Coming out Warsaw's gay clubs triple

If Amsterdam wears the crown of the Gay Capital of Europe, then Warsaw would be lucky to lay claim to an old knitted woolen beanie. As one of the biggest cities in Central and Eastern Europe, Poland's capital has only ever had a few gay-friendly clubs - unlike its more liberally minded neighbors in Budapest, Prague and even Moscow, which have thriving gay scenes. But over the last six months, Warsaw's gay and lesbian community has been given the choice of five new venues to chose from - Utopia, which started the trend when it opened its doors in October last year, followed by 69, Kokon Klub, Queen Club and Miami Cafe Club, which opened just two weeks ago. These join Warsaw's already established gay joints, Paradise and Fantom. Few of them advertise or promote themselves as being gay friendly. You'll only see the occasional Internet link on a gay Web site, or some of them fly the gay rainbow-colored "pride" flag. So rather than representing an awakening of the gay community in a city that lies in one of the world's most Roman Catholic nations, it is, apparently, all a question of economics. "When the economy is slowing down, people are looking for new ways of making money and I think that's good because it seems that the niche markets are being filled," said Sławek Starosta, who owns Fantom - Warsaw's only gay-men, members-only nightclub. He is also the co-owner of erotic publishing house Pink Press. "The gay scene is changing here and I think it's natural that there would be some kind of expansion of clubs and cafes," he said. For Artur, the gay owner of the Miami Cafe Club, his inspiration to get into the gay restaurant/club business in Warsaw came after working in gay clubs in Miami, Florida. By day, Miami serves lunches to the working crowd, and by night, Artur said it becomes a place where gay men and women can feel safe being themselves. It's a similar scenario at 69. The cafe has its straight breakfast and lunch crowd, then puts on drag shows and cabarets at night. Maciej, 69's owner, said the club's door shuts after 8 p.m. on weekends - for the guests' safety and security from unwanted visitors - and can only be accessed by regular guests who know a special pin number. "I think all these new clubs are looking for a way to make some good business with the gays but the gay audience in Warsaw is too small for so many new places," said Maciej, whose clientele spans straight and gay circles. Robert Biedroń of the gay lobby organization, Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH), thinks it is great to see the needs of Warsaw's gay community being met with this spate of new gay-friendly venues but he also thinks perhaps it's too much too soon for this city. "Unfortunately, I don't believe that all of them will survive," Biedroń said. "There is too much competition and I think some of them will close."