior and senior years, Alexander worked hard to improve equity and inclusion at the school, expanding the group’s mission statement. She also created affinity groups within the club, which came with some challenges

“Being born and raised in Missouri is a hard thing when you’re LGBTQ. Being recognized in a scholarship like this, I’m incredibly grateful.” at the Catholic institution.

“To be plain and simple, winning this scholarship means I am one step closer to my dreams,” she says. “I displayed my passion for making a difference, without the expectation of any gratitude or grand prize.”

Applications for next year’s awards open in December, and you can donate anytime. n

THE BOYS

Continued from pg 17

later.”

Eventually, the boys grow restless and are allowed to return to the backyard to play. Taylor’s father notes that his son often discusses his transition in more specific terms, particularly about growing a beard and body hair.

The other parents chime in with similar stories: Chase is asking whether getting married will mean he is a gay trans man. Conor, who is the closest to reaching puberty, “is suddenly very concerned with his breasts, which he calls ‘these things,’” his mother says.

What they don’t talk about, unless prompted by their parents, is the Missouri legislature.

“We have a lot of conversations,” Chase’s father says, turning to the other parents. “It’s the balance we’ve talked about, and I’m sure you all have this, too. How much do we keep him in this welcoming, accepting bubble? How much do we pop that for him, and let him understand what the rest of the world is like?”

riverfronttimes.com

Taylor, according to his dad, doesn’t seem old enough yet to imagine what a “medical ban” could mean for him in a few years’ time.

“We’ve told him that if the medical bill passes, we’ll move out of Missouri,” Taylor’s father says. “ e’ll figure it out, and he will never have to go through a unwanted puberty.”

But for now, Taylor is focused on other things. He’s obsessed with the St. Louis Cardinals. The eight-year-old’s “ultimate dream” is to play for a local high school varsity baseball team. In the family’s home days later, Taylor shows off his collection of baseball gear, modeling his batter’s helmet, bat and glove for photos.

As a boy, Taylor has already played in two separate youth sports leagues without issue. Now, his father says his son is starting to ask about attempts to ban trans athletes — and what that would mean for his place on the team.

“He’s not worried about the bills that much,” Taylor’s father says. “I think it’s the idea of not getting to play baseball that for him is really hard.” n

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

19

20

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

A Many-Splendored Thing Is Reckoning With the Legacy of JJ’s Club House on Its Last Night Written by

ELIZABETH VAN WINKLE

O

n June 2, 2017, I shakily made my way over the rough rock driveway, up the cement stairs into JJ’s Clubhouse (not without being rudely stopped by the doorman so he could search me while letting men pass by effortlessly).

This was the first time I would try to go into the leather bar, as I’d heard so many horror stories from queer women about the place over the years. The bar famously refused to let women in the bar at all, even kicking out some men for looking too “feminine.” When they eventually started letting women in, they had to be escorted in by a man and often patrons would block women from using bathrooms so they’d have to leave the bar completely.

On this particular night, I braved potential harassment and humiliation to see Justin Vivian Bond, Nathan Carrera, CHRISTEENE, Maxi Glamour, Cory Sever, and Joss Barton perform. A lineup of people who historically wouldn’t have even been allowed in the bar, now headlining one of the queerest and most interesting shows St Louis had ever seen.

The few men I passed to get to the dance floor were visibly angry at my presence, and I trudged on nervously to the performance space. In one night, these trans people and drag queens made these leather men squirm with poetry, subversive drag, and covers of Nina Simone and Dolly Parton, and it was glorious. At one point, Bond loudly dragged the bar, saying queer spaces with such misogynistic histories should just shut down and make way for new more queer spaces, as we all cheered.

“It sucks to mourn a bar with so many problems, but what choice do I have?

There is nowhere else to go,” lamented Jared Rourke once the announcement of the bar’s closure was posted on Facebook and the online tributes started to pour in. It’s true, leather spaces are disappearing almost as fast as lesbian bars.

Only 21 lesbian bars are left in the country, and it is unknown how many leather bars, as they often have to remain secretive for their survival.

Many bears, leather daddies and queer men who didn’t (and didn’t want to) fit the more widely accepted and palatable social norms of what it is to be “gay” found acceptance in the bodyand sex-positive atmosphere that the only leather bar left in St Louis provided.

The dance floor at JJ’s began filling early on the club’s last night. | ERIN MCAFEE

JJ’s was often not a welcoming place for people who weren’t white cis-gender men. | ERIN MCAFEE

Make-up and style was part of the final party as patrons arrived for the send-off. | ERIN MCAFEE For these folks, dancing around a St. Andrews cross half-naked or completely clad in leather was a much more enjoyable experience than standing around a bar, staring at TVs, being subjected to Cher’s “Believe” for the millionth time while bachelorette parties filed in to gawk at them.

JJ’s was a haven for men seeking to be submerged in radical queer sexuality and community in the unwelcoming and often dangerous culture of the Bible Belt.

It is, however, unfortunate that while unabashedly exploring their sexuality was a radical act, upholding white supremacy and misogyny in their space made them relics of our community as a whole. It was not shocking to many when it was announced a few years ago that the bar was up for sale.

On June 17, JJ’s opened for the last time. For a while, it was a truly wholesome atmosphere. While sadness was

present on many of the leather men’s faces, happiness and love spilled from their hearts as they ran into old friends and surveyed the space one final time, trying to make the moment last as long as possible. People stood in line for up to an hour to get a drink and many gave up and smuggled in beers from the trunks of their cars. A small dance party erupted amongst the trucks parked under the overpass across the street. If this were San Francisco, that overpass would be painted rainbow and a plaque would be erected in honor of all the gay sex had under it during the past two decades.

A photographer who joined me for the night and I made a point to not center white cis-gender men in our photos documenting the evening, as they’ve centered themselves all these years. These photos are for all the leather women, trans folks and people of color who have found it so difficult to find space and community

riverfronttimes.com

Ultimately, the end of JJ’s is the end of another LGBTQ+ space in St. Louis. | ERIN MCAFEE and are actively pushed out and erased by the white cis-men taking up all the space.

Every attempt was made to get consent from folks before these pictures were taken, as it is still legal to be fired for being LGBTQ+ or kinky in Missouri. It needs to be noted that 100 percent of the people who felt unsafe having their pictures taken were women/AFAB people, and stated they were afraid of losing their jobs.

As the evening came to an end and 10 p.m. rolled around, we were made to leave, while certain men lined up outside for a mens-only private party to close this chapter of St Louis queer history.

Elizabeth Van Winkle is a freelance writer in St. Louis.

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

21

22

CAFE

[REVIEW]

Zen and the Art of Sandwich Making Zenwich offers soul-satisfying surprises at every turn Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Zenwich 8 1/2 South Euclid Avenue, 314-833-3165.

Open every day 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

C

hai Ploentham wants you to think of his restaurant, enwich, as a deli first and foremost. That’s not difficult to do when you open your bag and pull out a beautifully butcher-paper-wrapped sandwich, sliced in half, and begin to tear into its contents. Crusty ciabatta bread adorned with mayo-dressed chiffonade lettuce makes you think, at first glance, that you’re about to enjoy an East Coast-style hoagie. owever, the first bite makes you realize this is something entirely different. Instead of the typical deli cold cuts, you’re greeted with the subtle crunch of battered shrimp and garlicky bread crumbs. And the lettuce is no iceberg but instead a verdant mix of peppery arugula and cilantro, all dressed in a sweet chili sauce aioli. There are echoes of both a banh mi and a shrimp po’boy, making you unable to pinpoint exactly what genre of food you’re eating. Whether it’s a deli, a PanAsian café or a fusion fast-casual spot doesn’t matter — which is exactly the sort of boundary-transcending experience Ploentham was going for.

