while i was at work on friday morning, the St. Louis gay world was abuzz (as usual) with the news that a young woman had been stabbed inside the bathroom at Attitude’s Nightclub thursday night before close. Attitudes is in the Grove on Manchester along with most of the other gay St. Louis nightlife establishments.
According to the first stories on Fox 2 and in the Post-Dispatch, the woman was stabbed as she was leaving the bathroom and the ambulance was called before 3AM. She was rushed to the hospital, and Fox 2 reported (with video!) that she would be fine.
Later that day, Attitudes posted a bulletin from it’s MySpace disputing the official reports, saying that:
Yes, unfortunately a woman was injured. Witnesses say that the injury did not happen inside Attitudes, but the victim came inside the club for our help. We understand that the incident was not a mugging, but a personal attack. Don’t always believe everything you see on the news…even the reporters don’t know it all. The incident is still under investigation.
Attitudes owners Jan & Bonnie are now claiming (on the Fox 2 news…another video!) that the woman was stabbed outside in the nearby parking lot (you know, the one where your car always gets fucked with?) and came in to ask for help. They (or the people close to them) are really trying to push the bad press out, as is evidenced by a certain “aries32984″ that has reposted the MySpace bulletin on the Post-Dispatch and Vital Voice comments sections.
So what really happened? Who knows..but there is one other comment on the Vital Voice page that might give us a clue..”juice314soco” claims to be the stabbing victim herself:
Im makin this statement because Attitudes owner and staff have changed their story and lied about what happened. I felt like Attitudes was a home away from home and never would have I thought that Jan the owner would be so heartless. The first thing she said was did I do it to myself. Then asked marcus if it was 1 of ATTITUDES knifes. I don’t appreciate the things that have been said by Attitudes. I am a victim of a stabbing. im still in the hospital in so much pain. I would like to know where this information about me came from…None of it is true other then I got stabbed… I appreciate Attitudes for calling the authorities and getting the paramedics there asap…. but what happened was not my fault and I will not be victimized again by ATTITUDES….
Of course, this could just be some random person with some odd sense of humor, it could be a rival competitor in the bar scene (Gays fight DIRTY), or it could be the victim. Anything is possible, but either way, crime does happen in the Grove. It’s not usually violent crime, but petty crime does occur more frequently than the bar owners would want you to believe. It’s a consequence of centralizing the gays in the ghetto, though I’m not complaining–I’d rather be in the ghetto or on the East side than somewhere in suburbia.
What I really want to know is why the owners would think that making some sort of distinction between “mugging” and “personal attack” and thus relieving themselves of any responsibility really makes that much of a difference. A person was still stabbed IN or CLOSE TO your bar, own up to it and leave it alone.
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ummm…. word.
In my opinion attitudes should have there lisence pulled and be shut down asap this is just another crime in a long line of crimes at that bar ie selling cocaine across the bar the owners do nothing for the community and are hateful to most people they talk to. as for jan telling the news that the woman was stabbed in the parking lot that would be a bold face lie. i mean really a woman walked passed a nother bar to go into attitudes to get help with a knife in her body and the door person did not notice she was hurt and she walked through a full bar with the knife in her and no one noticed until she fell. this is just another of jan an bonnies endless lies to try to protect them selves. it would be safer if that bar was removed form the grove area the police are there every weekend breaking up a figt between the 18 to 21 year old crowd as a over 30 adult i dont want to hang out with kids. so thats what i have to say
i am a patron of attitudes almost every thursday…and its just a shame to see that people are hurting each other so much over what had happened. yes…it was a horrible thing that happened. yes…people have a right to be mad. but has anyone thought of who is really to blame for what happened? not attitudes. think about it…the person who stabbed the victim, whomever that may have been, is to blame. instead of everyone focusing on the club, why not focus on who committed this violent crime? why havn’t we heard any bitching about this mystery person being tracked down? and btw…attitudes never said that it happened outside…i’ve read their statement over and over again because of all the buzz about what happened. they said that WITNESSES claim they saw it happen outside in the street. again…WITNESSES…not jan and bonni. oh…and the cops aren’t there every weekend breaking up fights. i’m there most of the time with my friends…we would know. if that was the case…that the cops had to be there often enough because of fights…we wouldn’t go. but that isn’t the case. sometimes people bring their personal problems in the bar with them when they need to just leave that shit at home. that happens in every bar. not just attitudes. ive been to almost every gay bar in STL and theres plenty of negative to be said about every single bar out there. the tudes staff manages to secure the building and protect their patrons as best as they can for a small staff. they can’t help it that idiots come in there and try and ruin everybody’s fun. this isn’t mean’t to be defensive on either side but seriously…don’t judge the club…judge the ignorant people that commit violent crimes. ….oh…read their statement a lil more clearly next time before jumping to conclusions and attacking.
I TOTALLY agree with Melz…regardless of where this happened, it is NOT attitudes fault. I also frequent that bar, and have had no problems personally. The staff is great, they do what they can….as melz put it they have a very small staff but do everything in their power to keep it fun and safe. Melz also correctly states that the statement put out by Attitudes, (and the staff I’ve talked to) NEVER tried to state that it happened in a parking lot….WITNESSES told the POLICE that!!!
Anytime something tragic happens, why does the gay community continue the drama? We are already alienated and have fewer places to go then heteros. There is NO need to shut down any of these bars, especially for one problem. Just because you undoubtedly frequent or favor another bar is no reason to say Attitudes is the only problem, or should be shut down. That is just ridiculous.
In the gay community we should all stick together, and stop reposting blogs about what an individual thinks happened. We should be trying to stop the violence, go after the people starting it, and not point the blame to anyone else!
And I have personally dealt with news stations before, and trust me, they do twist what you say to make it more news worthy. Don’t believe everything you see or hear, just like Attitudes said!!!!
i concur w/ the last two! attitudes is nice!