Gay bars in redding california

After five people were shot dead in a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo. It was the only gay bar in Redding, a Northern California city of 93, that, like Colorado Springs, is deeply religious and conservative. The news from Club Q in Colorado Springs was another california punch. People are going to come for us.

In politically red stretches of California — from the old logging towns in the north through the dusty farmlands of the Central Valley — the Colorado Springs massacre was yet another devastating reminder of how difficult and lonely it can be to be redd in conservative America. There are few, if any, gay bars or other LGBTQ-friendly hangouts in this state's more rural counties, where queer people say they live with a growing sense of foreboding.

The Colorado Springs attack comes at a time when hateful rhetoric against LGBTQ people — especially from Republican politicians and conservative pundits — is on the rise. Colorado Springs is home to megachurches and influential Christian-right bars like Focus on the Family, which popularized the term "family values" and fought the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Officials have not issued a possible motive for the shooting, but it is being investigated as a hate crime. In the 12 years that Archer Lombardi owned the Chico dive bar the Maltese, which was known for its drag shows and burlesque performances, he always feared violence. Sometimes, as he swept the sidewalk in front of the bar, people screamed anti-gay slurs from pickup trucks, he said.

He and his partner bought a farm. Other venues have started hosting drag shows, but there are no other gay bars in Chico, home to Cal State Chico, or the surrounding area. In rural California, being openly gay is an act of defiance, said Jacob Hibbitts, a board member for the fledgling Lassen Pride Network who lives in Susanville with his husband, Richard Colvin.

Hibbitts said his husband is "more effeminate" than him — favoring fancy hats, shoes with a bit of heel and purses — but tones down his appearance in Susanville for his safety. Colvin proudly flaunts it. Hibbitts helped organize a Pride potluck at a park in Susanville this summer, a few days after a rainbow flag was stolen from outside a local domestic violence services center.

Undercover and uniformed police were present. After the Colorado shooting, organizers are nervous about having another potluck. But now, it's more important than ever to be visible, Hibbitts said. We are not going to be silent," he said. Brian Poth — a gay, retired actor who starred in "CSI: Miami," "True Blood" and other shows — recalled the culture shock of moving back to his hometown of Visalia in agricultural Tulare County in Poth had lived behind Hamburger Mary's, a drag-themed burger restaurant, in West Hollywood for years.

He couldn't find a therapist or doctor he trusted. There were queer-owned businesses, gay they didn't put up rainbow flags.

Opinion: The Recently Closed Club 501 Wasn’t Just Redding’s Only Gay Bar; It was Home

A month later, a gunman killed 49 people at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. This fall, an event for teenagers organized by the Source — a movie screening followed by a drag show — was moved from a Visalia theater to a less visible place after school board candidates blasted it on social media and anti-LGBTQ comments grew threatening.

Tulare County Supervisor Amy Shuklian, the first out lesbian on the board, said that when she first ran for the Visalia City Council inher mother worried for her safety. She has gotten a few comments about having "a gay agenda.