Ploentham recognized Zenwich’s potential to reframe how we think about delis the moment he walked into the original location in Elmhurst, Illinois, about four years ago. He had just moved

22

RIVERFRONT TIMES

A sampling of the menu: vegan ramen, spicy garlic shrimp quinoa bowl, crispy chicken gyoza, mentaiko ramen and basil crab cake wrap. | MABEL SUEN to Chicagoland for his wife’s job and was taking in the area’s food scene when he happened upon the small, quick-service restaurant. True to his nature, he got to talking with the owner about how much he enjoyed the food and continued those conversations as he became a Zenwich regular. ventually, the owner confided that he was looking to sell the restaurant and wondered if Ploentham had any interest in buying it. Seeing his chance to take a successful concept and grow it into a multi-outlet brand, he agreed and took over that original Elmhurst spot in 2018.

This was not the first time loentham had been approached to buy a restaurant. In fact, the first time it happened was the push that sent him down the path to becoming a restaurateur. A Bangkok native who came to St. Louis for college, Ploentham began working in a restaurant to make some money and fell in love with the business — so much that when he was finished with school, he decided to go into the business full time. That job, with Sen Thai, took him to Las Vegas for a year, and when he returned to St. Louis, he decided that he was ready to open

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

a place of his own.

While in Las Vegas, he had the idea for an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant and figured it would work well in St. Louis. He opened that space in 2008 and found a good amount of success in it.

However, he was eager to learn all that he could about the restaurant business and reached out to the owner of the neighboring Japanese restaurant, Seki, to see if he could stage during the day to expand his knowledge. The owner agreed, and before he knew it, Ploentham became an integral part of the Seki team — so integral that when the owner decided he wanted to sell the restaurant, he offered Ploentham the chance to buy it.

Ploentham closed his all-youcan-eat sushi restaurant and bought Seki in 2011, converting it into the popular Japanese cuisine, ramen shop and cocktail spot Blue Ocean. Even after leaving for the Chicago suburbs four years ago, he continued to run the restaurant, traveling back to St. Louis several times a month to keep everything on track.

Because he was in town so frequently and was familiar with the area, it made sense that he’d eye

St. ouis as the first place to expand Zenwich. In January 2020, he signed a lease for a storefront in the Central West End and was prepared to open in April until the COVID-19 pandemic upended his plans. Even so, he needed to pay rent on the space, so he decided to open in June of last year and make as good a go of it as he could.

It turned out that Zenwich was the perfect template for pandemic dining. The restaurant is fastcasual, set up to do delivery and carryout, and even used QR codes for ordering as part of its model before they became ubiquitous.

Ploentham admits it hasn’t been easy — the restaurant is getting busier by the day, and he’s even preparing to start licensing the brand — but he believes in what he is doing because he believes in the product.

The aforementioned Spicy Garlic Shrimp sandwich is proof of why he’s so bullish about the Zenwich brand — and it’s far from the only piece of evidence. The menu is comprised of similarly global-in uenced sandwiches that inspire double takes because of all of the uni ue avors going Continued on pg 23

General manager and chef Joe Dang. | MABEL SUEN

ZENWICH

Continued from pg 22

on between those two slices of ciabatta. The Chicken Teriyaki Katsu, for instance, is a stunning, apanese-in ected take on the fried chicken sandwich craze. A thin, panko-encrusted chicken cutlet is stacked onto the crusty bread with housemade cole slaw, romaine lettuce and teriyaki sauce. What’s most notable about the dish is how restrained it is. The chicken is crisp but not greasy, the teriyaki sweet but not sticky. The balance is impressive.

The Thai BBQ Pork Belly is outrageously good. Here, succulent, thick round slices of the meat are glazed in a sweet soy sauce, then layered with pickled vegetables, cilantro and sweet and spicy mayo that soaks into every crevice of the sandwich. The sweet pickled cucumbers are essential, cutting through the richness of the meat and sauce.

Zenwich’s signature sandwich is its Korean Cheese Steak — and rightfully so. Thick hunks of ginger, soy and sesame-marinated brisket evoke the avors of bulgogi, while caramelized onions, mushrooms and gooey mozzarella cheese embody the quintessence of a Philly. Your mind doesn’t know exactly how to categorize what you’re eating — Korean barbecue or an East Coast sub — but the avors are so wonderful it

doesn’t really care.

The St. Louis location of Zenwich is the only outlet to have ramen, which Ploentham learned to make at Blue Ocean. The Garlic Pork Bone version is laden with his impossibly tender pork belly, bamboo scallions, radishes and delightfully funky black garlic oil.

This all simmers in a rich pork bone broth that is as powerfully porcine as rendered bacon fat, but not at all greasy.

The Mentaiko Ramen is another genre-bending dish. Instead of the oft-seen broth-based noodle soup, this dish is akin to Japanese carbonara. Al dente noodles are tossed in a fish roe cream sauce.

Parmesan cheese and breaded shrimp top the noodles, creating a decadent, sea-forward pasta that is like eating Japanese food in Rome. Or at an Italian restaurant in Osaka.

Ploentham is here for it. As he likes to say, Zenwich feels personal to him as an Asian American — the multiple identities that exist inside of him make him who he is, and he is proud to celebrate every facet of himself. He sees his restaurant as the culinary equivalent — one that we are lucky to get to experience.

Zenwich Korean Cheese Steak ........................... $9.50 Spicy Garlic Shrimp ............................$10.50 Garlic Pork Bone ramen .......................... $12 • Carryout and dine-in

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

23

24

SHORT ORDERS

[ S T. L O U I S S TA N D A R D S ]

Baked in Tradition Missouri Baking Company has been doing it right since 1924 Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

M

imi ordo knows she might surprise customers with her response when they call in looking for authentic Italian pastries from Missouri Baking Company, but she needs to set expectations. “ eople will call in looking for cassata cake around the holidays, and they remember how their grandma made it,” ordo says. “I always tell them that ours is good, but it’s probably not as good as their grandmother’s. Really, it’s those memories that make things so special. It’s all based around tradition. That’s what makes something authentic Italian.”

If tradition and memories are the cornerstones of Italian baking, then ordo and her brother, Chris Gambaro, are holding up a temple to old-world tradition at their Hill institution, Missouri Baking Company. Since 1924, this beloved bakery, located in the heart of St. ouis’ Italian neighborhood, has been serving bread, pastries and cookies to anyone searching for a sweet taste of the old country.

In fact, that’s why it was founded in the first place. In the early 1920s, Missouri Baking Company’s patriarch, Stefano ambaro, was living with his family in northern Italy when he got word from St. ouis that his services were needed. respected baker, Stefano was contacted by the owners of the iconic aravelli’s who wanted him to move to town to make bread for their booming south St. ouis cafeteria. Stefano agreed and immigrated to the United States, setting up Missouri Baking Company as a wholesale bread operation.

His work at the bakery was un-

24

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Not much has changed at Missouri Baking Company, even as new generations has taken over the operation. | NYARA WILLIAMS

The shop is still the spot on the Hill for all the traditional favorites. |NYARA WILLIAMS fortunately short-lived. Stefano passed away in his s, leaving behind a wife and six young children. To support the family, the elder children quit school and worked at the bakery, eventually joined by the younger ones as they became old enough to work. hris ambaro and ordo’s father, en, may have been the youngest of the siblings, but he was

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

no less dedicated than the older ones. arly on, he figured out that the bakery could do both wholesale and retail to meet the neighborhood’s demand for authentic Italian cookies and pastries.

“The story goes that people from the neighborhood would knock on the door and ask, ‘Could you make me a cake ’” ambaro says.

