“We saw this transition period in gay night life happening, so we sat down with each other and talked it over and eventually decided that now was the time,” Chris said. At the time, The Eagle had yet to announce that it would be closing its doors, but they knew that the bar would eventually be moving. In January, when the building went up for lease, Chris and Ray called the landlord right away. But he knew that he always wanted to open a bar of his own. For the past decade, Chris has been a bartender in Denver working first at the Eagle for three years before moving on to The R&R, where he has bartended for seven years. It was early this year that Ray, alongside his business and life partner Chris, saw an opportunity to pursue one of their dreams: owning a gay bar. “We want to harbor a gay community not just for gay men,” Chris said. Leather Colorado 2009, so it’s something we know well.
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Chris was always in the leather scene and was Mr. “We decided on the Levi’s and leather theme because of our own personal affections for that certain community. Organizers said the outpouring of support from everyone has been overwhelming.“We want everyone to feel comfortable here,” Ray said. Many LGBT businesses have gone over security protocols with police. More than 30 corporations are sponsoring events at PrideFest this weekend. “You’ll see a bigger police presence out there and we’ve done some things you may not, you won’t see.”
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“We have put together a comprehensive plan for the weekend enhancing our security with various measures,” Jackson said. There will also be a secured perimeter fence around Civic Center Park. In addition to regular police patrols, PrideFest hired 22 officers to provide security in and around festival events Saturday and Sunday. “We have been in a very detailed safety planning process for many months before this tragedy occurred and we’ve involved DPD in that,” Fuller said.
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The police department is coordinating with state and federal agencies. “Right now we have no credible threats, but obviously our ears are to the ground,” Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. The sheer size of the festival brings a $25 million boost to Denver’s economy. Security for the participants is of paramount importance. “Our message is that we need to come together and mourn together and to celebrate together,” said Rex Fuller of the GLBT Community Center of Colorado. It’s especially important as Denver readies for the third-largest Pride festival in the nation. “It was amazing when I saw it … and then I was amazed at by like 10 o’clock at night how many people had reposted it,” Karl Wesley of Compound Basix said. He offered support and left his business card that sparked instant reaction on Facebook. They’ve been planning security for the parade, political rally and 5K race for many months before last weekend’s shooting.Ī Denver police sergeant walked in to Compound Basix, a gay bar that has been around for 30 years. Security at Civic Center Park will be tight. One of the event’s main organizers said people agree they will not let what happened in Orlando, Fla., scare them “back into the closet,” in his words. More than 350,000 people are expected at the festival that features 250 vendors from across the country. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.ĭENVER - Preparations are underway for the 41st PrideFest this weekend in Denver. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.