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GAY BAR SAN ANTONIO MILITARY PROFESSIONAL
As he remembers it, coming out in one’s professional life was something done only by those in professions where being gay was expected, artistic fields such as theater or design.
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In many ways, coming out meant coming out to your gay friends.”įor many years after that night, in fact, Hedley arranged and organized his life in ways that are barely recognizable today. “There were still so many restrictions in the workplace and families that you didn’t just sit at the table and announce you were gay. “Coming out was such a different experience,” Hedley says. That night was a beginning, but it would be a long time before Hedley was fully out, at least according to today’s standards. “I simply had no idea there was a gay community here,” he says. Louis at the Red Bull, widely considered the predecessor of the legendary establishment Faces - as the beginning of an enormous weight being lifted off his shoulders. Hedley remembers that evening - which ended in East St. Louis for law school introduced him to a woman who was in the process of opening a restaurant on Lindell and was looking for investors.Īcting on a hunch the aspiring restaurateur had about him, after the two had dinner she took Hedley to Potpourri, a tiny, lower-level gay bar in the Central West End. A friend from college who had come to St. After high school in University City and college in Kansas, Hedley shipped off to Vietnam and then returned to St. It also marks, in a sense, a return to his gay roots.
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He says the job, in addition to being a lot of fun, provides him much-needed structure and routine. “I told him, ‘This retirement thing is killing me,’” Hedley recalls, “and he asked if I’d be interested in working with him.” Eighteen months in, in May 2012, he was talking with a friend who worked at Just John. “It’s my retirement job,” he says.Īfter a business career and a stint in the military that included Vietnam, Hedley failed miserably at kicking back and winding down. That Monday afternoon was no exception: Hedley didn’t waste any time getting busy serving drinks from the patio bar at Just John in the Grove, where he’s worked for the past eight years. But he’s not one to sit still for long, even when the occasion is momentous.
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The day after his big birthday, which was July 26, Hedley was surprised when he went to work and was greeted by flowers, cake, friends and co-workers. In 2004, only 31% of Americans were in favor of same-sex marriage as of 2019, 61% are in favor.If Joe Hedley is any indication, seventy-five doesn’t look like it used to. The total possible city score was 50.Īcceptance of LGBT relationships continue to be on the rise, according to the Pew Research Center. The data was compiled by focusing on factors such as the percentage of single people the size of the LGBT community the Municipal Equality Index (MEI), which rates cities based on their equality in relation to the gay community and is compiled by civil rights organization the Human Rights Campaign bars per 100,000 people and the cost of a single drink. According to a ranking compiled by gay-rights advocate Evan Goldstein (founder and CEO of medical practice Bespoke Surgical), some of the best cities for members of the LGBT community to make romantic connections include New Orleans, Austin, and Tampa. Same-sex marriage may be the law of the land, but before wedding bells chime, there's the dating scene.įor all LGBT singles out there, it's easier than ever to navigate a city's gay community.