A screenshot of the flyer sent to Nashville gay bars – Photo: NBC News.
At least four gay bars in Nashville have received flyers featuring the type of assault rifle used in the Pulse nightclub massacre, in what some are calling a form of “targeted hate mail.”
Melvin Brown, owner of Stirrup Sports Bar, found the flyer in the bar’s mailbox last week. Brown said he believes whoever created the piece of mail was intending to send a “very deliberate” threat, reports News Channel 5 Nashville.
The flyers feature the letters “LGBT,” with a picture above each letter. Above the L is a picture of the Statue of Liberty, above the G is a picture of the assault rifle, a bottle of beer is above the B, and a picture of Trump is above the T.
“We live in a post-Pulse world in the LGBTQ community, especially in the bar scene,” Brown told NBC News. “To see somebody send a postcard that had a picture of the weapon used in one of the deadliest assaults in this nation’s history, and one that happened at an LGBTQ bar, and to send that image to LGBTQ bars, to me is not a coincidence.”
The postcard had a “MAGA” stamp on the back of it and has a return address that traces back to an empty lot in downtown Nashville.
Brown also believes the postcard may be trying to provoke a certain reaction prior to this year’s midterm elections. At least three other gay bars received identical flyers.
Chris Sanders, the executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, also believes the flyers were politically motivated, because Stirrup Sports Bar and other gay bars often host voter registration drives.
“This has a very aggressive tone about it,” Sanders told NBC News. “It doesn’t use many words, but it uses a lot of images I think are meant to threaten us. The community’s message back is, ‘Yes this is frightening, but we’re going to turn out and vote regardless.'”
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said the department is aware of the incident, but there is no investigation at this time.
The Group American As F*ck, a veteran-owned clothing company that specializes in shirts and jerseys with funny or conservative memes, contacted Metro Weekly to claim credit for the original design, with CEO Shawn Wylde saying the design was meant to be funny.
“For what it’s worth, the image that we created has nothing to do with shootings or hate. It’s quite popular in the pro-Trump gay community,” Wylde notes. “It was created prior to the Pulse Night Club tragedy…. We really hope it wasn’t sent with hateful intent.”
Brown says that if the flyers using that logo were sent to gay bars as some form of threat, rather than in jest, they won’t intimidate people, but will rather “galvanize” them into taking action.
“People will respond in ways that are positive and uplifting, because that’s the way we choose to live our lives,” he said.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include comment from the clothing company American As F*ck, which claims credit for the original design.
Two new LGBTQ-specific spaces are opening in the D.C. area with one slated to open within a few weeks, and the other by the spring of 2023. Construction and final permitting processes are currently underway at both locations.
The first location, expected to open in mid-February, is Bunker, located in the subterranean space that once housed Tropicalia nightclub, at 2001 14th St. NW.
Owned by the producers behind the KINETIC Presents LGBTQ dance parties, Bunker seeks to establish itself as the District's answer to what has been a dearth of LGBTQ-specific dance clubs following the establishment of Nationals Park, the closure of Town Danceboutique, and the pandemic-related closures of the DC Eagle, Ziegfeld's/Secrets, and other venues that once played host to top DJs and live musical entertainment.
A man has been arrested for allegedly vandalizing two LGBTQ bars in Lexington, Kentucky, with anti-gay slurs.
William White, 51, has been charged with first- and second-degree criminal mischief for allegedly spray-painting the exteriors of Crossings Lexington, a popular queer dive bar, and The Bar Complex, an LGBTQ nightclub. He faces additional charges for an outstanding warrant related to a separate charge.
Based on photos posted to Facebook by The Bar Complex, the graffiti on and near the windows reads: "Homo, Qeer (sic), Sissy, F**, Punk" and other homophobic slurs, while graffiti on the sidewalk and main door appears to say "Dead" without any other context.
Orlando police are investigating after an unidentified person was captured on surveillance cameras appearing to break the windows at a nightlife complex that is home to three LGBTQ bars.
Video surveillance footage from around 3:40 a.m. on Wednesday shows a person -- believed to be a man, based on stature and appearance -- in a hooded sweatshirt walking by the Southern Nights complex in Orlando's Milk District, which houses the LGBTQ bars District Dive, Southern Craft, and Southern Nights.
As the video continues, the man walks back and forth in front of several windows, which begin to shatter. At one point, the man appears to make a motion with his arms as if he was using a slingshot to fire something at the windows. In total, eight windows were broken.
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