Bad Element: Gay patrons embarassed as new club opens

A small group of men gathered on Cherry Street Saturday night, peering at the new nightclub across the street, Element.

They had been to the club the night before -- First Friday, and the club’s opening night -- but said they had a less than pleasant experience.

After waiting in line for over 20 minutes, Mitch Kersey said he and three friends were pulled out of the line and told, “This is not a gay bar. If you come in here and act gay, you will be escorted out.”

“Our feelings were really hurt,” he said. “We were embarrassed. They singled us out.”

Tiffany Brooks, head of security at the club, recalls the occurrence a bit differently.

“I told them it was a straight bar and to act accordingly,” she said, adding that she did not pull them out of the line.

When asked what “act accordingly” entailed, manager Chris Bordelon said the idea was for them, “to not come in here and act like it’s Synergy.”

“Not to act gay,” she paused to find the right words. “I don’t know.”

She later said that the men were asked to “chill.”

Element is in the space that held Club Synergy until about a month ago.

Club Synergy was a gay club that operated for 10 years.

Brooks was also head of security for Club Synergy. She said that if a straight person came to that club and harassed a patron, they would be warned and then escorted out if the behavior continued.

“Now it’s in reverse,” she said.

Tina McDaniel, who wasn’t at Element Friday night, but stood with Kersey and others on Cherry Street Saturday, said if the men were told that they would have to act straight it’s “very sad and very unfortunate.”

“That would be like me going to a gay bar and saying that you can come in, but you have to act gay,” she said, noting that she frequented Club Synergy with her daughter

“There’s such a push to revitalize downtown Macon -- especially Cherry Street -- but when you have things like this happening, we’re going back to the 1950s when there was segregated waiting rooms in the doctor’s office,” McDaniel added.

Bordelon said, “No one was told they were not allowed in last night.”

“We were more or less looking out for them,” she said, adding that she thinks the situation was taken out of context. “We just opened last night. We don’t know what crowd we’re going to have.”

“Not everyone is accepting of that lifestyle,” Brooks said, adding that if anything, such as a fight, were to happen at the club the ownership would be liable.

In an interview with The Telegraph last month as the new club was gearing up to open, Bordelon said, “We’re bringing a new element to downtown.”

“I hope it has something for everyone,” she added.

Saturday, management echoed that previous sentiment, saying that everyone is welcome at Element.

“Overall, it is a straight bar, but we welcome everyone to come in,” Bordelon said.

Owner Phillip Sinclair said there was an incident inside the club Friday night where a group of lesbian patrons were called a derogatory name. The offenders were escorted out of the club, he said.

“Our job is to protect our customers,” he said, adding that there were other gay patrons who entered the club and enjoyed themselves. He added that he and Brooks are also gay. Sinclair was also a co-owner of Club Synergry.

Kersey said a man promoting at the club that night approached him after the incident and said they were welcome to come into the club, but he declined.

“I don’t want to spend money at a business where if I act feminine I’m not welcome,” said Colby Cain, who organized a protest of the club Saturday night. “No establishment downtown does that and that’s not what downtown is about.”

Cain said he posted a message on Facebook Saturday morning because he was still so upset about the incident when he woke up.

It started as a boycott, he said, but the response grew so quickly that he decided some sort of action should be taken. They decided to return to the club to stage a protest.

Through the protest, they hoped to “raise awareness about how (Element management is) treating people and let them know that it’s not OK,” Cain said.

They expected more protesters to show up later that night and planned to cross the street to stand outside of Element once the line to get into the club was at its peak.

“We want to let them know what kind of environment they’re going into.”

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Caryn Grant, call 744-4347.

This story was originally published March 6, 2011 at 12:00 AM.