D.C. liquor board eases relocation of gay clubs displaced by stadium

http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=7517

The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on June 7 issued an advisory opinion stating that nude dance clubs displaced by a Major League Baseball stadium under construction in Southeast Washington can move to certain zoning districts in other parts of the city.

Gay D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham said the Liquor Board exemption was 'an important breakthrough' for clubs displaced by the Washington Nationals baseball stadium.

Prior to the board's opinion, city officials said existing law appeared to prevent at least two gay nightclubs on O Street, S.E., which offered nude dance entertainment, from moving outside the four-block zone in which they had been operating for more than 20 years. That zone is to be used exclusively by the stadium, and the earlier interpretation of the law would have forced the two clubs out of business.

Gay D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who asked the board to issue the advisory opinion, called the opinion an "important breakthrough" in efforts to help the O Street gay businesses find a place to reopen.

A lot of people in DC have been wondering what would happen to those clubs, which provided a relatively safe haven for gays and others (a large club for BDSM practitioners is also being taken through eminent domain).