The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 33

I J' The Connection's female impersonators, above, draw varied audiences of gays and straights. Sparks, left, draws a largely heterosexual crowd but bills itself as "gay friendly. Below, Pam Kroeze, left, and Lori Higgins, of Newaygo, kiss at Tynker's. 1 1 -j development of Louisville's gay nightclub business. Owners George Stmson, 47, and Ed Lewis, 39, who have been a couple for 19 years, formed The Connection five years ago by combining four clubs into one sprawling contemporary nightclub that takes up one-fourth of a city block.

For years, the partners operated The Downtowner, The Loft, Ladies' Choice and 104 West, all downtown Louisville clubs that are now closed. The club now employs about 70 people and grosses more than $2.5 million, Stinson said. Others, such as Jim Pfeiffer, 38, a former manager at Capital Holding who now owns The Annex, took notice of that success and opened their own gay nightclubs nearby. The city's unusual cluster ot gay clubs between Main and Jefferson and Preston and First streets is a factor in the triangle becoming a regional draw. In other cities, gay clubs generally are located more ran- aIso, each bar offers different types of entertainment and appeals to different age groups, which adds to the diversity of Louisville's gay club scene.

"There are very few places in America where, if you are gay, you can go to several clubs within walking distance, and each offers something different," Pfeiffer said. For him, the pink triangle has meant a good bottom line. In less than two years, The Annex has paid off Pfeiffer's initial investment of $500,000 and returned a strong profit. And this year, both The Annex and Continued on Page 20 gays, straights, yuppies and the merely curious are all represented in the pool of personalities and lifestyles that come together in the city's gay party scene. Take a look in The Annex on Market Street.

Photographs of naked and nearly nude men embracing decorate the brick walls. Many of the handsome, muscular bodies in the pictures belong to Louisville residents, local lawyers and corporate managers who are comfortable enough with their sexuality to pose. At 2 a.m. on a weekend, the dance floor is packed with good-looking young men who have opened the closet door and shirked their inhibitions. With abandon, they gyrate and embrace to pulsating music.

Across from the galvanized steel bar, music videos spliced with scenes featuring Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and other designated queens of camp flicker on a large screen. Go down to the corner at Floyd Street and stop in at The Connection, where you can watch female impersonators fancy-walk in spike heels and tight dresses in the club's cabaret-style theater. Here, roughly three out of four in the audience will be gay. The Connection complex also includes a popular restaurant, piano bar, dance floor and gift shop. Customers can buy "Froot Loops bracelets," T-shirts that declare MALE MEMBERS ONLY" and "SINGLE WHITE DYKE" and assorted lubricants and condoms.

The most Popular items in the gift shop are triangle-shaped pins and freedom rings that symbolize homosexuality. This complex has been the centerpiece and the stimulant to the Saturday, June 25, 1994 SCENE Page 19.