Making the Scene
A thumping bass line pounds rhythm into the dance floor where bodies contort and converge, men doing things to other men that, in the absence of music, might land them in jail.
It's a typical scene for the gay nightclub Krave, or any other gay bar, for that matter. But the scene is about to go mainstream Thursday when Risque at Paris Las Vegas hosts French Kiss, a party for gays, lesbians and anyone else who wants to join the fun.
It will be the party's second year, but it still marks the beginning of something new on the Strip: the courtship of the gay dollar, as well as another step forward in Las Vegas' ever-evolving gay scene.
"We're definitely at our strongest point right now," Earl Shelton, managing director for the local gay magazine QVegas, says of the valley's gay community. "The main industry in this town is embracing diversity, and when that industry supports something, the entire town does better."
Shelton is referring to the way Strip resorts have begun marketing directly to the gay community. Several hotels have been running ads in gay publications for the past few years, but recently that outreach effort has taken on an even more targeted approach. Earlier this year, Luxor dedicated a part of its Web site to gay tourists, luxor.com/lgbt. Paris Las Vegas launched a Web site targeting gay visitors, gayparislasvegas.com.
In addition to ad campaigns with a gay twist, Paris is hosting Gay Days and Nights, Thursday through Sunday. This is the first year the event has had a host hotel. French Kiss kicks off the event, which is similar to Orlando's Gay Days and Nights but much smaller.
Organizer Thomas Roth, president of Community Marketing Inc., expects 3,000 attendees this year, double last year's 1,500. Orlando's event draws more than 100,000 but it started off with about 10 people and grew over the years, he says.
Gay Days and Nights is meant to showcase the best Las Vegas has to offer to gay and lesbian visitors, Roth says. Cirque du Soleil will have special events for attendees and evening parties are planned at other locations, too.
Though it's designed to draw gay visitors to Las Vegas during a slow time of the year, the event supports the local gay community, as well. All proceeds raised during French Kiss will go to the Gay and Lesbian Center and Southern Nevada Pride Association. Krave will host a party Friday night for men while Gipsy, a gay club off Paradise Road, will throw a party for women.
"I think it will have a phenomenal impact on the local economy," Roth says. "We're estimating $4.5 million will be generated over this promotion and that's being very conservative."
Gay and lesbian tourists are a desirable segment of travelers, Roth says. Research he conducted for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority discovered that Las Vegas is the second most popular destination among gay and lesbian travelers; New York is the first.They also spend more money and are more loyal than any other market segment.
The local community has been evolving over the past couple of years, QVegas' Shelton says, probably because of a confluence of events: the changing times, a trickle-down effect from the casino industry's efforts and an awakening gay and lesbian population that is ready to expand.
"The growth of the city, the industry support and the number of groups cropping up is making the gay world a better place," Shelton says.
It might have been sparked by the opening of Krave on the Strip five years ago. Before that, gay entertainment was localized to an area off of Paradise Road near Tropicana Avenue, dubbed the "fruit loop." There, a handful of gay bars and clubs, as well as the city's only gay bookstore, are based.
A gay club on the Strip, side by side with similar venues, probably signaled to other clubs that they were missing out on a viable customer pool. That presence is a legitimizing factor, too, says attorney Jeff Garofalo, a member of the local chapter of the Human Rights Campaign and active participant in the local gay community.
Krave struggled to find a regular following early on; rumors of its impending demise floated around two years ago. But investor Kelly Murphy stepped forward with an infusion of cash and a new marketing approach that has been successful. Murphy launched new promotions and the club ended its association with the monthly Girl Bar, a Los Angeles-based women's event, and created Candy Bar for lesbians.
This Strip presence emboldened clubgoers, who have branched out; gays and lesbians have been feeling increasingly more comfortable in mainstream clubs such as Tryst, Pure, Light, Rain and others.
"Before, the only place they could go to be themselves was a gay club," says Kaye Taylor, owner of the gay bar, Freezone. "Now you see ads for the straight nightclubs that are obviously targeting gay people. It seems to be more acceptable to be gay at the clubs."
Many people tend to club hop, Taylor says, maybe starting out at a mainstream club before hitting Krave and then ending their evening at Gipsy, Freezone or another club in the fruit loop.
It can be a tough market at times, Taylor says, as a half dozen clubs are competing for customers from a small sub-group of the valley's population.
But anything that raises the community's profile should help strengthen it, representatives say.
"Gay Vegas is growing exponentially, " Shelton says. "If Gay Days takes off as it has in other cities, it will be gargantuan."
Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564.
GROUP WORKS TO ORGANIZE WOMEN To Laura Nickerson's left, three women sit facing each other, oblivious to all but the conversation they're having, while two dozen other women mingle around her at the Vox Wine Lounge, sipping wine, laughing. "Without this," Nickerson says, gesturing to the others, "we'd probably be back to where we were with our three friends, going to the bars occasionally. In just a few months, I've met so many women, made so many friends, through WEN." Nickerson is referring to the Women's Empowerment Network, or WEN, a group of women, mostly lesbians, who meet about once a month to either socialize or plan a community event that supports women. On this recent Wednesday evening, a handful of the group's members are attending a monthly social organized by Bobbie Archut and Blair Stirek, two members of the group's steering committee. Every month turns up new faces and more women eager to get involved in the local lesbian community, Archut says. While men have long been active in the local gay community, women tended to be invisible, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by members of Las Vegas' chapter of the Human Rights Campaign. So HRC's steering committee asked two women members, Gwen Migita and Dawn Christensen, to find out why. "We knew statistically, there were more lesbians out there," says Christensen, who along with Migita, co-founded WEN last year. They started out by organizing a meeting with 25 women friends. They talked about how to get more women involved in the local gay community and planned to meet again. Another meeting turned into another meeting and finally, an event where about 200 women showed up. While the group isn't affiliated with HRC, it still strives to add a little activism to their socializing, Christensen says. And it seems to be working. They have a presence on MySpace, in addition to the monthly social at varying locations. The group plans a health fair this month and hopes to add to their e-mail list, which is about 400 strong. "I think a lot of it goes to perfect timing. We're trying to raise the visibility of women's voices in the community and trying to encourage more women to get involved in the community," Christensen says. By SONYA PADGETT
