News and notes from Reston (tm).

Monday, January 3, 2011

Meanwhile, in the Anti-Reston: Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

evil spock.jpegWe've written quite a bit of late how reliably tolerant Herndon has had a bit of a thaw in recent months, as frightened town residents confront the specter of tall buildings and whatnot. They're not even quite as vulgar anymore! So how did our tolerant neighbor to the west ring in the New Year? With Fairfax County's first gay bar, that's how!

So Addictive, which started out as a coffeehouse (thus the name), launched a weekly gay night last summer - a Wednesday gathering that initially consisted of four people, including Jennings and his boyfriend, drinking beer, watching "Modern Family" at the bar and wondering where everybody else was.

Now, the Wednesday night drag shows - featuring a wild mix of makeup, wigs, spangles and Lady Gaga impersonations - fill the place. Their success has persuaded Jennings and So Addictive's owner to swap out the bar's weekly hip-hop and Latin nights and turn their place into the only almost full-time gay bar in Fairfax County, home to more than 1 million people. The new format took effect on New Year's Eve; the only straight holdover on the schedule, for now, is heavy-metal Monday.
It wouldn't be Herndon if there wasn't a heavy metal Monday, after all. But this is a big deal, right?
The arrival of a gay bar in the heart of a quintessentially suburban community nearly 25 miles outside of Washington is a milestone for the gay community. It's also a broader test to see whether a business that caters to gay men and lesbians can succeed and gain mainstream acceptance in a town that was once featured in a book on the 100 "Best Places to Raise Your Family" in the United States.

By flying a rainbow flag directly across from the old Herndon Town Hall on Elden Street, So Addictive already has become a key marker in the gay diaspora. Sarah Gustafson, president of the gay rights organization Equality Fairfax, recently e-mailed the 900 people on her list to announce the "fantastic news" that "yes, Virginia, there is a gay bar in Fairfax County."
Frankly, we would have expected such a place to come to Reston light years before Herndon. Hell, we would have expected such a place in Clifton before Herndon. And in the interest of equal time, there's also this. So everyone's happy, right?
So Addictive's transformation into a full-fledged gay bar has turned at least some heads in Herndon. At Horn Motors, an auto parts store one block down Elden, an employee who answered the phone Friday said of his neighbor: "I don't think you want to print what I got to say."

The general manager, Wayne P., declined to give his last name and wondered whether he should say anything at all, "because anymore you have to be politically correct." Then, he said: "I'm not going to degrade them in any way, shape or form. But I'll be honest with you, I don't believe in that type of lifestyle. But it's not affecting me or my business at all. As long as they keep it orderly, I don't have a problem with it. Hopefully, they work on it and take care of their business and good for them."
"They." "Them." Wonder who else those words have been used to describe in Herndon?

Others are more enthusiastic.
Jimmy Cirrito, the owner of Jimmy's Old Town Tavern, said he welcomed the gayification of So Addictive, which is across the street from his bar. "If somebody's against having a gay bar, then they're against America," he said. "It's freedom. We're all God's people. We do what we want."
Only in Herndon can the guy who runs the place with the pyromaniac bartenders make the most sense.

20 comments:

  1. If Reston wasn't chain central, we'd have had a place like this years ago. Sad that you have to go to Herndon for mom-and-pop (or mom-and-mom?) businesses.

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  2. So this is the first OPENLY gay bar in Fairfax County, right? It's not what you know, it's who you know who can tell you where it is...

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  3. Bob Simon's Metallic Alter EgoJanuary 3, 2011 at 4:33 PM

    Poor BiCO. He moved away too soon.

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  4. A town that is overrun with illegal immigrants welcomes and celebrates moral degeneracy. No surprise there. We might think of Herndon as a "death of Western civilization in miniature" and "fall of the Roman Empire redux" -- the barbarians invade as the local population wallows in perversion and self-indulgence.

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  5. Anonymous 4:34:

    Glenn Beck called. He wants his talking points back.

