We were so poor that we decided not to replace the mirror ball after it fell and broke one night. Interstate organized gay sporting competition was a new concept back then. Charlie’s even supported the ultimate oxymoron a thing called Gay Rodeo. How could a gay bar survive that supported tequila over drugs, courting before sex, and even touch dancing, in these modern days of 1981? Everybody knew that those hats, Wranglers, and strange belt buckles had gone out of style for 30 years. Who was this fanatical group of gay cowboys hanging out at that new watering hole way out in West Kansas? And, what was this country western lifestyle they were all talking about?Ĭharlie’s was poorly located, under financed, built by duct tape and bailing wire and misunderstood by much of its own gay community.
