Home » Out & About: CLCC @ The Townhouse, The Twin Cities

Out & About: CLCC @ The Townhouse, The Twin Cities

phoebe | Nov 19, 2012

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(L-R) Paula, Julie, Jamie and Janet.

The City of Lakes Crossgender Community holds its meetings at a gay bar that is considered the number one gay bar in the twin cities Minnesota area, The Townhouse Bar. The CLCC meets on the second Saturday of the month.

The members start to come into the main bar about 6:30 p.m. Usually members sit in the main bar area until 7 p.m. having causal conversations. Blanche’s piano bar is in the back room of the main bar with doors that can be closed to keep down the level of conversation and music from the main bar. The room where the meeting is held is set up with a piano on a raised stage and small tables. There is a small bar in the room but is not open during meetings. Members are welcome to bring drinks in from the main bar if they wish. The meeting has no official business such as minutes of past meetings or treasurer’s reports. Meetings are more causal. They usually start with each attendee giving their name and any additional information they choose to share, such as if they are transitioning or have transitioned and their preferred gender pronoun, if they want to add that information. There is a mix of crossdressers and transgendered male to female who have attended the meetings. At times we have had female to male transmen attend meetings and also some genetic females have attended. The meetings are open to anyone interested in transgender issues. We have about ten members attending meetings regularly. (Sometimes more. It varies month to month.)

Meetings consist of discussion of transgender issues or related things. At times have had programs featuring a makeup session on one of the members by another member who wants to share their skills. Members have spoken about their going for legal name changes or on issues they are having involving work places. A few members have spoken about their visit to the University of Minnesota Physicians’ Center for Sexual Health.

Over the past year the proposed marriage amendment on the November general election ballot was discussed. Interacting with Out Front Minnesota on that issue. The proposed marriage amendment was defeated, not by that action alone, many sections of the population of Minnesota were involved in defeating that amendment.

Meetings last about two hours 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. as the piano bar atmosphere is reset to open at nine.

Usually there is a drag show in the main bar that starts at 9:30 p.m. The drag group that performs on the second Saturday of the month is “Sparkle” with Te-Nea’ and Mary Brewster as hostesses and features “The Legendary Ladies” of the twin cities. The performers do lip sync mostly but there are a few who use their own voice.

The shows are fun and afterwards a DJ plays dance music. Some of tour members stay to shut the place down. Myself, not much for the bar scene anymore. I might stay and chat for a while until the DJ starts playing music, then is difficult to converse over the sound system and I leave the bar.

There other TGs from outside CLCC that come to the bar on the same evening and choose to stay out in the main bar to meet other TGs or friends. The main bar itself is diverse, about equal amounts of males and females. The bar also has drag shows on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. called “Pumps and Pearls.” Some of those performers may be the same as those who perform on “Sparkle” nights.

CLCC was previously known as City of Lakes Crossdressers Community has been around since 1983 meeting at various venues from gay bars, churches, private homes and one time at a consignment boutique run by a woman who was friendly to the TG community. Sadly the consignment boutique didn’t generate enough clientele from the general public to remain open and has closed. As a point of information the Gender Education Center founded by Debra Davis was an outcome of CLCC. Most consider Debra Davis as a pioneer in transgender issues and certainly her stories to transition in the work place.