New Orleans‘ Phoenix Bar, the home of the Lords of Leather, the Cavaliers Motorcycle Club, and the New Orleans Bear and Bear Trappers Social Club, upholds the highest standards of gay leathermen.
They refuse to back down and are always there when needed.
That’s why the stalwart bar refuses to close its doors during hurricanes and emergencies.
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“We do it because there’s a lot of people who live by themselves, and they don’t want to stay alone in the dark,” owner Tracy Deroche told NOLA.com.
As Hurricane Katrina bore down on the city in 2005, businesses were forced to close, and residents evacuated. Deroche waited as long as possible to close the doors and re-opened them as soon as possible.
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Now, the bar stays open 24/7 – even during weather emergencies, giving residents a safe space to connect, drink, and calm their nerves (with or without electricity to cool the beer).
The bar stocked up on ice and candles before Francine hit last night.
“When we don’t have power, people usually stay,” he said. “It was 97 degrees in the bar (for the last outage), and people were still in there drinking. They’re just very supportive of us.”
Torrential rains inundated southern Louisiana last night as high winds toppled trees and knocked out electricity. The storm hit with 100-mile-hour winds and quickly flooded the city. The water has started to recede now as workers frantically pump out the rainwater.
There were no reports of deaths due to the storm.
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