Friday, January 9, 2009

Club Pittsburgh Scandal

Some of you may have seen on the news about this story resonating from the Burgh. here is an article from Towerload recapping what is going down.
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A 31-year-old man was found dead at Club Pittsburgh, a gay sauna, on Sunday. Investigators are awaiting toxicology results on the death.

Local media has turned its attention to the club's owners, the city's zoning committees, and Pittsburgh's mayor:

"Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said political contributions by the owners of Club Pittsburgh were not behind the way the city resolved a zoning cease and desist order against alleged sex-related activity at the club. "Every contributor that has ever given money to me is not given preferential treatment and the story line that continues is unfortunate," said Ravenstahl. Club Pittsburgh's Web site refers to nudity and private booths for its male-only clientele. Ravenstahl's administration said meetings with the owners and the mayor's chief of staff brought assurances that the club would stop selling sex paraphernalia and hosting go-go dancers. The city didn't hold follow-up inspections because no further complaints were filed. 'Nothing here was done inappropriately. As I said before, and I'll say it again, it's unfortunate that in this case it was once again suggested that it had something to do with the actions that were taken,' said Ravenstahl."

The Post-Gazette, which Wednesday asked if the city looked the other way after complaints about sexual activity at the club, today profiled the club's owners, who reportedly have held many political fundraisers including one for Ravenstahl:

"In a posting on www.pghlesbian.com, Mr. Karlovich defended himself and his partner, saying the city's complaints about his club were based on factual errors and minor violations that were later corrected. 'We have done nothing wrong. We love this city and our community,' he wrote. 'We will continue to do what we can to improve this city as a whole and our gay community in particular.' Mr. Karlovich also expressed sorrow for the death of Cleophus Pettway, 31, of Youngstown, Ohio, whose body was found in a private room at Club Pittsburgh. He said the club's Web site, www.clubpittsburgh.com, would provide information about helping Mr. Pettway's family raise money for funeral expenses. The Allegheny County medical examiner's office was waiting for the results of toxicology tests and had not determined a cause of death."

The Club's website has posted a note of condolence for the victim and his family.


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Crazy right?! Ok so here is what I personally know about this shiznat. Since this story has surfaced, the couple who owns the bath house are claiming that it isnt in fact a bath house. And that the "private rooms" are no intended to be a haven while you get your ass rammed while laying in the sling, or get fist fucked while laying on the leather beds that accompany each room. Instead they are claiming that it is a health spa. Hah! yeah. Last time I went to a health spa, I was never approached with poppers and a guy in a leather harness. Honestly, I wouldnt mind seeing this place get closed. Bathhouses are just one more reason that straight people call us sexual deviants. Nonetheless, you must take a look at a picture from the owners house that overlooks the city. Its amazing!




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Bathhouses are just one more reason that straight people call us sexual deviants."

You're assuming the name calling would stop--or even lessen to any noticeable degree whatsoever--if every sex club were closed?

You don't get it. The closer the gay community has moved towards conventional goals--the right to be married, the right to serve in uniform, the right to be an ordained pastor--the more organized and better funded our opposition has become. See Prop 8.

There is no logical connection between "cleaning up our act" and lessening opposition. We have to fight for our rights no matter what some people do with their gay lives.

Harvey Milk went to bathouses, cruised parks, and more. Do you judge him from the waist down? Was he a less-than-ideal messenger?

That Guy said...

............bathouses=ewe.
-E