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Share this storyįord had just returned home from Otherside when the blast went off, missing the explosion by minutes. Her car’s backseat was completely blown out, including her two kids’ car seats. Shards of glass and other dangerous debris flew directly over her head and destroyed multiple cars in the parking lot. When the bomb exploded, McMahon was walking toward the front entrance of her bar. When Atlanta police arrived at the scene of the bombing, they found a second bomb in a backpack in the nightclub’s parking lot and detonated it safely. With over 100 people inside the Otherside Lounge at the time of the explosion, it’s astounding that more people were not seriously harmed in this domestic terror attack. ( Source )įive people were injured in the blast, one with serious injuries. But when she revealed a spike nail sticking out of her arm, the crowd quickly realized a bomb had gone off.Ītlanta police use a bomb-diffusing robot to safely detonate a second bomb found in the bar’s parking lot on February 21, 1997. When the blast went off, customers originally thought a fellow patron named Memrie Wells-Creswell had been shot.
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On February 21, 1997, a projectile bomb exploded on the back patio of the Otherside Lounge as a busy Friday night crowd enjoyed their night. Night of the Otherside Lounge Bombing & Aftermath They were all out at their favorite lesbian bar, and they were safe – until the bombing. But the state would enact a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2004 before things genuinely began to improve for LGBTQ Georgians.Īt least while at the Otherside Lounge, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people could worry less about the political climate and just be themselves. In 1997, the same year of the bombing, Atlanta officially recognized the domestic partnerships of same-sex couples after the case went all the way to Georgia Supreme Court. In an interview with Georgia Voice, she said, “It was very important to me early on that I would have a business, no matter what it would be, where everyone was welcome: gay, straight, Black, white.”Ĭonditions for queer people in Georgia during the 1990s was improving slowly, but there were still few legal protections available to the LGBTQ community. When deciding to open the gay bar, McMahon pointed to the importance of providing a space where everyone felt safe and accepted. In 1990, they opened the Otherside Lounge and welcomed two children into the family, Kellyann and Justin. McMahon and Ford originally met on a blind date in Florida, fell in love, and moved to Atlanta. Otherside Owners Beverly McMahon & Dana Ford The holidays are often a particularly difficult time for the LGBTQ community, especially during an era where homophobia ran rampant and few laws existed to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. The Otherside Lounge served as a safe haven for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and trans people thrown out of their homes or otherwise disowned by family members and friends for being who they are.īeverly McMahon and Dana Ford kept the nightclub open on holidays, even Christmas and Thanksgiving, and it became a home for those without a welcoming place to go. The gay nightclub hosted drag queen events and themed nights, such as jazz, hip-hop, and country.īut this Atlanta lesbian bar was more than just a popular hangout for LGBTQ people to meet others and be themselves in the discriminatory times of the 1990s. At the Otherside Lounge, queer patrons enjoyed a large dance floor, pool tables, and quieter lounge areas with a full-service bar where they could relax and have a drink. Opened in 1990, the Otherside Lounge on 1924 Piedmont Road was a favorite local lesbian bar and nightclub in Atlanta. A urology center operates at that address today. A current view of the Otherside Lounge’s old address at 1924 Piedmont Road.