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Irate Neighbors Call Bingo Night A Drag

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By ROGER DROUIN, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: December 17, 2007

SARASOTA - They want to see what all the hype is about, but the 150 people who reserved a seat at tonight's Drag Queen Bingo might not get to see the drag queens call the first bingo number.

Thursday, city officials sent Canvas Cafe owner Louis Schultz a letter warning that the upcoming bingo night cannot go on because Schultz does not have a bingo license.

The letter orders Schultz to obtain a license, a process that can take up to a month, before he holds another bingo night.

"I don't think we should be allowing it to continue if they don't have the required license," City Attorney Robert Fournier said. "There are solutions that can be worked out there. They just have to adhere to the code requirements."

What started as one resident's complaint against loud noise and profane language at the bingo night has turned into a whirlwind in a quiet, laid-back neighborhood two blocks south of Main Street.

Neighbors who were on the sidelines now are speaking out against the noise and language, saying they don't want their children hearing it.

As neighbors protest the bingo night, a wave of Sarasotans is voicing support for the risque game.

Schultz also said the show will go on. He said he was out of town for the weekend and had not received the letter.

An Eclectic Neighborhood
Schultz plans to tell city commissioners his side of the story at a meeting this afternoon, a few hours before the game is scheduled to begin.

Like other area residents, Bobby and Stacy Fletcher chose to live near Towles Court because they like the artsy, creative vibe. On the streets bordering the small artists' oasis, residents know just about everything that is going on in the neighborhood.

Some say they don't mind a little live jazz or sounds drifting north from downtown on the weekend, but do not think drag queens strutting around a cafe patio and yelling off-color jokes belongs in the neighborhood.

The Fletchers, who live several houses south of Canvas Cafe, are just getting involved in the dispute. Last week, Bobby Fletcher called Schultz and said the loud noise was keeping his three children awake.

The couple's request is a simple one. They want the owner to turn down the volume and the drag queens to stop using the profanity.

"We expect some character here," Stacy Fletcher said about living downtown, "but not something our children will take to school and get in trouble by the principal."

The feud began when Skip Dyrda, who lives in a house 20 feet away from the cafe with his wife and 7-year-old daughter, called police three times and began writing e-mails to commissioners about the loud noise and cursing.

Dyrda still doesn't think Schultz will listen. Two city commissioners say the city should get involved.

Owner Says He's Acted

Schultz said he isn't breaking any laws and plans to take a stand.

He defends the bingo night event as a way to get people to Towles Court.

Schultz also said he told the drag queens to stop using megaphones, which amplified their off-color jokes to families more than a block away.

XuXu (pronounced shoo-shoo) Fontana, the drag-queen host at the Canvas Cafe event, said he gets people to laugh by "saying things people think but won't say."

His goal is to entertain - not offend. Fontana said he hasn't seen anyone ever walk away from the cafe because of one of his jokes.

Fontana expected negative attention, but he never guessed bingo night would make an appearance on CNN.

"To me, it's mind boggling," Fontana said. "There are mudslides, a war and a presidential campaign going on, and drag queen bingo is a problem."

Betty Madden is one of many whose curiosity was sparked by recent media reports. She stopped in Canvas Cafe on Thursday afternoon to reserve a table for bingo.

"We want to get a group of girls together and rent a limo," said Madden, 76.

Madden and Pat Aylmer, also 76, will have to postpone their girls night out until next month because the cafe already is booked full for tonight.

Schultz said he decided last spring to bring drag queen bingo, which got its start in the early 1990s in Seattle as a fundraising idea, to Canvas Cafe on South Links Avenue. The event benefits the Community AIDS Network.

For $10, patrons get four bingo cards and a night of colorful jokes and ribbing from three drag queens as they call the numbers.

"The people come to see them be outrageous," Schultz said. "They're not here to see Mary Poppins, although it would be funny if there was a guy being Mary Poppins in drag."

Matt Orr, one of the founders of the Young Professionals Group, is a regular at bingo night. He reserved a table for 20 at the last event.

"We have worked really hard for years to create a downtown that everyone wants to be a part of," Orr said. "Now that we have achieved that, we can't handpick which kind of noise we hear."

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