Historic Green Bay LGBTQ bar to host fundraiser for Club Q community
GREEN BAY - Justis Tenpenny woke up Nov. 20 to news of a mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ bar in Colorado Springs, and thought of his immediate and extended Green Bay family.
Tenpenny, a local LGBTQ advocate, texted an owner of Napalese Lounge and other friends, to share the shock, grief and frustration after a person walked into another LGBTQ gathering space and shot 5 people fatally and wounded 17 more. It was a painful reminder that such an incident could happen at any of Green Bay’s LGBTQ bars or at any store or workplace where someone chooses to be who they are.
“It’s 2022, but we all exist in a world where when we go out, to be our authentic selves, to love who we love, we put ourselves in danger,” Tenpenny said. “Club Q could happen to us anywhere we are.”
LGBTQ people have faced the threat of violence and hate for centuries in Green Bay, Wisconsin and beyond.
The Club Q shooting is part of an uptick in hate crimes and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in recent years which led the Human Rights Campaign to estimate nearly one in five hate crimes is motivated by anti-LGBTQ bias. A Michigan town closed its library after residents defunded it because librarians would not remove LGBTQ books. So-called "Don't Say Gay" bills that target the discussion of sexuality and gender identity have frustrated and confused LGBTQ youth.
And, even as Green Bay is improving its Municipal Equality Index score, local LGBTQ advocates were outraged in July when hate crime charges were dropped against a corrections officer accused of throwing a woman into a fire and choking her after calling her a homophobic slur.
"These are the moments we lean on each other and the allies in our community," Tenpenny said.
The local shock and grief quickly turned into an urge to do something to help support the Club Q community while also making a local statement.
On Saturday and Sunday, Napalese Lounge & Grille, 1351 Cedar St. — Wisconsin's second-oldest LGBTQ bar in operation — will host several events all to benefit the victims of the Club Q shooting and the Colorado Springs LGBTQ community.
It will come nearly a month after a suspect entered the Colorado Springs club Nov. 19-20 and began shooting. The suspect killed Daniel Aston, 28; Derrick Rump, 38; Kelly Loving, 40; Ashley Paugh, 35; and Raymond Green Vance, 22 before being subdued by patrons. The suspect on Dec. 6 was charged with 305 counts including hate crimes and murder.
Related:LGBTQ bars are 'community centers' and hallowed spaces. But after Club Q 'where is safe?'
“Colorado feels like a long way away, but we’re a family,” Tenpenny said. He added: “This is also our way of saying we’re not going to be afraid, to abandon our spaces or go back in the closet.”
The weekend includes three events open to all members and allies of the LGBTQ community, Tenpenny said. Local drag queens JoJo Jubilee and Jessica Bee will serve as hosts for the events:
Drag bingo at 6 p.m. Saturday with $5 bingo cards and $1 daubers
A drag show at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Drag brunch at noon Sunday, doors open at 11 a.m. Call Napalese Lounge to ask about table reservations.
The show performers will donate at least a portion of their show pay to complement money raised by bingo card and dauber sales. Proceeds will be donated to the Colorado Healing Fund. The fund’s mission is to aid Colorado communities with the financial, emotional and physical needs of victims of mass tragedies.
The fund announced all donations through May 20 will go directly to victims and those impacted by the Club Q shooting.
There will be chances throughout the events to win prizes donated by local businesses, including Dave & Busters, the Lion’s Den, the Lion’s Mouth Bookstore, Sunrise on Main Boutique, Kavarana Cafe, Luna Coffee Roasters, Stillmank Brewery and Napalese Lounge & Grille.
John Dunn, general manager of the Green Bay area Dave & Buster's, connected with Tenpenny after he moved here for the job in 2020. Through moves from his native Iowa to Las Vegas, Chicago and now, Green Bay, Dunn always makes it a point to find connect with local LGBTQ+ bars, which historically function as community centers, and the LGBTQ+ community they support.
Dunn, who is gay, said he met owners of The Roundabout and Napalese Lounge while forcing himself to meet new people in a new town. He also wanted to get involved, to help support community efforts. He arrived in Green Bay in time to offer Dave & Buster's' support Napalese's door re-opening and mural unveiling celebration in August 2021 and to offer a safe meeting space for a local trans youth group that meets monthly.
He called Green Bay's LGBTQ community a favorite among the places he's lived, having made friends and built relationships quickly. Dunn also saw the LGBTQ community needed more support from a larger business like Dave & Buster's and was eager to contribute.
"Moving up here, I could see that we needed (support) with there only being a few bars here," Dunn said. "It's a smaller community. It needs larger sponsors to help out. It was another reason I wanted to jump in on this (Club Q fundraiser)."
Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Historic Green Bay LGBTQ bar to raise funds for Club Q victims, families
