Party Crasher

If you couldn’t make Friday night’s
we-will-not-be-intimidated-by-unusually-literate-death-threats gay-bar
pub crawl, you weren’t alone. Sally Clark, one of the two gayest
members of the Seattle City Council, had a prior engagement. But
Clark wanted to show her support for the gay bars and clubs that
received letters threatening ricin attacks last week.

So she invited the entire city council to join her on a gay pub
crawl on Saturday night. A quorum of councilors—Clark was
joined by Tom Rasmussen, Bruce
Harrell, Tim Burgess, and Richard
Conlin—were able to, er, come out; they were joined by openly gay
state senator Ed Murray.

“It just seemed like a small, fun, un-expected thing for us to do,”
said Clark.

The night got off to a bumpy start at Re-bar, which was closed when
we arrived at 9:00 p.m. The bartender refused to open early and
illegally serve five-ninths of the city council and a sitting state
senator lest the liquor board get wind of it. The party headed up the
hill, first to the Elite for beers, then to the Crescent Tavern for
tequila shots and karaoke, the Eagle for a group photo, R Place for
sodas, and the Wildrose for what sounded like a lesbian brass
band.

“We’ve been seeing people in here that we haven’t seen in 15
years,” an owner of the Wildrose told me. “We’ve been mobbed since
people heard about those letters.”

The highlight of the night for Party Crasher? Seeing Council
Member—and former Concerned Women for America
flack—Burgess at Neighbours with a man’s hands all over
him. Okay, the “man” was a security guard, and he frisked all of us
on the way in, but still.

.

For more death-defying ricin pub-
crawling, see Bar Exam and
Drunk of the Week.

Want The Stranger to fight terrorism by bravely
attending your house party?
E-mail the date, place, and
party details to partycrasher@thestranger.com.