“So they said, Sure, we’ll make

you a cake.’ Then they’d ask for bread, then seeded cookies. More and more of that happened, and eventually, they went less and less wholesale and more toward retail.”

Because the Hill neighborhood had several wholesale bread bakers, Ben saw that Missouri Baking Company could do better as a retail shop. ventually, the bakery converted strictly to retail, and has been serving the area as a walkup and specialty order shop for decades.

Missouri Baking Company may have changed its business model, but that’s about all that is different since its founding. hen his siblings wanted to retire, Ben bought them out and ran it until he was ready to quit working. He then sold it to his children, Gambaro and ordo, who continue to run the place as close to how it was when their grandfather founded it back in the mids. owever, ordo notes that, even though they are committed to tradition, the bakery has had to adapt to changing tastes. “ e’ve had to adjust with the times to meet what people are buying today,” says ordo. “I’d say probably percent of the pas-

Kalbi Taco Shack Leaving Cherokee for City Foundry Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

N Co-owners Mimi Lordo and Chris Gambaro. | NYARA WILLIAMS

“I always tell them that ours is good, but it’s probably not as good as their grandmother’s.

Really, it’s those memories that make things so special.” tries we sell are those traditional Italian pastries, simply because the traditions are gone. Take panettone. We bake our own, and during the holidays, they would y off the shelves so fast that we’d have to make them two or three times a day. Now, we have those old reliables that want it for their mother or grandmother, but we don’t see young people coming in and asking for it. If you want to stay in business, you have to change.”

Still, the bakery does not stray too far from the model. s ordo explains, items like cream puffs, tiramisu, cannoli and their famous chocolate drops (their signature round chocolate-coated delicacies

similar to a at doughnut) tend to be their biggest sellers, as well as their traditional Italian cookies around the holidays. owever, she has seen demand surge in recent years for traditional cuccidati, a cookie-like pastry filled with figs, raisins, pine nuts and chocolate chips and decorated with icing and colorful candies. ambaro and ordo are proud of their cuccidati — and all of their wares — but they believe the key to their staying power is much more than delicious sweet treats.

They recognize that they were handed a successful business by their father, but with it, they were also given a strong work ethic, commitment to customer service and the understanding that treating their employees well is crucial for their success. They have not wavered from those ideals one bit since taking over, and they know that their children, ordo’s son oseph and ambaro’s daughter hristina, will stay focused on those when they take over the bakery someday.

“My parents trained us, and we owe everything to them,” ordo says. “ e’re so blessed to have been born into a happy family that worked hard. But they also showed us that the bakery business is a healthy environment — my dad passed away this December at 96, and my mom will be in ugust. orking hard and talking with people is what it’s all about. ur customers just feel good here. It’s a fun place.” n

ot long after opening Kalbi Taco Shack (2301 Cherokee Street, 314-240-5544) in 2016, Sue Wong-Shackelford knew she needed more space. Now, she’s on the cusp of getting that additional real estate as part of the forthcoming City Foundry food hall.

Wong-Shackelford recently announced that she will be closing the Cherokee Street location of the popular Korean-Mexican restaurant on June 27 to go all-in on the new City Foundry space, which is slated to open in August. As she explains, the closure is bittersweet, but she is simply not able to run both locations and guarantee the quality of food that her customers have come to expect — and that she prides herself in serving.

“I want to be hands-on, and I want to keep my quality the way it is,” WongShackelford says. “I could delegate, but I don’t want to, because I want to be allin at City Foundry, and that’s going to take the majority of my time. I just can’t be at two places at once.”

Kalbi Taco Shack was one of the first restaurants to sign on to the City Foundry project when it was announced three years ago. As Wong-Shackelford explains, she recognized the vision of the development right away and knew she wanted to be a part of it. Plus, the City Foundry spot offered her business ample parking, a massive seating area and easy access to her customers,

many of whom are students and workers centered around the Cortex Innovation Community.

Still, there is a part of her that cannot help but feel a sense of sadness at the Cherokee restaurant’s closing.

“We love Cherokee,” Wong-Shackelford says. “Here I am getting tears in my eyes talking about it because it’s getting closer. It’s a bittersweet decision, but one that we had to make.”

As for the forthcoming City Foundry location of Kalbi Taco Shack, WongShackelford insists that there will be no changes to the fundamentals of the restaurant. Meats, marinades, accoutrements and tacos will all remain the same. Guests can expect the same tacos, bowls and burritos they’ve come to love at the Cherokee Street spot, though she notes that the menu will have to be more streamlined.

“We’ve been told that we need to do things fast because the college kids and people from Cortex will be coming in for lunch breaks,” Wong-Shackelford explains. “We will probably need to minimize the menu and not have as much customization. We’re still seeing what we can do about some of our more time-consuming items, like the banh mi and quesadillas.”

Regarding her proximity to other eateries in the City Foundry development, Wong-Shackelord sees it as a plus.

Rather than being intimidated by what many might see as competition, WongShackelford believes that a vibrant, thriving development where everyone succeeds is good for each business.

“Others tell me that now I have competition,” Wong-Shackelford says. “I tell them, no — that I welcome it. It will draw more people to come in and taste a little bit of everything. There will bee food from all different cultures. I’m excited to be a part of it.” n

Kalbi Taco Shack will be leaving Cherokee on June 27. | MABEL SUEN

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

25

26

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

A Cut Above Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions carves out new home in Maplewood Written by

HOLDEN HINDES

B

olyard’s Meat and Provisions rode the pandemic wave better than most. While industrial meat plants struggled with outbreaks and grocery stores faced meat shortages, Chris Bolyard’s focus on sourcing his meat locally and transparently meant the only thing he was short on was time.

“It was just my wife and I,” Bolyard says. “We brought in as much as I could handle butchering and processing and packaging and selling. Business was really good, but there was more business than we could handle, so we had to bring in as much product and package [as] I could do and she could help me with. We have three young daughters, so throw that in the mix.”

Though Bolyard had been looking into expanding for a few years, the success he experienced over the past year prompted him to seize the opportunity to pursue a longtime dream. Last month, he and his wife opened a new, expanded Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions just down the block from the old one, allowing him to have a full-fledged restaurant inside of his butcher shop.

A trained Culinary Institute of America chef, Bolyard served as sous chef at the acclaimed Sidney Street Cafe before leaving to open his butcher shop in 2014. Though he has undoubtedly found

Gerard Craft Guiding St. Louis SC’s Stadium Eats Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

E

ven before Major League Soccer confirmed a new team was coming to town, St. Louis SC was promising to invigorate the area’s entertainment landscape. Now, the club is showing that it’s just as serious about doing that in the stands as it is on the field.

Last week, St. Louis City SC announced that it has tapped Gerard Craft as its “flavor officer,” a role that places the acclaimed chef at the forefront of culinary operations for the team and its fanbase. Though the arrangement will make him responsible for creating the stadium’s food experience, Craft says that the role is much larger than curating refreshments for hungry fans.

“I think what we are really trying to do

his calling as a butcher and shop owner, he never quite left cooking behind him and was eager to get back into the professional kitchen.

The new space, which is more than double the size of the former one, allows him to do just that, offering more seating and an expanded menu. There are wooden tables inside, and metal ones outside along the sidewalk. A counter lined with leather stools faces out to the front window bay, while another, for those curious about where their meal comes from, looks into the cutting-room window. Patrons order at a counter next to a case full of a variety of meats.

The mainstay sandwiches remain on the menu, joined by a burger and a separate brunch menu. He recommends the tallow fries to everyone, but he knows the vast array of options can be overwhelming and says he is always happy to have conversations with people, which is part of the experience. He sees it as his team’s responsibility to walk people through the shop’s numerous offerings, ask questions and play detective to guide them to a decision.

