Bachelorette Parties Not Welcome

Last summer, as a farewell to my days living right off Halsted (down the street from the whips and chains store AND Gaymart), I organized a Girls Night hitting up the Halsted bars. The night was fabulous, until we abruptly turned a corned onto Clark Street and quickly got accousted by exactly the men that we were avoiding that night.

I digress.

Point is, throughout the night, we did get a few stares and a lot of questions asking for the bride-to-be. One bar even had a sign, "No Bachelorette Parties Allowed." My first thought was, is this the Halsted-version of "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service"?

We didn't think too long, quickly took a shot at that bar and left... knowing that although we weren't a bach party, we were pretty much everything that one might be... dressed up straight girls who belonged more in Central than Sidetracks.

So I found it interesting this morning, the Tribune had an article entitled, "Gay rights put a strain on parties," discussing just what we had witnessed ourselves. I completely understand the bachelorette thing... because it's a bit insensitive given the current laws on gay marriage. But does this mean no more birthday parties at the Kit Kat Club?!

Let's just hope not. Are you a straight girl who just enjoys the trendy and fratboy-free Halsted dives? Or a gay man who is sick of Vegas-style bachelorette parties from Wisconsin crowding your bars? Do tell...