10A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 15. 2005
New bar caters to alternative lifestyles
BY MALINDA OSBORNE
mosborne@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
When an owner of a gay bar in Topeka told Beau Dreiling that Lawrence could not support a similar business because of its transient lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community, Dreiling decided to prove him wrong.
Last Thursday Dreiling opened Limelight, a bar catering to the LGBT community. The bar is near 9th and Iowa in the Hillcrest Shopping Center. Key West used to occupy the location.
Dreiling said he did not agree with the notion of LGBT nights at bars.
"It's an absolute insult to say people are accepted one night and not the others," he said. "You can't have a 'black' night, so why 'gay' night?"
Sue Mee owns Henry's Upstairs, 11 E. Eighth St., which has 'Family Night' on Tuesdays. She said Henry's was a place that welcomed everyone, every night of the week.
"Family Night is very friendly to
Tara Tindall, Wichita senior, said although there are places in town that welcome the LGBT community, an establishment that provides a consistent atmosphere of support and acceptance is a welcome relief.
the gay community, but it's not exclusive," Mee said. "Our regulars don't mind and gay people still come seven nights a week."
"There are some hazards to being gay," Tindall said. "In a place like this, you can hit on someone without it being awkward."
Lawrence has gone through its share of LGBT bars over the years. One of the most recent was the Barefoot Iguana, formerly located where Stu's Midtown Tavern, also in the Hillcrest Shopping Center, is now. Dreiling attributed the failure of previous LGBT bars to a lack of care and attention by owners.
Despite the desire Dreiling said he had to provide a service for the LGBT community, he has received criticism from members of it.
Kim Kreicker, vice president of NetworkQ, an umbrella organization for the Lawrence LGBT community, said she had reservations
about a straight person owning a gay bar.
"If they want to make money off of our community, it makes me feel their intentions are possibly less than desirable," Kreicker said.
Regarding this concern Dreiling said, "All I can say is that yeah, we are in it to make money, but we are also going to do a hell of a job."
Kreicker also said she would prefer the LGBT community had a community center for people to gather at rather than a bar, so people could socialize in an atmosphere not centered on alcohol.
Roxie Fanning, Phoenix senior and bartender at Limelight, said a bar such as Limelight had been a long time coming.
"It's a venue we haven't had in a while because people haven't been willing to take the risk to open up a place like this," she said. "But we got this place open, so now it's their turn to support it."
Fanning said the bar was about more than just money or liquor.
"It's about the community." she said.
— Edited by Erin Wisdom
Limelight bartender Roxie Fanning, Phoenix, Ariz., junior, pours a drink Wednesday night. This new nightspot caters to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered crowd.
Iared Soares/KANSAN
COURTS
Atheist wins pledge of allegiance lawsuit in federal court
BY DAVID KRAVETS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge declared the reciting of the pledge of allegiance in public schools unconstitutional yesterday, a decision that could put the divisive issue on track for another round of Supreme Court arguments.
The case was brought by the same atheist whose previous battle against the words "under God" was rejected last year by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds.
U. S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation "under
God" violates school children's right to be "free from a coerace requirement to affirm God."
Karlton said he was bound by precedent of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2002 ruled in favor of Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow that the pledge is unconstitutional when recited in public schools
The Supreme Court dismissed the case last year, saying Newdow lacked standing because he did not have custody of his elementary school daughter he sued on behalf of.
Newdow, an attorney and a medical doctor, filed an identical case on behalf of three unnamed parents and their children. Karl-
ton said those families have the right to sue.
Newdow hopes that will make it more likely the merits of his case will be addressed by the high court.
"All it has to do is put the pledge as it was before, and say that we are one nation, indivisible, instead of dividing us on religious basis," Newdow said. "Imagine every morning if the teachers had the children stand up, place their hands over their hearts, and say, 'We are one nation that denies God exists,'" Newdow said.
Karlton, ruling in Sacramento, said he would sign a restraining order preventing the recitation of the pledge at the Elk Grove Unified, Rio Linda and Elverta Joint Elementary school districts in Sacramento County, where the plaintiff's children attend. Terence Cassidy, a lawyer representing the school districts, said he was reviewing the opinion and was not immediately prepared to comment.
The order would not extend beyond those districts unless it is affirmed by the 9th Circuit, in which case it could apply to nine western states, or the Supreme Court, which would apply to all states.
The decision sets up another showdown over the pledge in schools at a time when the
makeup of the Supreme Court is in flux.
Yesterday's ruling comes as Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. faces day three of his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He would succeed the late William H. Rehnquist as chief justice.
In July, Sandra Day O'Connor announced her plans to retire when a successor is confirmed.
The Becket Fund, a religious rights group that is a party to the case, said it would immediately appeal the case to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If the court does not change its precedent,
the group would go to the Supreme Court.
"It's a way to get this issue to the Supreme Court for a final decision to be made," said fund attorney Iared Leland.
The decisions by Karlton and the 9th Circuit conflict with an August opinion by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. That court upheld a Virginia law requiring public schools lead daily Pledge recitations, which is similar to the requirement in California. A three-judge panel of that circuit ruled that the pledge is a patriotic exercise, not a religious affirmation similar to prayer.