Gay Bowling Night at The Block in Orange Strikes Out
For the past six weeks, folks who like their bowling mixed with lots of hunky gay guys dancing to techno music while being entertained by a Phyllis Diller-impersonating drag queen called "Momma" have been gathering at Lucky Strike Lanes in the Block at Orange. The so-called "Spin Tuesdays" event quickly became so popular that a few hundred patrons typically spilled out on the sidewalk when the club closed each morning at 2 AM.
Gay bowling night proved to be not so popular with the police however, who on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 3, faxed Lucky Strike to inform the bowling alley that it lacked a conditional use permit allowing it to function as a nightclub. Sgt. Dan Adams, a press information officer with the Orange Police Department kindly confirmed his agency shut down the club. "Somebody in our department sent them a letter last Tuesday informing them they didn't have a conditional use permit," he said. "They didn't have Spin Tuesday that night."
Lucky Strike did not return a call requesting comment for this story but an anonymous employee told the Weekly that the gay bowling night was a cash-cow for Lucky Strike. "We had six to seven hundred people a night," he said, adding that despite the big crowd, the club never posed any problems that would merit a police response. "The only problem we ever had was one guy slapping another guy, and meanwhile there was a stabbing at El Torito, so the cops actually brought a couple of patrons who witnessed it to us and asked if we could take care of them. We gave them the VIP treatment and thought we were cool with the Orange PD. so what's up? This has to be politically motivated. They must not like guys kissing each other in public."
Fortunately, for fans of Phyllis Diller, at least, Spin Tuesdays isn't gone forever, it's just relocating--somewhere. According to the club's website, "each Tuesday we will meet at a great location in Orange County with nearly 1000 of us. Who says these places are just straight? Each Tuesday the gay boys & girls in O.C. can come together and have a great time! We will continue to send a TXT message and email out each week with our location!"
Gay bowling night proved to be not so popular with the police however, who on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 3, faxed Lucky Strike to inform the bowling alley that it lacked a conditional use permit allowing it to function as a nightclub. Sgt. Dan Adams, a press information officer with the Orange Police Department kindly confirmed his agency shut down the club. "Somebody in our department sent them a letter last Tuesday informing them they didn't have a conditional use permit," he said. "They didn't have Spin Tuesday that night."
Lucky Strike did not return a call requesting comment for this story but an anonymous employee told the Weekly that the gay bowling night was a cash-cow for Lucky Strike. "We had six to seven hundred people a night," he said, adding that despite the big crowd, the club never posed any problems that would merit a police response. "The only problem we ever had was one guy slapping another guy, and meanwhile there was a stabbing at El Torito, so the cops actually brought a couple of patrons who witnessed it to us and asked if we could take care of them. We gave them the VIP treatment and thought we were cool with the Orange PD. so what's up? This has to be politically motivated. They must not like guys kissing each other in public."
Fortunately, for fans of Phyllis Diller, at least, Spin Tuesdays isn't gone forever, it's just relocating--somewhere. According to the club's website, "each Tuesday we will meet at a great location in Orange County with nearly 1000 of us. Who says these places are just straight? Each Tuesday the gay boys & girls in O.C. can come together and have a great time! We will continue to send a TXT message and email out each week with our location!"
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