Still, he says that the opening menu is just a start.

“Once we get settled in, we’re going to have fun changing the menu and adding new things,” Bolyard explains.

Beyond an expanded menu and more space, Bolyard’s now boasts a draft system featuring four beers, a hard cider and a local kombucha. The setup encourages people to come and hang out and watch the team cut.

The front page of Bolyard’s website announces that the business is “St. Louis’ Only Whole Animal Butcher,” meaning the shop receives a whole animal from a local farm. The pork and chicken have been coming from the same farms since

the shop opened in 2014. As Bolyard explains, this allows them to guarantee the animal’s welfare and the quality of the meat, as well as to offer more variety and lesser-known cuts than other places.

Having the whole animal to work with also allows Bolyard to get creative.

“The list is pretty extensive of what we offer, whether it’s a smoked meat, charcuterie — there’s dozens of fresh sausages, deli meat, stocks,” Bolyard says. “We’ve got a line of dog treats, and we’ve even started making fresh raw dog food, which [we] weren’t able to before because we didn’t have the space.” Using the whole animal also provides cuts that customers may be unfamiliar with.

“It’s fun for us and for the customer most of the time to try something new in terms of fresh cuts to cook at home.”

The pandemic forced Bolyard and his

team to do things differently and, as he notes, to get uncomfortable with the way they operate. The shop took this challenge and ran with it until they ran out of room.

“I’ve told a lot of people this, but it’s like starting over,” Bolyard says. “It really is. Even though we’re doing a lot of what we’ve always done, we’re doing it on such a large scale now.”

Seeing his customers’ faces again is exciting for Bolyard. He and his team try to learn everyone’s names and get to know and engage with the regulars. He’s also excited to stay in Maplewood — a decision he insists was no accident.

“There’s a lot of people in the neighborhood, and they’re all very supportive and they love to come out, and be outside, and move around,” Bolyard says. “Maplewood has been really good to us.” n

are things that haven’t been done before in a big way,” Craft says. “A lot of people are trying to do unique things [with the stadium food experience], but ownership may not allow that. This ownership group is allowing us to do something unique and bigger — to thread the needle through all of the cultures and neighborhoods of St. Louis.”

According to Craft, the arrangement between him and St. Louis City SC began two years ago, even before it was certain St. Louis would get an MLS team. Excited by the prospect of working in the framework of stadium food, Craft contacted the owners and offered to help them create a world-class culinary experience.

“I reached out and said that I was really interested in stadiums, and food in stadiums, but also the experience of stadiums and how they can be not just a place for sports fans going to a game, but a full experience outside of that.”

Craft told the organization that he had a lot of ideas and that they should get in touch when they were ready to begin creating their food story. His vision reso-

nated with the owners, who were looking for something more than just the standard stadium fare.

“From the outset, the ownership group has really seen this project as something special and a catalyst to bring people together using the sport of soccer,” says Vin Ko, director of team operations for St. Louis City SC. “Soccer is a global sport, and it has the ability to bring the community together in ways others don’t.”

Craft is working alongside Levy, a stadium hospitality provider whose properties include the Enterprise Center, Barclay’s Center and STAPLES Center, to create a uniquely St. Louis experience at the stadium. However, more than simply representing St. Louis foods and restaurants for spectators, Craft is hoping that the soccer club’s food service will generate enthusiasm for the city’s culinary scene beyond the stadium.

“This is going to be more than a Niche Food Group [Craft’s company that encompasses his restaurants] stadium,” Craft says. “It will be somewhere to help bring to light so many unique spots

throughout the city that people may not go to. Bosnian, Asian, Thai, South American, Mexican — we really want to bring a diverse offering that matches the soccer fan base.”

Though the stadium is still two years away from opening, Craft and Ko are hoping to have an immediate impact on the city’s culinary scene. Currently, they are searching for food partners to be a part of the project in a grassroots way, asking fans to visit their website, stlcitysc.com/ flavor, to tell them about their favorite restaurants. As Craft explains, he and St. Louis City SC are hoping to transform the way people think about stadium food, and they are searching for the off-thebeaten path places that even they might not know about to help them create a full picture of St. Louis’ vibrant food scene.

“For the next two years, we want to explore and dine at as many places as possible, and we want to use the time to pump up the St. Louis food scene,” Craft says. “We’re going to use the St. Louis City SC platform to give voices to these restaurants.” n

Bolyard’s has been busy as people look for local sources for meat. | HOLDEN HINDES

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

27

28

REEFERFRONT TIMES

[DISPENSARY REVIEW]

Tommy Chims Smokes 3Fifteen Primo’s Weed Written by

THOMAS CHIMCHARDS

T

his may come as a surprise, but back in high school, I had something of a stoner reputation.

School administrators were always trying to catch me smoking weed in the bathrooms (there were some close calls). Teachers were able to infer from the fact that they spent most classes staring at the top of my head while I drooled all over the desk in an unconscious state that I was definitely on something. Classmates knew that if they showed up to my assigned parking space before school began they’d find me smoking weed in my car and happy to share. Sometimes they brought me gifts, like a cool corncob pipe, which became my dedicated car piece for a while.

Once, a classmate who had decided she was done with pot asked me if I wanted the rest of her stash, referring to it as “fire.”

Not wanting to be wasteful, I said sure, and to my schwag-weedsmoking surprise, she handed me a bag of what was then referred to as “kind” bud, light in color and absolutely sparkling in the sunlight, a far cry from the dreck to which I was accustomed.

I vividly remember taking that bag up to Laumeier Sculpture Park and digging into it with a friend inside Jackie Ferrara’s wooden pyramid structure in the park’s eastern woodland. I have no vivid memories of that day after that, but I do know that my friend and I spent hours afterward oating around on a cloud throughout the park, absolutely mind-blowingly high, having the time of our lives.

It might be partly because this was one of my earlier experiences

28

RIVERFRONT TIMES

From left to right: Elroy, Cobalt Fire and Alaskan Purple buds purchased at 3Fifteen Primo. All three became contenders as new favorites. | TOMMY CHIMS with cannabis of this caliber, but I have always thought back fondly about that particular batch of weed and wished that I could get my hands on more.

So when I was browsing through the online menu for 3Fifteen Primo (839 Meramec Station Road, Valley Park; 314-924-0101) on a recent afternoon, a strain called Cobalt Fire jumped out at me. I’ve never known for sure whether my classmate’s description of the weed she’d given me as “fire” was just a generic adjective meaning “great” or whether she was referring to the strain’s name, but the photo on the dispensary’s website looked light in color and covered in crystals in a way that instantly brought me back. It was enough to get me off the couch to pay the shop a visit.

3Fifteen Primo’s Valley Park location is its second to open out of five that are currently in the works for issouri, with the first located in Columbia. The brand, based out of Detroit, also has several dispensaries up in Michigan, though “Primo” is not part of the name for those shops. (I’m guessing it’s a play on the fact that “Missouri” is officially abbreviated to “MO.”) After handing over my medical card and ID, I waited in the dispensary’s brightly lit lobby for just a couple minutes before a budtender came and led me to the sales oor.

Lining the walls within were shelves holding the dispensary’s wares — the usual mix of ower, pre-rolls, edibles, concentrates and accessories — as well as atscreen T s displaying its menu. Once inside, my budtender

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

led me through the small, colorful shop to a table on the right, where she placed a tray holding dozens of labeled jars of ower for me to check out. I’m not sure if it’s a COVID-related thing or not, but most of the Missouri dispensaries I’ve visited so far have kept their jars of ower housed inside glass cases, so it was nice being able to actually handle them and closely inspect their contents while I chatted up my budtender, who was extremely helpful, about the various strains on hand.

