High-End Male Strip Club Planned for SF Castro's Iconic 'Bank of America' Building

(image flickr jamison wieser)

The iconic Bank of America building at the corner of Castro and Market in San Francisco may soon have a new tenant: The Randy Rooster SF, a 'gay gentlemen's supper and burlesque club', the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

“From what they presented to me, it appears to be a go-go dancing, semi-strip club,” said Terry Asten Bennett with the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro association.

“It’s not going to be nude, but potentially they will be stripping down to thongs,” said Randy Rooster co-owner Daniella Reichstetter. But unlike other strip clubs, she said, patrons won’t be stuffing dollar bills into the thongs. Reichstetter said the owners want the club to be classy, clean and represent everything gay in San Francisco — complete with beautiful cocktails and dinners with “local sustainable-source fare.”

Patrons will also be given a menu of local charities to which a portion of their cover charge will be donated.

Toronto-Area RE/MAX Real Estate Agent Fired for Distribution of Homophobic Flyer

(image missassauga news)

Last week I posted about Andrew Ciastek, a RE/MAX Real Estate agent in the Toronto-area city of Mississauga who was under fire for distributing sales brochures which included an article promoting "traditional families" as the best for the future of children.

RE/MAX has fired Ciastek, XTRA reports:

Andrew Ciastek was terminated for “poor judgment on his personal marketing,” according to Christine Martysiewicz, director of internal and public relations for RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada.
 
“We assure the general public that his actions in no way reflect RE/MAX or our associates. We're offended by the insensitivity shown here just as much as the community is. We take pride in the diversity of our workforce and our clients,” Martysiewicz says...

...Ciastek was not immediately available for comment. In an interview before the termination was announced, he told the Toronto Star he realized people are “hurt” by the flyer and promised to apologize.

Toronto-Area RE/MAX Real Estate Agent Distributes Homophobic Flyer Promoting 'Traditional' Families

A RE/MAX Real Estate agent in the Toronto-area city of Mississauga is under fire for distributing sales brochures which included an article promoting "traditional families" as the best for the future of children, the Mississauga News reports:

The piece in question is a study conducted by a sociology professor from Texas University that says unemployment is three times higher among offspring of homosexual couples than those of heterosexual couples. The brochure cites the report as having been originally published in Social Research Science.

Lorne Park resident Jon McDonald, a retired elementary school teacher, was outraged by the material and sees no reason for such information to be printed in a real estate brochure.

"It just makes no sense whatsoever," McDonald told The News. "On the inside is information on how to maintain your air conditioner, how to save money, what you should know about air conditioners, all things you need to know if you're looking to purchase a home. The back (of the brochure) just seems so incongruous and offensive."

The Toronto Star adds:

Const. George Tudos said the Criminal Investigation Bureau looked into the incident and spoke to Ciastek about the impact of the literature. No charges will be laid, he said.

Christine Martysiewicz, director of internal and public relations for RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada, said “the views and opinions expressed in this piece do not reflect those of RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada or our agents.”

She said Ciastek will issue a public apology and make a donation to a local charity of the company’s choosing.

Australian Realtor Gets His Properties Hot in a Speedo: VIDEO

Australian LGBT site Same Same points us to this video of Australian real estate agent Kieren Gray, who's having some success with a sales technique that's as old as humanity: "This property’s so hot, you’ve got to take your gear off before you get inside."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Gay Couple Blocked by Catholic Church in Real Estate Deal Files Suit Alleging Discrimination

Back in July Andrew posted about James Fairbanks and Alain Beret, married business partners from Sutton, Massachusetts, who were blocked by the Diocese of Worcester from buying an estate after Monsignor Thomas Sullivan found out that gay weddings might eventually be held on the property.

Fairbanks and Beret are now filing suit, the Boston Globe reports:

Beret, 59, and Fairbanks, 57, plan to file a lawsuit Monday morning in Worcester Superior Court against Sullivan, the bishop, the church’s real estate agent, and the nonprofit retreat center, the House of Affirmation, alleging they discriminated against Beret and Fairbanks on the basis of sexual orientation in the course of a real estate negotiation, violating state law.

“I have lived quietly in the mainstream for nearly 60 years, and I expected to continue that,” Beret said in an interview yesterday. “But I will not continue that at the expense of my dignity.”

Sullivan, in a phone interview yesterday, said he did not even know Fairbanks and Beret were gay, and that his e-mail was taken out of context. The talks fizzled, he said, because the men could not secure financing for their first offer, and their second offer was unacceptable to the church.

What are the Gayest Neighborhoods in America?

Jed Kolko, Chief Economist at Real Estate website Trulia did some analysis:

Here’s what we did. For each ZIP code in the U.S., we calculated the share of households that are same-sex male couples and same-sex female couples, based on the 2010 Census. Then, we combined the Census data on where gay people live with median price per foot of listed homes in each ZIP code on Trulia over the past year.

(The fine print: The Census doesn’t ask sexual orientation, of course, so the only way to measure gay neighborhoods is based on where couples live. The Census data requires some corrections and adjustments, described here. Finally, ZIP codes don’t line up perfectly with neighborhoods, but we did our best to use the closest neighborhood names that correspond to the ZIP codes in our analysis.)

Check out the female same-sex couple analysis, AFTER THE JUMP...

They add:

Just three neighborhoods — Provincetown, Rehoboth Beach, and the Castro — are on both the men’s and women’s top lists. The top four women’s neighborhoods, including Provincetown, are in Massachusetts. But one of the biggest differences is that the top men’s neighborhoods are much gayer than the top women’s neighborhoods: just one women’s neighborhood breaks the 5% barrier, while five men’s neighborhoods have more than 10% same-sex male couples. Remember, there are roughly the same number of male and female couples in the U.S. So, that means that male couples are much more clustered in particular neighborhoods than female couples are: female couples are more likely to be the only ones on their block.

Also, there's some fascinating drill down into specific neighborhoods in New York, L.A., and San Francisco on their website.