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Dems to Get Peppy at Mary’s

If, like me, you’ve had just about enough of John McCain and his attack dog, you might want to head over to Mary’s bar in East Atlanta tonight.

Mary’s is hosting a Democratic Pep Rally to encourage voter registration and raise money for the Barack Obama campaign.  In true Mary’s style, the pep rally will feature a costume contest for the best First Lady or Head of State doppleganger.  The winner gets $100 donated to the Obama Campaign in their name. There will be boys on the bar dancing to the tunes of DJ Hawg-Tied.  MC 5 Hour Boner will officiate.

Life in this red state has me blue in the face.  It’s time to do something, and what better place than at Mary’s.

Mary’s Bar is the Best

The national queers at Logo Online have discovered what Atlanta queers already know. Mary’s Bar in East Atlanta is the best. I love hanging out at Mary’s. It’s my choice if I want to just stop in somewhere for a drink to unwind. Or if I want to karaoke (although it’s known there as Mary-oke). Or if I want to meet (gay or straight) friends for a laid-back evening. Pretty much any occasion, you can count on a good time and a friendly crowd at this East Atlanta gay (and lesbian, and transgender, and bi, and straight) bar. I’m glad Logo named Mary’s Bar the Best Gay Bar in the country. I’m pleased that Mary’s is also rated number one by AOL’s City’s Best List. It proves you don’t have to be trendy, or in New York, San Francisco or L.A., to operate an entertaining, welcoming and popular gay bar.

Unlike most of the gay or lesbian bars in Atlanta (and in many other parts of the country), Mary’s is busy pretty much every night of the week. One thing that always strikes me is how happy everyone seems at Mary’s. One Saturday night earlier this summer, I tapped a friend on the shoulder and told him to take a look around. Everyone was laughing, smiling and/or singing. The bartenders are friendly and attentive. The only thing that would make Mary’s a better bar would be a little more room. It’s long, narrow bar area is a tight squeeze most nights of the week. And the “stage” area in front of the DJ booth can be awkward during Mary-oke, and results in completely closing down the front entrance and routing patrons to the back door on the deck. But somehow the tight squeeze only works to Mary’s advantage. Everyone cooperates to work around the limited space. Even thought it’s usually quite crowded, it never seems to get too crowded. In other words, this little LGBT bar could only get better if it doubled in size.

Only one other Georgia gay bar made the list.  It’s Swinging Richards, the all-male gay strip club on Northside Drive.

MondoHomos Meet at Mary’s

MondoHomo Dirty South ‘08 got off to a great start last night. The Homo-a-rama Dance Party at Mary’s in East Atlanta immediately followed the art opening at the Tilt Gallery downtown. Many of the artists and musicians performing at the event appeared at Mary’s for some social time with the MondoHomo team, other artists and the rest of us. When I woke up this morning still feeling a little tipsy, I knew MondoHomo was definitely underway.

I asked Kiki, one of the organizers of the alterna-queer arts and music festival, about her expectations for MondoHomo v. 2. Kiki says she anticipates an increase in attendance this year, and hopes it will continue to grow in popularity, scope and impact every year.

The first MondoHomo last year was held the weekend after Atlanta Pride. But with the drought-induced re-arranging of Atlanta events this summer, I suppose it doesn’t make much sense to tie another event on Pride’s coattails. Besides, MondoHomo deserves its own time and attention. It’s focused on queer art and music just to the left of the mainstream. Okay, make that way, far left of the mainstream. A lot of Pride’s purpose has always been inclusion and acceptance. MondoHomo is more about celebrating our differences–including the many differences within the queer community itself. The MondoHomo’s moved the festival to Memorial Day weekend, where it will stay for future festivals, according to Kiki.

The music starts tonight at 8:00 p.m. at Lenny’s Bar with MondoHomo HipHop.  See you there.