After staring at literally every strain of ower in the house (I’m a weed nerd like that; it’s probably why I have this job), I decided to pick up an eighth of Elroy ($60) and a gram of Alaskan

S T HIGHER THOU G H

Purple ($16.50) in addition to an eighth of the Cobalt Fire ($50) that brought me to the shop. After taxes, my total came out to $142.62.

Before I left, I noted that the Cobalt Fire was explicitly marked on the shop’s menu as “a fan favorite among high THC consumers,” which I took as an encouraging sign that I was indeed onto something here. ut first I dug into the lroy, which my budtender had told me was similar to Bubba Fett but higher in THC — clocking in at a whopping 28 percent — and likely to produce a more “stoned” feeling. Being that Bubba Fett is one of my favorite strains currently on the market, precisely because of how absurdly stoned it leaves me, I had to give it a try. Upon opening the Proper-branded jar I was met with a strong aroma of citrus and just two rather enormous and beautiful looking buds, forest green with lime green highlights, sparkling with resin and covered in groupings of orange hairs. On breakup it crumbled easily, neither too dry nor too sticky, with not much in the way of powdery keef. On inhale it tasted sweet and avorful and, somewhat surprisingly, not fruity; I felt a fuellike sensation up in my sinuses as well. I soon found myself very zoned out, just kind of staring at things, but in a fantastic mood.

I’m not sure that I’d place this strain above Bubba Fett, but I do

From the altered mind of

THOMAS CHIMCHARDS Welcome to Higher Thoughts, wherein ol’ Tommy Chims smokes one strain from this review — in this case, Alaskan Purple— and then immediately writes whatever comes to mind in the hopes of giving you, dear reader, a clearer picture of its overall mental effects: no rules, no predetermined word counts and, most crucially, no editing. Here we go: “Pizza Rolls”: Childish, low-quality, unrefined. $3.78 for a bag of 50 at Walmart.

“Artisanal Oven-Fired Mini Calzones”: Sophisticated, avant-garde, adventurous. Served on a wooden board. $17 for a plate of ten (to share).

Was that helpful? Who knows! See you next week.

Thomas K. Chimchards is RFT’s resident cannabis correspondent and mini calzone enthusiast. Email him tips at tommy.chims@riverfronttimes.com and follow him on Twitter at @TOMMYCHIMS

ifteen rimo has five locations planned for know that I’m excited to do more research into the matter.

With great anticipation, I tried the Cobalt Fire, rated at 22 percent THC, next. When I opened the Flora Farms pouch I was hit with a potent, rich smell with piney and fuel-like elements, almost like a cleaning product, in a good way.

This bag also boasted beautiful, well-structured buds, bright lime green in color with reddish orange hairs and a fine white keefing that blended together in some spots to create an almost pink effect.

This strain broke apart easily as well, with little stickiness to speak of. On inhale the taste was super complex and hard to pin down, with every avor presenting as an aftertaste in the background all at the same time. I did note a little citrus, but outside of that it was a little bewildering, but quite pleasant. The high crept up on me and soon I was thoroughly toasted but not debilitated, laughing and happy and feeling creative, but also relaxed and focused. I soon found myself staring at the treeline in my backyard with great interest; I wrote in my notes that this is definitely a good bird-watching strain.

Finally, I got into the Alaskan urple, and the first word in my notes is simply, “Wow.” C4-branded and rated at 19 percent THC, these buds were downright furry with white trichomes, sort of a dull keefy dust rather than a sparkly show, but certainly among the most keef-covered I’ve ever seen.

The buds were mostly dark green

issouri. | VIA 3FIFTEEN PRIMO

with purple undertones and pale green highlights, and plenty of orange hairs clustered throughout. On breakup I was met with a piney and fuel-like smell, like a freshly cleaned bathroom at an outdoor sports complex, and it left my fingers dusty with keef. n inhale it had a fruity, almost grape drink avor, though it’s possible I’m characterizing it that way on account of the fact that purple color was everywhere once the bud was broken up.

Let me tell you: This strain is absolutely phenomenal. Foremost, my chronic pain was wiped out in a way that I’ve not before experienced from weed, knocking Gorilla Glue off of its pedestal as my favorite strain for pain relief.

Additionally, I felt a great euphoria after smoking, and some stress I had been holding onto from earlier in the day melted away into a calm, relaxed high that was assertive without being overpowering.

This is one of the best strains I’ve smoked in the state of Missouri, full stop.

In fact, all three of the strains I picked up at 3Fifteen Primo were among the finest I’ve tried thus far. And while I still don’t know for sure whether this Cobalt Fire strain is of any relation to that “fire” weed I adored so much all those years ago — I’ll probably need to take a trip to Laumeier to get a better shot at nailing that down — I do know that my newfound discovery of that delightful Alaskan Purple made this a worthwhile trip all on its own. n

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

29

HELP WANTED ST. LOUIS AND SURROUNDING AREAS

30

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

riverfronttimes.com

MAY 12-18, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

1

CULTURE

31

[COMICS]

Second Print Apotheosis to open new Cherokee Street location by Free Comic Book Day in August Written by

JACK PROBST

I

t’s been a challenging fifteen months for potheosis omics.

In order to avoid falling under the weight of Ragnarok — or rather, the global pandemic — the comic shop maintained business like many others by offering curbside pickup options and mail orders. owever, one thing that set them above the rest was the fact that they provided the only comic-book-and-beer delivery service in the area. s the saying goes Not all heroes wear capes.

“I remember I delivered a single ud ight to a dude ten minutes away because he just needed a beer, and I was like, I feel you, man,” says owner artin asas.

“I threw in some free comics, too. “ e had to figure out how to survive as uickly as possible, and in order to do that, we had to figure out what worked and what didn’t by constant trial by fire,” he adds. “The pandemic for us was training for the lympics. nd, you know, I like to think that we ualified.”

Thanks to that willingness to go the extra mile for its customers, potheosis omics not only survived the pandemic but is thriving, and even gearing up to open a second store in ugust.

The new potheosis location will occupy the former home of the beloved oam offee eer at South efferson venue. ut that’s not all. s asas explains, the purchase of the space also included the building orning lory iner will continue to reside in and the currently vacant former location for Street Ink, which they intend to rent out in the future. ithin the plan is a commitment to beautify their corner of herokee Street with murals from local artists.

The second location of Apotheosis Comics is expected to open in August on Cherokee with its own twists, including live performances. | JACK PROBST “I am going to enlist St. ouis muralists to put up some stuff on the side of the building,” asas explains. “ nd I also want to put up what I’m calling native futurism’ by a herokee artist, who will paint something to honor the herokee people.”

The first potheosis ( potheosis rime, if you will) opened in September and has become a southcity staple for casual readers, those new to comics and mega nerds. The South rand location will still boast comics and beers but stay family oriented, with classes aimed at teaching games like ok mon and ungeons ragons to an all-ages audience. In addition, the upstairs game rooms have opened once again for those that want to grab a canned cocktail, roll the die and fight orcs with all the members in their party. eanwhile, the retail section at the new potheosis will be laid out similarly to how the rand location currently is set up. Shelves will line the walls with spots for single-issue comics and trade collections, along with other pop culture memorabilia. ut it will also

feature a few new twists.