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  6. I thought Cafe Montmartre was a gay bar? I went by there the other night and they were singing show tunes or cabaret and were all sparkley, (not that there was anything wrong with it..well, except the music was really bad, so other than that).

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  7. "Moral degeneracy"? Whose morals are you refering to? I'm gay and I don't agree with you.

    Herndon may have the first gay bar in Fairfax County, but Reston has been the epicenter of Gay social life for almost 20 years. There have been happy hours, picnics and dances taking place here without a gay bar in sight.

    I'm not much of a bar person anyway, and probably will not even go to the new place in Herndon. I'd be just as happy mixing with the rest of humanity.

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  8. That's alright. Let Herndon have the bar. Reston can be the first to throw a Pride parade on Market Street :D

    We'll see who's more cosmopolitan yet!

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  9. Whose morals am I referring to? Not to those of a moral degenerate like you, obviously.

    In a civilized society such an abomination as this bar simply would not be tolerated.

    Apparently "cosmopolitan" is the new code word for "utterly depraved".

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  10. Well, since they couldn't have Jacksons, better have something else . . . actually which would you rather have? I think they have the better deal-less makeup.

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  11. "Not those of a moral degenerate like you, obviously".

    Why do you say things like that? What goes through your head?

    I'm gay because I was put on earth as a gay man. No amount of torment from you will ever change that.

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  12. I gotta wonder whether Anon 4:34/10:44 ever (even unwittingly) hires some of those illegal aliens to do his dirty work. Yard? Cleaning Crew? Ever drive through a fast food place?

    Is it possible that Anon 4:34/10:44 might even be using an accountant, lawyer, doctor, firefighter, gym instructor, etc. who is GAY? Would he rather they have a pink triangle on to identify themselves so he can be sure to avoid them?

    Anon 4:55 -- I agree with you. Bars are a lousy way to meet people that you want to see in daylight.

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  13. Although I am not gay I would gladly go to a gay bar just to make sure I never have to be in the same room as Anon 4:34/10:44. That poor slob needs to get out in the world a bit, mix it up.

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  14. "Degenerate"? Whenever someone pulls out that word, I stop listening. Not worth hearing whatever else they might say.

    Is So Addictive still a coffee house by day? I could go for a cup right about now.

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  15. whoohoo, i love me some gays! this herndoness is excited :)

    anon 4:34, just stay home.

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  16. Hickory Cluster Knuckle DusterJanuary 4, 2011 at 4:10 PM

    Now watch the 'degenerates' add value to the community as they have in every other neighborhood that has become a haven for them.

    Weep as property values soar in Herndonio from restored 1930's bungalos and thriving businesses....

    I only wish the Poorest Neighborhood in Reston (tm) could attract such a crowd!

    And lastly, (but not leastly) anon 4:34, there is a place where you can stuff your stupid fat face with salad and bread sticks....

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  17. Herndon's overall AIDS exposure just increased. Good thing the funeral home is only a few doors down the block.

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  18. Dear AssAnon: 5:26, Wow-- words won't do justice--but believe me, the day will come when you will stand before your maker and have to explain your vile remark-- you are the scourge, you and your hate and one day all the hate running through you will eat you up like acid burning through a flabby, soft belly.

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  19. Seems to me Herndon is copying Reston's tradition of having no attractive woman set foot anywhere near a place that serves alcohol. Really not sure why this is such a big deal. I mean Jackson's might as well just put the rainbow flag out front, maybe then at least some lesbians might show up. Champps does have the hot chick bartenders in referee shirts, but when each one is getting hit on by 15 drunk guys at a time, it feels like a strip club without the strippers. Especially when half of the guys are there by themselves and are yelling at a flat screen TV.

    The solution to this is to import hot 25 year old girls who live in Arlington apartment complexes. We really need to setup a fund to pay them to come out here. Maybe you gay bashers will support me in this, Reston nightlife is hardly promoting new straight relationships.

    Now as a Herndon resident, I hope the gays can do for property values here what they've done for property values in Logan Circle.

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  20. That's quite some venom there, 8:05. Could it be that you are one of the potentially infected?

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