By Randall Jobe Here we are. The end of our journey — the final episode (lucky 13!) of our Throwback Thursdays, Memorable Mondays, F@#king Fridays, and all the weeks, years, and decades I spent in the rainbow trenches of several gay bars. My resume recounts 35 eventful, exciting, and exhausting years — days and nights

By Randall Jobe I stepped into my first gay bar about the same time the last dinosaur roamed the Earth (1974). I was trembling with a combination of excitement and fear — fear of the unknown and excitement of the vast possibilities. Some 47 years later, and almost 35 of that spent working both in

By Randall Jobe In the beginning of this series I put a lot of emphasis on the sexual nature of the male species of the LGBTQIA community. I am much more versed in that one. You might say I can speak to it, having experienced it first hand (!) They’re the same ones who wear

By Randall Jobe “Remember, rumors you hear about me are as true as the ones I hear about you.” —Anonymous Set off a spark of gossip among a gaggle of cocktailed queens and it may start as a Boy Scouts’ marshmallow roasting campfire, but quickly spreads like a California wildfire on a windy hillside. If

By Randall Jobe Working in any business for 25 plus years, I suppose knowing more dirt on bosses and employees than you need or care to is inevitable. A lot of the information is best left unspoken (or written!) until you no longer face firing or an ass-whooping. I will temper what I divulge here

By Randall Job In our gay world of  “throw on a costume at the chipping of a manicured nail” or “I saw this bed sheet and had to turn it into a Dior knockoff,” the very idea that Halloween could be canceled by a world-wide pandemic is a reason to scream. The bottom line, queens

By Randall Jobe “The devil will drag you under by the sharp lapels of your checkered coat.” — Guys & Dolls Working in gay bars can be like trying to swim in quicksand. Unless you have an incredibly strong constitution, a highly developed strong moral fiber, or both, there is always something or someone attempting

By Randall Jobe “Deception, deception, deception.” —Amanda Wingfield, The Glass Menagerie I’m sure it exists in all cultures, social circles, and most families, but my experience with the art of deception has too often centered on gay males who have telling lies down to a science. I have been duped more than once and not always

By Randall Jobe In a job, I held for over 25 years, the “powers that be” seemingly reveled in the indiscretions of others. They handed down reprimands and punishments like a “Christians facing the lions” spectacle. If the accused wasn’t trembling in fear by the time they were called to have their fumble reviewed, there

By Randall Jobe I’ll call the drag queen in this piece “Homo Siedel” for reasons that will become apparent. Homo was a beauty, a popular club emcee best known for her “put down” humor. She could rip you a new asshole and stuff a cabbage up it. She made Joan Rivers look like an Ingalls