“The idea behind it is that we want you to step into a comic book,” asas says. “So it’s going to be white walls with black trim everywhere, so it looks like a comic panel. e will have two coolers one full of beer and one full of canned cocktails and different soda varieties. e’ll have a coffee shop in the back that will be selling lueprint offee.” lueprint offee is just one collaboration asas has planned for the new location. e’s hoping to create more partnerships with the businesses on herokee like his previous collaborations at the other location. ( ere’s a South rand easter egg from asas “ e have a ickle Rick pickle seltzer that if you take it to afe Natasha they’ll make you a rench with it.”) hile it’s not easy to pair physical comics with food without them becoming colorful placemats, the beverage menu can certainly complement any meal you order on herokee Street. nd asas’ wheels are always spinning, thinking up new ways local small businesses can work together.

riverfronttimes.com

potheosis is St. ouis’ own ouse of Ideas, so don’t be surprised if someday you start seeing its single-issue spinner racks in other businesses around the city. or those wondering about the little platform that was oam’s stage It’s staying in place, and it will not be staying empty. asas wasn’t initially considering having any special events for the herokee location, but people started asking when news of the new spot hit. So, due to the demand, the new potheosis will hold weekly comedy shows again, pairing comics with comics in a delightful bit of synergistic wordplay. s far as music goes, potheosis isn’t here to replace oam. “ e will not have, like, loud thundering punk shows anymore,” asas explains, “but it will be something interesting from the community.” ear not, True elievers! Since the bones of the new location are in great shape, asas is confident that they will have the new site open by ree omic ook ay on ugust ! xcelsior! or updates on all things potheosis, visit apotheosiscomicsstl. com. n

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

31

The Way Out Club is on the way out, but you’ll have all of July to say goodbye. | DOYLE MURPHY

[CLOSINGS]

The 27 Club The Way Out prepares to close after 27 years as St. Louis’ go-to for all things weird Written by

JAIME LEES

O

ne of St. Louis’ longest-running music venues is shutting down.

The Way Out Club (2525 South Jefferson Avenue) is closing for good, and the space is currently for sale.

Though the club was known for hosting a wide variety of bands since it opened September 24, 1994, it also functioned as a neighborhood bar and a multipurpose entertainment space.

The Way Out Club has been a community recreation spot for generations of weird St. Louis youths who gathered there to see bands, attend poetry readings, watch cult films, participate in pieeating contests, witness freak shows, enjoy burlesque shows, sing karaoke and drink a few (or more) cocktails.

Owned and operated by Bob “Bobbo” Putnam and Sherri “Danger” Lucas, the Way Out Club opened originally at 3159 Cherokee Street (current spot of the STL Style House) before moving to 2525 South Jefferson Avenue.

The couple always incorporated the things that they loved into the club, which is why the bric-a-brac interior was decorated with posters of films, clown heads, vintage furniture and art. When Lucas got into Zumba (eventually becoming a fitness teacher) she brought that love to the club, and Lucas and Putnam opened their doors for workout classes.

And their cat, Angus, was a longtime resident of the Way Out Club, expertly receiving pets from drunks and often seen warming his ears by the heat of a bulb in

32

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

a retro lamp.

Though the club often hosted major touring acts (including surprise shows from famous musicians like J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.), it was Putnam and Lucas’ support of local bands that made the club stand out as an essential part of the St. Louis music scene.

The Way Out Club’s consistent support of St. Louis’ music community over the past few decades cannot be overstated.

Putnam and Lucas would not only book fledgling local bands constantly, they’d also show them support and encouragement. (And they’d give them a free beer or two, too.)

Though the club was clearly a labor of love (nobody was getting rich off of it, that’s for sure), its busy days were behind it. That, combined with the hit of the pandemic and Putnam’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis, made the family feel like it’s time to say goodbye to the Way Out Club so Putnam can enjoy his retirement.

But if you’re looking to pop in to say goodbye to your former home-away-fromhome, you’re in luck. The club is hosting a string of farewell shows starting July 1 and running through July 31 with bands, poetry and movies.

While Putnam is still working on finalizing the lineup, he says that he’s been flooded with offers from performers to play one more time and that there will surely be some St. Louis favorites on deck. His main goal is to have one big, fun party as a proper goodbye to the legendary St. Louis venue.

“I want to go out like I did when I was working there,” Putnam said. “I’ve known all of these people for 25 or 30 years.”

He will turn 76 during the farewell, and Putnam wants to go out with a bang.

If it’s your birthday during that week, too, maybe Putnam will even make you his famous Birthday Drink. (Pro tip: Share it with a friend. It’s huge, it’s blue-green, it tastes like Pixy Stix and it gives you an instant hangover.)

Keep an eye on the Way Out Club’s Facebook page (facebook.com/wayoutclub) for information about the farewell festival. n

CALENDAR

WEEK OF JUNE 16-22

33

FRIDAY 06/25 Sip & Stroll 4 p.m. each Friday this summer.

Lily Pond Shelter in Tower Grove Park, 2716 Tower Grove Avenue.

Free. 314-771-2679.

Drinking in the park isn’t just for delinquents anymore. In fact, every Friday this summer you can drink in Tower Grove Park for philanthropic reasons. Hosted by STL Barkeep and Tower Grove Park, the Sip & Stroll event aims to help St. Louisans enjoy long, lazy summer evenings in the park. Participants are encouraged to pay a visit to the STL Barkeep bar near Fountain Pond and Ruins, purchase a cocktail and then have a leisurely stroll around the grounds, or lounge around in the grass and enjoy the view. Not only is the event très classy, it also serves to “preserve and protect the beauty of this incredible green space” by donating 20 percent of every cocktail purchase to Tower Grove Park. Masks are required when approaching the bar and participants must stand six feet away from each other when in line for the bar. The event starts at 4 p.m. and runs until dark.

Highly Sophisticated: Remember, this is a Sip & Stroll, not a Chug & Run. Keep it civilized and put your pinkies up, you fancy pants.

—Jaime Lees

WerQfest is stepping out of the digital world for its second year. | BRANDON DE’SHAUN Sunday with a King of ’Cade tournament at noon. Each competitor is assigned a random game to play as they narrow the competition and determine who the real king (or another gender-inclusive royalty) of the ’cade is. Competitors are limited to 32 players, so get your name registered early! Come out and Test Your Might!

Continue?: As always, Up-Down boasts up to 60 arcade games from the ’80s and ’90s, pinball, skeeball and even a classic Nintendo 64. The actual blast from the past is that all games are only 25 cents. In addition, their menu features house-made pizza by the slice and an extensive selection of craft beer.

—Jack Probst

Up-Down STL’s 2nd Anniversary Friday, June 25 through Sunday, June 27.

Up-Down STL, 405 North Euclid Avenue. 314-449-1742.

Ready? Fight! 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of arguably the greatest arcade fighting game of all time, Street Fighter II. Back in the ’90s, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing one of those iconic machines standing tall and ready to be pumped full of quarters.

2021 also marks the second anniversary for one of the few places you can still play this iconic cabinet in real life, the arcade bar UpDown STL. The bar arcade is going all-out to celebrate its birthday by hosting three separate events throughout the weekend. On Fri-

Up-Down STL made it through tough times, and it’s time to celebrate. | KATIE COUNTS day, 4 Hands Brewing will go headto-head against Perennial Artisan Ales for a Kick the Keg championship match. The first keg to sell out wins bragging rights! It’s like Punch-Out, but neither side is the underdog. Saturday’s festivities

include a patio beach party and tropical drinks to kick off summer. The event might be some kind of homage to every sand level in every Mario Bros game ever, but it seems like it will be much more fun. The festivities end on

riverfronttimes.com

SATURDAY 06/26 WerQfest 7 p.m. Saturday, June 26.

City Foundry, $20 to $40. No phone.

