Condo People Attack: Charlie Horse's Last Shout

Pristine Condition with Bus Station John and Marke B.

An exceptionally bland condominium that was built next to The Cinch bar has caused the shutdown of the Charlie Horse club that was a huge hit for the half-gay and half-straight crowds that piled into the bar for the last five years. Outrageously costumed punkish drag queens circled anxious looking young studs on the sidewalk on Jan. 30, as droves of club denizens poured into the afternoon spectacle.

The unhappy condo people who are a part of the future "San Francondo" manifestation — which is really a form of suburbanization — started complaining about club revelers as soon as the sun went down to the point that the San Francisco Police Department were there too often. Charlie Horse’s hostess Anna Conda cleverly timed the last club event at Polk Street’s last gay bar for the afternoon, which made it more difficult to whine to the police.

The real loss is for the charity funds that cannot be raised, and Anna Conda announced that the club closing would benefit the Community Housing Partnership. Non-profits of all kinds received generous support from Charlie Horse and in the present economy it will be hard for the groups to make up the funding.

Some of the marathon acts on stage defied description. Pristine Condition, evidently named for a sweet and beloved Cockette, was anything but. Condition screamed all over the stage and sported faux bleeding eyes and a scary looking fake stomach wound, and then she jumped off the stage to join DJ Bus Station John and columnist Marke B. in the teeming throng. Trashy glamorous hostess Anna Conda patiently and carefully introduced act after act until the finale at 7 PM.

Hopefully another phenomenal gay club will emerge on Polk Street to become a popular center for partying and charity fundraising.