ST. LOUIS — Every party has to end. But the ones that help carry a movement and a culture into the next millennium, those parties are destined to go on forever.
That's pretty much what JJ's Clubhouse has done in the last 21 years. Billed as "Saint Louis' Original Bear & Leather Bar!" it has been a landmark establishment on 3858 Market St., and Thursday, from 4 to 10 p.m., the memories, tears and drinks will flow for the last time.
Its proprietors put the place up for sale about a year and a half ago, and in a letter to its legion of staff, friends and clients, Jeff and Jerry delivered the news.
"To all the bears, leather brothers and sisters and the LGBTQ community of St. Louis and the surrounding areas, thanks for making us one of the top 5 bear bars in the world, as well as Pantheon Awards and others that we were lucky to receive along the way."
The letter closed with the line, "Out of the ashes something will rise."
Surrounded by Forest Park, Midtown, The Hill, The Tiffany, The Gate and SLU, the real estate is becoming higher and higher valued.
One of their Facebook followers wrote: "It was inevitable. Property in that area is hot. Surprised it took this long."
For many of JJ's customers, acceptance has been hard-earned for the last 21 years. But for LGBTQ persons in St. Louis and beyond, JJ's Clubhouse was always a welcoming, loving environment.
As another Facebook follower posted, "JJs was a cornerstone of the community, a place where gay men could be gay in the way they wanted to be gay, to define themselves."
