'I call it homophobia,' said Manthey, who manages the Fireplace, a gay bar owned by some of the same partners who own Rascals. The ad in the Washington Blade, which asks gay residents to 'unite and fight' for a liquor license transfer for the bar, Rascals, has stirred deep resentment in the Dupont Circle community, which has long prided itself on defending the civil rights of its many gay residents and businesses that attract homosexuals.īill Manthey, a spokesman for the owners of Rascals, said the Blade ad was taken out after unsigned fliers appeared in the neighborhood that the owners believed distorted their plans to move the bar and reopen it as a nightclub. Owners of a Dupont Circle gay bar who took out an ad in a gay community newspaper accusing some neighborhood residents of homophobia for opposing their plans to move up the street pressed their complaint at a packed community meeting last night.
