East lansing gay bar

The Stonewall uprising in New York happened fifty years ago today. For many, the modern gay rights movement began that day. Don Savolainen is 74 now, so at the time of the Stonewall riots, he was a year-old MSU student who had served in the U. This day was his first time back in decades.

The back, of course, was pool players, gay, straight, whatever. The front was very, very crowded, particularly on weekends. If there was a type of harassment, it usually came from fellow students at MSU, that sort of thing. He adds that the clientele here responded to each other, including newcomers, courteously.

I never felt uneasy about coming here after the initial entry. The initial entry was difficult, as it always is. It was a good place to have friendships, and you could be yourself, talk about yourself. Savolainen claims he was never closeted. At one time, he spent 36 years with a woman he had met working at the Coral Gables in East Lansing, and they were married for 16 years.

He tells me he never kept secrets from her. Later in life, he partnered with a man who passed away not long ago.

Music venue to breathe new life downtown at former gay club, hookah lounge

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