Johnny's 30th Anniversary

 

(Read an interview with Sean David here)

 

Ladies and Gentleman:
 
I am pleased to announce that Johnny's will be celebrating it's 30 Year Anniversary on September 30, 2010 after opening our doors at the 219 S.W. 2nd Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida location on Thursday, August 28, 1980. 

We will be featuring Superstar Brent Everett as well as offering 1/2 an hour of open TOP SHELF bar 3 times throughout the night and complimentary hor deurves.  When the club opened the first time it was called Johnny's Village Inn.  Interestingly enough the first dollar Johnny's ever made was a George Washington G Series Note from 1977 and it was in that year that the fortnightly newspaper Gay News and its editor, Denis Lemon, were put on trial and convicted of blasphemous libel. It was the last successful prosecution for gay related blasphemy in Brittain or any other country for that matter.  It seems fitting that the just as the world started to give way to the voice of the gay community, Johnny's was born with the sole intention of creating a place of self and sexual expression without fear of persecution or judgement.

Of course the Johnny's of today, located at 1116 W Broward Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida is significantly different in looks than before, yet it still holds true to the core fundamental ideals it was conceived upon, which was to create a safe place for gay men to be gay.  It is historical for a Gay Night Club to have lasted so long and continue to be a such an influence in the GLBT community.  

Having survived economic and political hardship as well as police harassment based solely on sexual orientation, Johnny's remains stronger than ever.  The truest testament to the the foundation of Johnny's is that we still have the same patrons today that we had over 30 years ago and more significantly that the manager of Johnny's Mr. Al Gibson, has been the manager for more than 22 of the 30 years, still as active and involved in it's success as ever.  Johnny Moses, the creator of the club is still a very close part of the current Johnny's family and is in awe that the club still remains a well established part of our community. 

When Sean David took over ownership of the club over 3 years ago, he made a commitment to Johnny Moses to maintain the heart and soul of Johnny's while applying more current marketing and operating tactics in order to bring a more current vibe to the location.  He certainly has kept that promise as evident by the cohesion of patrons of the old Johnny's with a younger and more hip generation of patrons all benefiting from the sense of family found within it's walls.

So often we focus on people and things that have passed or ended, when acknowledgement should be given when it can be witnessed by the recipient and johnny's would like you to witness a huge celebration of it's existence in the GLBT community.  We take pride in the beautiful and courteous male performers at Johnny's always bringing new faces and personalities into the Johnny's family.
 
I am writing to extend my warmest invitation to all of you to join us in celebrating and witnessing history in the making as we move into our 31 year of operations.  We celebrate our seniors, our youth, our gay minority groups, transgendered population, female impersonators, bi-sexual, and a broad scope of the many different types of people the GLBT community is inclusive of. 

We have been able to create fundraising opportunities over the years raising thousands of dollars to so many worthy charities that give so much to our community.  At the end of the day, the greatest accomplishment of Johnny's is that we are able to continue to be a safe haven for anyone to freely express their sexuality, individuality and pride.