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0000017c-60f7-de77-ad7e-f3f739cf0000Arts & More airs Fridays at 7:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m.Theme music: "Like A Beginner Again" by Dan Barry of Seas of Jupiter

Metro Nightclub Re-Opens As Only Gay Bar In Kalamazoo

courtesy of Metro Nightclub

Metro Nightclub in Kalamazoo has re-opened after closing for two months.

While the old bar and dance club never officially claimed to be a “gay bar,” it was well-known as a welcoming place for members of the LGBTQ community. Under new ownership, the nightclub now promotes itself as Kalamazoo's only official gay bar.  

Jay Maddock is the director of the Kalamazoo Gay Lesbian Resource Center. Maddock says times have changed, but when Metro first opened in the early 2000's, it was one of the only gay-friendly spaces in Kalamazoo. He says, as a result, many members of the community had a strong connection to the nightclub.

"Kalamazoo has had several gay bars through its history of time and those gay bars have a history of also closing. So I think people in the LGBT community had really come to know Metro as a safe space that they could go to. And I think that it was really disappointing and disheartening for many folks to see that it was closing," he says.

Maddock says now there are several places that host LGBTQ events, with like the resource center's First Thursday Mixers - which take place at a different venue every month.

But with events like the mixers and the bars that host them, are gay bars still relevant today? Maddock says that depends on who you ask - the LGBTQ community is diverse.

"I think overall in a city like Kalamazoo, it's important that we do have safe spaces that claim loudly to be safe spaces, that are visible and out in the open and that people know that they can find. And if that comes in the form of a gay bar - and that's what makes people feel safe, and lets them go out ,and have a night where they can connect with people and feel welcomed - then that's a really important piece to have for that part of the community. There are other people that don't think that a gay bar is relevant for them or their life anymore."

Maddock says the state of Michigan still has a long way to go to be fully inclusive to the LGBTQ community. There's still a ban on same-sex marriage and some companies can still fire employees based on their sexuality. 

"That speaks volumes to how safe people feel," he says. "When we don't have legislation that is making you equal in the eyes of the law, it's hard to believe that you're safe everywhere. So I think in that realm of things, having LGBT spaces that are claimed as such are really important for our community to have because we live in a world that isn't all on-board yet."

There is no word yet on whether the 411 Club will also re-open. It's located in the same building at Metro Nightclub.

Jay_Maddock_Metro.mp3
A longer interview with Jay Maddock of the KGLRC

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