Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 34, Ed. 1 Friday, December 20, 2002 Page: 8 of 72
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CITY
Gay bar smoking debate still smoldering
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JR/s Bar & Grill to become state's
1st gay bar with nonsmoking
section, Caven officials announce
By David Webb
Staff Reporter
Debate about smoking and non-smoking
rights continues to smolder in Dallas' gay and
lesbian bar-hopping community.
Dallas Tavern Guild President Alan Pierce
said gay bar owners are caught in the middle
of the controversy. Many smokers reportedly
resent the guild's recent public support of
Mayor Laura Miller's efforts to ban smoking in
all public places while some nonsmokers want
the bars to ban smoking with or without a city
ordinance.
"Bringing it up for discussion has definite-
ly made people think about it and talk about it
more," Pierce said.
Pierce said he recently received a letter ask-
ing why gay bar owners do not ban smoking,
in light of a survey showing most customers
want a smoke-free atmosphere.
A Caven Enterprises poll in its four night-
clubs and on its Web site in October showed
that a majority of customers would support a
Caven Enterprises
spokesman Rick
Espaillat said non-
smoking sections
would be added to
the company's
other clubs as they
are renovated.
smoking ban. The Internet survey recorded 75
percent of the respondents in favor of the ban,
and 57 percent in the bars supported it.
Pierce said that the Tavern Guild supported
the smoking ban because of the club surveys
and the view that a ban was inevitable at some
point.
Now, he is hearing more from complaining
smokers, Pierce said.
Caven Enterprises spokesman Rick
Espaillat said that because of the survey results
and continued feedback from customers, the
entertainment company is opening a separate,
enclosed nonsmoking section in J.R.'s Bar &
Grill upstairs on Jan. 1. Smoking will continue
to be allowed in other parts of the club, which
is currently being renovated upstairs.
"We'll gauge the reaction to determine how
we move forward," Espaillat said. "This is
going to be a first. I don't know of any other
bar — certainly any other gay bar — in the
state that has a nonsmoking section."
Espaillat said that nonsmoking sections
will be added to other Caven Enterprises clubs
as they are remodeled, including the Village
Station, which is undergoing renovation in
2003.
Pierce said that no bar owner is likely to
ban smoking completely unless it is a consis-
tent policy within all clubs.
"Any business is hesitant to be the first and
be that maverick and take the chance of driv-
ing away customers," Pierce said. "Unless it is
consistent, with everybody voluntarily doing
it or everybody mandated to do it — it's got to
be across the board."
Pierce said that if smoking is banned in all
public places that it will place a special hard-
ship on some clubs, such as The Eagle that
hosts a regular "cigar night" and After Dark
which has no patio for outside smoking.
"I hate to say it, but I think there are going
to have to be some exemptions," said Pierce,
who notes that a greater percentage of bar cus-
tomers tend to smoke in the daytime. "There
are some bars that cater to smokers."
Pierce added that he suspects the percent-
age of people who smoke is higher among fre-
quent bar goers than the general public.
The Dallas City Council will be briefed on
the proposed smoking ban on Jan. 15 and vote
on it Jan. 22. The ban now proposed would
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8 DECEMBER 20, 2002 DALLAS VOICE
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 34, Ed. 1 Friday, December 20, 2002, newspaper, December 20, 2002; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616282/m1/8/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.