(GayWebSource.com – Gay Media & Press Network) – Posted by Doug Magditch – HisBigD.com
via brickdallas.com
UPDATE:
The owner of Brick Nightclub, Howard Okon, gave a bigger explanation of his decision to join the Russian vodka boycott. Despite Stoli’s statement that it’s a big supporter of the gay community, Okon says that isn’t what he was told just months ago.
Okon serves on the board for Razzle Dazzle Dallas. Stoli was a supporter of the event for the past two years years, but not in 2013.
“They said they were pulling dollars from the gay community right now and reallocating them,” Okon said.
When Okon heard of the Russian Vodka boycott, and Stoli’s response, he says it was the “icing on the cake.”
Okon hopes that more bars will join the boycott so they send a strong message to get Stoli “back on track” as a strong supporter of the LGBT community.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Brick Nightclub, a popular Dallas gay bar, will no longer carry any Russian vodka, including Stolichnaya. Manager Mikey Howard confirmed the decision with me Friday evening.
“It was a no-brainer on our part,” said Howard.
Brick is the first Dallas bar to announce that it’s joining what’s become a National boycott, made popular by columnist Dan Savage.
Just six month before the Olympic Winter games in Sochi, Russian President Vladamir Putin has signed a number of anti-gay bills into law. One gives police the ability to arrest tourists they suspect are gay.
The new laws have led a number of violent anti-gay assaults. Some of that violence was chronicled in the Buzzfeed photo essay, “36 Photos From Russia That Everyone Needs To See.”
Savage is calling for the boycott to “show our solidarity with Russian queers and their allies and to help to draw international attention to the persecution of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, and straight allies in Putin’s increasingly fascistic Russia: DUMP RUSSIAN VODKA.”
“One person standing up, saying something like that, that counts,” said Howard, when asked why Brick made the decision to remove Stoli from its bar.
He said he doesn’t know when, or if, they’ll sell it again.
A manager at JR’s Bar and Grill told me on the phone that their management company, Caven Enterprises, has planned a meeting for Monday to discuss the boycott. Caven Enterprises also owns Sue Ellen’s, The Mining Company, Station 4, and The Rose Room.
Thursday morning, Stoli released a statement, saying it stands with the LGBT community.
“…as a company that encourages transparency and fairness, we are upset and angry. Stolichnaya Vodka has always been, and continues to be a fervent supporter and friend to the LGBT community,” said CEO Val Mendeleev, about Russia’s new laws.
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