Jealousy leads to fight at strip club (yet again)

An accused lesbian damned as being jealous was held by cops recently at a strip club in St Catherine on Friday night last as she became furious that a girlfriend of hers who performs at the establishment was too close to a male patron. The old issue of women who work in these clubs who also are same sex attracted or involved in liaisons or otherwise has raised its ugly head again. The woman in question who became the center of the tussle between the man and the disgruntled lover works at the club as a performer but is alleged to be just that and not a commercial sex worker as well.

The job does require some light intimate contact with patrons mostly men even though some females also pas through and also patronise the ladies with tips and such as evidenced with cash thrown on or drinks being sent to the particular dancer who is the subject of attention. The subject was in the arms allegedly of a male patron who was also drinking at the time in a too romantic position when her female love interest walked in; she did not act at the time but waited until the woman was off duty to confront her at the dressing room throughway, a problem of access by non-staff that seems to linger these days. What started as an argument steadily became louder to the other dancers and staff and according to some of them questioned things got really ugly when the butch identified woman offered several blows to the face of her love interest.

Several minutes into the melee as the night’s proceedings continued outside the dressing room, the women fought as tempers flared; a wig was soon seen on floor and blood was running down the left side of the dancer’s face as the butch woman unleashed her fury on her. She complained that the love interest was too close to the male patron (of course dotted with colourful Jamaican parlance and expletives) and she proceeded to remind her that she was the ‘man’ in her life and that she was to only dance on stage and not get so close to men almost to the point of sex.

The management of the club was eventually alerted as the music was halted why the DJ announced of the situation over the microphone. Patrons were spooked by the impromptu halt of their enjoyment and when it became apparent as to the reasons why, many were not pleased, to include the male patron in question who wanted a go at the butch woman. Many other male patrons were up in arms declaring that they would harm any lesbian or man royal (the colloquial term for butch identified women), some men went as far as to declare that the club should ban female patrons who look like lesbians and went on to compare another popular strip club where lesbians also congregate in larger numbers and openly flirt with each other and dancers; in disdain the men suggested the lesbians should go there for their entertainment. One man even suggested another spot where male dancers are also a part of the line-up as he related his surprise when he went there and complained that too much gays are about these days.

The fight between the women was stopped by other staff in the dressing rooms and the security detail with the manager present. The aggrieved woman (butch) was escorted outside and a plain clothes policeman allegedly warned her not to cause anymore trouble; which led to another near clash, he identified himself and reached for what appeared to be a firearm on his waist under his shirt. Things calmed and the music resumed with the dancers and waiters serving. The injured young lady had a cut on her left side of her forehead and the aforementioned blood was cleaned off. The butch woman asked to leave the premises a request she took up and told that if she persists and the lady reports the matter to the police further action will be taken.

The phenomenon of lesbian relations with so called go-go dancers outside of their jobs when said job requires interactions sometimes very close intimate contact with male patrons has been a challenge for many years since I have been observing it from HIV prevention activities. It would seem to me that if one’s woman is in such a job then it may not be normative to expect some physical connection, given the nature of the beast. Although she may not have had sex as other dancers may also get involved in commercial sex with patrons and depending on the club rules, lovers need to be cognisant of that fact. To simply get jealous as it were because one’s love interest is in the arms of a man is foolhardy and also suggest there is no trust in that union. If one felt that their love interest will not stray as it were then one should not be worried about the fickle nature of the job sexually speaking. Some have also asked why a lover would come to a club to watch their love interest if not spy on them if not by being insecure. A similar incident occurred at another club in January of this year but was quickly diffused by other male patrons and security and the woman chased away but the aftermath for the woman in question was evident the next week when a healing face wound was the outcome.

Such are the challenges of same gender relations, intimate partner violence and role playing for that matter.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

'Girl-on-girl dancing out of hand' .......... what!

Lesbians clash in car park outside popular strip club