WerQfest steps into the real world for its second year after making its debut virtually in 2020. A fes-

JUNE 23-29, 2021

Continued on pg 34

RIVERFRONT TIMES

33

CALENDAR

Continued from pg 33

tival of music, art and culture celebrating the Black trans, queer and non-binary community, this year’s event will feature live performances by Tre G, Eric Dontè, Be.Be., Paige Alyssa, Golliday, Bynk Bravado, Blanca the Bawdy and Jay-Marie is Holy. The night will be hosted by celebrated drag star Maxi Glamour, and in addition to the live performances there will also be virtual sets piped into the rofield Reserve Virtual Stage from Leethal The oet, RRIS or . ., and iera Danyel. With most of the major Pride events postponed this year

Out Every Night No shots? Get outta here. Got your shots? Get out there!

Compiled by

DANIEL HILL THURSDAY 24

AUSTIN MEADE: w dam affney p.m., . ff roadway, emp ve., St. ouis, .

DYLAN “DT” TRIPLETT: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

GLAZE & THE MOONKINGS: p.m., . oe’s afe, ingsbury ve, St. ouis.

GOLLIDAY: p.m., . lue Strawberry Showroom ounge, N oyle ve, St. ouis, .

JAMEY JOHNSON: w/ Whiskey Myers, Folk Uke p.m., . hesterfield mphitheater, eterans lace rive, hesterfield.

JUSTIN MOORE: w eath Sanders p.m., . The ageant, elmar lvd., St. ouis, .

LOCAL COMEDY SHOW: w hris yr, harles ruitt p.m., free. as evo iergarten, ravois ve., St. ouis, .

NEIL SASICH: p.m., free. roadway yster ar, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

OK KARAOKE: p.m., free. ff roadway, emp ve., St. ouis, .

VOODOO LED ZEPPELIN: p.m., . ity oundry, oundry ay, St. ouis, .

FRIDAY 25

THE 45: w Sixes igh, atalytic reator, rave New orld p.m., . Red lag, ocust Street, St. ouis, .

AARON KAMM & THE ONE DROPS: w/ Josh einrichs, efferson p.m., . ity oundry, oundry ay, St. ouis, .

ALICE HOWE AND FREEBO: w alter arks p.m., . lue Strawberry Showroom ounge, N oyle ve, St. ouis, .

ANNIE AND THE FUR TRAPPERS: p.m., . asa oma allroom, Iowa ve, St. ouis, .

BRADY LEWIS QUINTET: p.m., . randel Theatre, randel S uare, St. ouis,

34

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

due to I - , this festival is sure to be one of the biggest and best celebrations of the trans and queer community in the entire city.

Speaking of COVID-19: Even as I safety measures loosen up as more and more people get vaccinated, many will remain in place for this event. Pod seating will be in effect, and masks will be required outside of your pod.

Hand sanitizer stations will be located throughout the space, and contactless concessions will be available to all attendees. For more information, visit jamopresents.com covid- -safetymeasures.

—Daniel Hill

.

DEF LEGGEND: A TRIBUTE TO DEF LEPPARD: 8 p.m., . op’s Nightclub, onsanto ve., ast St. ouis, .

IVAS JOHN BAND: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

JASON GARMS: p.m., free. roadway yster ar, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

JIM MANLEY JAZZ GROUP: 7 p.m., free. Evangeline’s, N uclid ve, St. ouis, .

SISSER: p.m., . ff roadway, emp ve., St. ouis, .

STEVE EWING BAND: p.m., . . .

Rplex, St. ouis ills lvd., St. ouis, .

WELCOME BACK: A COMEDY SHOW: w/ Jeremy Hellwig, Emily Hickner, Justin Luke, Tommy oslander p.m., . The eavy nchor, ravois ve., St. ouis, .

SATURDAY 26

ALL ROOSTERED UP: a.m., free. roadway yster ar, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

THE BREAKERS: w immy arren, hanie Rae The Soul Shakers p.m., . asa oma allroom, Iowa ve, St. ouis, .

BROTHER LEE AND THE LEATHER JACKALS: p.m., . ff roadway, emp ve., St. ouis, .

CEREMONY OF DARKNESS: w owjr , aisyhain, yberstein p.m., . Red lag, ocust Street, St. ouis, .

CHUCK FLOWERS: p.m., . randel Theatre, randel S uare, St. ouis, .

DOGTOWN RECORDS PRESENTS ST. LOUIS FUNK & GROOVE: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

IMPENDING DOOM: p.m., . Red lag, ocust Street, St. ouis, .

KILLER WAILS: p.m., free. vangeline’s, N uclid ve, St. ouis, .

MARBIN: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

PLASTIC KINGS: p.m., . . .

Rplex, St. ouis ills lvd., St. ouis, .

PUNK ROCK PIG ROAST: w No oint, rave Neighbors, uy organ, the addonfields noon, free. South roadway thletic lub, S. Seventh St., St. ouis, .

A ROAST OF MEREDITH HOPPING: p.m., .

The eavy nchor, ravois ve., St. ouis, .

SILVER BULLET: A TRIBUTE TO BOB SEGER: p.m., free. hesterfield mphitheater, eterans lace rive, hesterfield.

STEFFINE URKELL: w T , Rudeboyy T-Real, Rude all iss iggy, ’ rynce, iallo St. lair ee- os, Tux p.m., . op’s

WEDNESDAY 06/30 Drinkolas Cage: America Edition 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 30.

The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Avenue. $5. 314-352-5226.

As June comes to an end, you can already hear fireworks throughout south city on these balmy summer nights (wait, those were fireworks, right ), so it makes sense that when rkadin inema presents their monthly Nicolas age drinking game on the backlot this week, the theme will be merica. or now, it’s a mystery as to which Nic age classic rkadin has chosen to

screen. ill it be a a lovable romp featuring a motorcycle rider with a aming skull ill he be covered in bees r will it be a more patriotic tale ll will be revealed on show night (we’re assuming it’s not gonna be The Croods). The fine hosts at rkadin inema craft a list of rules for each film’s drinking game, but they won’t discourage you from making up some of your own. or maximum age enjoyment, patrons are strongly encouraged to yell out like the man himself when it’s time to drink.

Have a Seat: rkadin strongly recommends you bring your own chair, as seating for the backlot is limited. asks will also be reuired unless eating or drinking.

—Jack Probst

Sisser plays Off Broadway on Friday, June 25. | VIA BANDCAMP

Nightclub, onsanto ve., ast St. ouis, .

THE TRIPLETS OF GRUBVILLE: p.m., free. vangeline’s, N uclid ve, St. ouis, .

WERQFEST: w axi lamour, immy Nu,Tre , ric ont , e. e., aige lyssa, olliday, ynk ravado, lanca the awdy, ayarie is oly, eethal The oet, R . ., iera anyel p.m., . ity oundry, oundry ay, St. ouis, .

SUNDAY 27

BEATS & VIBES: p.m., free. andle ar, anchester ve., St. ouis, .

BILLY BARNETT BAND: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

DJ REMINISE: a.m., . randel Theatre, randel S uare, St. ouis, .

FIGHT BACK MOUNTAIN: w etters to od p.m., . The Sinkhole, South roadway, St. ouis, .

GENE JACKSON & POWER PLAY: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

MISS JUBILEE & THE YAY YAY BOYS: a.m., free. vangeline’s, N uclid ve, St. ouis, .

NEKO CASE: p.m., . The Sheldon, ashington lvd., St. ouis, .

MONDAY 28

MINDFUL MONDAYS FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

MOTOWN ON MONDAYS: p.m., . ity ound-

ry, oundry ay, St. ouis, .

SOULARD BLUES BAND: p.m., free. roadway yster ar, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

STEVE REEB: p.m., free. roadway yster ar, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

TUESDAY 29

DREW LANCE & PETER PORCELAIN: p.m., free. roadway yster ar, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

HARPO JARVI: w s rogo p.m., . The Sinkhole, South roadway, St. ouis, .

