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The center of her world was Charlene's, the bar she ran at 940 Elysian Fields Ave. "She not only was there but also was a major backer." "I can't think of a single demonstration or organization that she was not at," he said. Louis native who had lived there since closing Charlene's in 1999, was an early and vocal advocate for gay-related causes in the 1970s, said Jim Kellogg, who had been one of the city's first lawyers to handle gay-rights cases. Charlene passed away in 2006:Ĭharlene Schneider, an outspoken gay-rights advocate who ran a bar that was a focal point of New Orleans' lesbian community for 21 years, died Sunday of lung cancer in Bay St. The bar was owned by an ex-nun.Īnother great description of Charlene's comes from Charlene Schneider's obituary. There were five women there and she loved every one of them. She has had quite an active life and I asked when she "came out." "It was 1957 and I was in high school," she said, "her name was Barbara and she was my first love." She told me that she knew she was Gay when she walked into the Tiger Lounge. Charlene says that it was the drag queens that were first to volunteer to help in the fight for rights and start Pride Fest. Over the years, many celebrities visited Charlene's and she said that she never knew who she might meet. Johnny Jackson visited Charlene's Bar with other activists to assist in drafting the first New Orleans Gay Rights Ordinance which failed to pass. "In the early days," Charlene remembers, "women's bars were like boxing rings." She worked toward giving women a better space. Charlene's sister was the first of her female bar staff. Then escalating expenses and the call for changes began to take a toll. The bar was a key club with an all male staff that thrived with few problems for the first twelve years. She called in Kitty Blackwell to set up her bar as she had no experience herself.
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Charlene started water volley ball there and was a much-liked success.Ĭharlene's Bar was to become a successful reality. She worked as the social director at the Country Club while she was deciding to take the chance. She was told that it would only take making $26 a day to break even. Susan Landrum and Doddie Finley were talking to Charlene about opening a bar, a Gay wimmins bar. Since she didn't see eye to eye with her boss anyway, this was a blessing. The work that she was doing was being phased out. It was while she was working at the Times-Picayune that the opportunity came to make a lump sum for quitting her job. She was told by her boss that if she had been a whore, he could have saved her job but there was nothing he could do because she was Gay. When she was arrested in a Gay bar and her name was printed in the paper for her boss and family to see, she lost her job. Charlene was a crypto operator with top secret clearance. Directly from high school, she took a job that she loved with a civilian company that worked for the Federal Government. The adventure she traveled to get there is exciting and interesting. Here's how Toni Pizani described Charlene's and Charlene's owner, Charlene Schneder, in 2000:Ĭharlene's Bar was located on Elysian Fields for twenty-three years. Location: 940 Elysian Fields, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA