Related Resources • Gay/Lesbian • Bars/Nightclubs

Elsewhere on the Web • • Southern Voice

The below article details the process by which the Atlanta nightclub, Backstreet, was forced to shut down. The building was torn down to make way for a new mixed-use development, which was in the process of being built in 2006.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin will have many important decisions to make in 2003, including the fate of Backstreet, one of the most popular nightclubs in the city, and her ruling could send waves throughout Atlanta's entertainment sector. Atlanta's license review board recommended that Backstreet have its pouring license temporarily revoked for a month, and also recommended imposing a hefty fine. Backstreet is facing punishment because of repeated drug sales that an undercover sting operation conducted on club premises. The board only can make recommendations to the mayor, who makes the final decision. So why does the fate of one nightclub mean so much for the city of Atlanta?

Mayor Franklin will have much to consider when she reviews the Backstreet case. This goes beyond a vice squad cleanup operation, to much larger issues that effect the entire city. Backstreet is a private club, which allows them to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, despite the "blue laws" that otherwise ban most alcohol sales on Sundays and 24 hour operations of bars. There has been much controversy surrounding such "private clubs," whose membership privileges can be bought just as easily as a cover fee as you walk into the club. There are many Atlanta lawmakers that would like to see this private distinction be stripped from such nightclubs, making them just like any other bar or club. Backstreet has been around for 28 years, and is at the center of Atlanta gay life, though it has become very popular with after-hours straight partygoers as well. It is doubtful that illegal drug sales just started happening there, and it is curious why the Atlanta Police Department is only cracking down on Backstreet now. Some gay activists are suggesting that there is a gay bar witchhunt being conducted by the city, but law enforcement officials emphatically deny that.

Mayor Franklin has made clear that her office has no control over the state's blue laws, and she has suggested that those disturbed by such laws, which of course includes just about every bar owner in Atlanta, take the matter to the state legislature. A coalition has been formed to do just that. As for Backstreet, they will probably be at least fined for their flagrant violations. With Atlanta being ranked as one of the most popular convention cities in the United States, around the clock entertainment options must be offered, or the distinction, along with all of that tourism money, will disappear to another city. Local officials have grudgingly admitted that strip clubs, also popular law enforcement targets, are one of Atlanta's highest grossing industries. The archaic and convoluted regulation of these nightclubs threaten to mar Atlanta's reputation as a modern big city. Backstreet may only be one club, but it may not be the last to fall in Atlanta.