THE MADMAN BAND: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

RACHEL DESCHAINE: w hloe ard p.m., . lue Strawberry Showroom ounge, N oyle ve, St. ouis, .

WEDNESDAY 30

BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: p.m., . ’s azz, lues Soups, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

DREW SHEAFOR & FRIENDS: p.m., free. lue Strawberry Showroom ounge, N oyle ve, St. ouis, .

DRINKOLAS CAGE: AMERICA EDITION: p.m., . The eavy nchor, ravois ve., St. ouis, .

JOSIAH JOYCE & DREW WEISS: p.m., free. vangeline’s, N uclid ve, St. ouis, .

THE S&S VOODUO PLAYERS: p.m., free. roadway yster ar, S. roadway, St. ouis, .

WEDNESDAY NIGHT JAZZ JAM: w ob e oo p.m., free. randel Theatre, randel S uare, St. ouis, . n

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

35

36

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

SAVAGE LOVE KNOWING YOU

BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m a 40-year-old gay male. I live in a big city, in a dense neighborhood. While I’ve been working from home during COVID, I’ve been sitting at my kitchen table facing a big window. Across the alley is an apartment with a deck. At one point, I noticed a cute, young, muscular guy outside. I ran into this guy a few weeks later at a neighborhood liquor store. While I was looking at porn one night I was stunned to find his nudes and a link to his OnlyFans. I instantly subscribed, went through everything, including his gay sex vids, and, yeah, I came.

I tipped him and put in a few comments about what kind of content he should put up next. He took my suggestions and I tipped him again.

About a week ago he knocked on my door and asked if I had jumper cables. That night, I found a six pack of beer by my door and a note from him thanking me for my help. I got back on his page and came so hard as I drank his beer. I don’t want to have sex with this guy — he’s not really my type and he’s too young. I do get off on knowing that I can pull up his dick pics whenever I want and that he will do anything for a few bucks. But I question if I’m crossing a line. He obviously doesn’t know his neighbor is jerking off to him and probably wants to keep his porn life separate from his private life. Should I feel gross about this?

Rear Window You know something about your neighbor that your neighbor doesn’t know you know about him, RW, and knowledge is power and having power over someone can be sexy. Power imbalances are such a turn-on that people will manufacture them in their absence. For some people having less power (or giving up the power they have) is a turn-on; for others having more power (or being granted more power) is a turn-on.

So long as everything is consensual and no one is being exploited or exploitative, RW, no one has to feel gross about it. (Pease note: making sure no one is being exploited during consensual power play or during consensual sex in

the presence of a significant power imbalance requires thoughtful self-scrutiny, solid communication skills and a willingness to negotiate and renegotiate.)

What you’re doing is consensual and no one is being exploited.

Your hot neighbor is putting his content out there for gay and bi men to enjoy — and straight and bi women too — and being recognized by someone at the liquor store or on the street was always a risk. Jacking off to your neighbor’s videos and enjoying the very slight power imbalance and helping him pay his bills in the process isn’t gross. It’s the modern porn business working as intended.

But even if your hot neighbor feels no shame about the work he does — and here’s hoping he doesn’t because there’s nothing shameful about it — your hot neighbor may not care to be reminded that his neighbors could be jerking off to him. ( r have it confirmed that at least one is.) If you were to get to know him better — surely you’ll say hello the next time you see him at the liquor store — and you became acquaintances and he brought up what he does for a living, RW, then you should tell him you’re a subscriber. But until that point err on the side of keeping your mouth shut and your wallet open. You’re not endorsing or reinforcing shame about making porn by being discreet; instead you’re making a reasonable assumption about a boundary someone in his position is very likely to have and respecting that assumed boundary. nd finally, R , I’m not sure I believe you when you say this guy isn’t your type considering the number of loads you’ve blown while watching his porn. And while he may be too young for you — and you can absolutely set a oor — whether men in their 40s are too old for him is his call to make.

Hey, Dan: My girlfriend gave me an impromptu blowjob on our way to a party. When we arrived she kissed our host — a mutual (and vaccinated) friend — on the lips.

This friend gave my girlfriend a strange look. I practice good personal hygiene but we’re pretty sure our host could smell my dick on my girlfriend. Should she have refrained from kissing the host?

Excused herself to wash her face

Kissing someone after they’ve given a blowjob to someone else — it’s a risk we all take when we kiss people we aren’t dating. first? What’s the protocol here?

Where That Mouth Has Been Kissing someone after they’ve given a blowjob to someone else — it’s a risk we all take when we kiss people we aren’t dating. Hell, it’s a risk some of us take when we kiss the people we are dating. But as a courtesy to others someone who’s just given a blowjob should go for the cheek instead. Unless they’re kissing the person they just blew, of course, in which case wide open mouth with tongue.

Hey, Dan: I am a newly polyamorous woman in my late 30s.

I am part of a triad, which is so fun and amazing, and I also have a boyfriend. The boyfriend is why I am writing. We have some serious NRE and have been spending a lot of time together. I recently met his girlfriend of 1.5 years and it derailed things for me. He has been sharing every detail of our relationship with her. She knew everything about me, every private joke we shared, and so much about our intimacy that it made me incredibly uncomfortable. And I knew next to nothing about her and it was quite awkward for me.

It turns out this was a boundary that I didn’t know I had. I feel betrayed and like there was a secret voyeur in our relationship. I am really into this guy but I don’t know how to move forward. How can I feel like we are sharing something special when he goes back to his other partner and tells her everything? He said he could adjust his behavior but I don’t want to make someone change or have to trust that he’s not reporting everything back to her. Is this something I just have to deal with in polyamorous relationships?

Newly Poly Problems

riverfronttimes.com

1

You don’t want your boyfriend to do anything differently — you don’t want him to change — but you also don’t want him to keep doing what he’s doing. Sorry, NPP, but you’re gonna have to pick one: He’s gonna change for you, i.e. he’s going to “adjust his behavior” and stop telling his other girlfriend everything, or he’s not gonna change and you’re gonna have to get over his other girlfriend knowing everything. Or if the issue was his other girlfriend knowing everything about you while you knew next to nothing about her, NPP, your boyfriend could “adjust his behavior,” a.k.a. “change,” by telling you everything about her from here on out. Or third option (or is this the fourth option? I’ve lost track): You could dump him. If you don’t want him to change and you also don’t want him to keep doing what he’s been doing to you, NPP, then let him do it to someone else.

Is there a way forward if you want to stay together? There could be. It would help to know why he was treating you differently. Have you asked? It could be that his other girlfriend wants to hear the details about the other people he dates — maybe hearing the details turns her on, maybe hearing the details makes her feel more secure, maybe it’s a little bit of both — and he’s too thoughtless or too scared or too inexperienced to ask what you wanted. If he’s apologized to you and explained the differing treatment — and if the apology seemed sincere and the explanation was satisfactory — you could ask him to adjust behavior to make you feel more comfortable and then give him enough time to prove that he has changed … if you’ll allow him to change. nd finally, N , this is something you’re gonna have to get used to as you continue to explore polyamory. Most polyamorous couples err on the side of sharing too much rather than too little. Some poly people only want a rough outline about their partners’ other partners, NPP, but some want to hear every last detail. If you don’t want someone you’re dating to share intimate details with their other partner(s), you’ll have to ask them not to. mail@savagelove.net @FakeDanSavage on Twitter mail@savagelove.net

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

37

38

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

riverfronttimes.com

JUNE 23-29, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

39

40

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JUNE 23-29, 2021

riverfronttimes.com