Washington, DC:

Male Nude Dancing Capital of the U.S.?

t's a well-kept secret that the capital of the United States of America -- Washington DC -- is the male nude dancing capital of this great country. This fact makes me proud to be an American: that in the land of the free and the home of the brave, brave men from my tribe -- the gay tribe -- are the freest to dance nude and to earn a living nude within sight of the U.S. Capitol building. (Note to non-Americans and to those who flunked Civics class: this is where the House of Representatives and Senate meet.)

It all started back in the 1980s (or late 1970s?) with a bar called the Chesapeake House. This historic site (it really ought to be declared a national gay historic monument, complete with an illustrated plaque for the benefit of tourists) has hosted many, many gay luminaries. I often ran into Frank Kameny, legendary DC gay activist, there -- a fact I have the impression he would be proud to admit. Less proud to admit his fascination with the place would be Bob Bauman, once the conservative Republican US representative from Maryland's first congressional district. Bauman learned in and around the Chesapeake House that he couldn't keep his hands off handsome young men. He often drove his car in the vicinity -- with the memorable license plate "Maryland 1". This fact eventually aroused the interest of the FBI, since it was so blatant and Bauman was a married, devoutly Catholic father -- and thus (arguably) at risk for blackmail. Because of his recklessness and hypocrisy, Bauman eventually had to resign from Congress.

think this was inevitable, but it was a real shame. I like to joke that Bauman's sin was that he apparently did not patronize the Lone Star Saloon down the street, which offered equally proudly naked entertainment in a building rumored to be owned by the FBI itself. When I'm exceptionally paranoid, I wonder if this was in fact Bauman's main sin -- not having his fun under their watchful eye!

Nah, that's too far-fetched. Plus, our government would never endorse such activities conducted under their own roof. It must have been one of those odd coincidences, kept in force by sly lawyers waving leases, rental agreements, and licenses in each others' faces.

Of course, the real tragedy of Bauman's addiction and subsequent fall is that he could never see how normal he was, and how perverted his spiritual advisors have been. Because at the Chesapeake House (and the Lone Star) handsome young men danced literally on the bar and took all their clothes off -- no jockstraps, no g-strings, no nothing! (Well, usually they kept their socks on.) What could be more natural, more honest, or direct than that?

owadays you can get the same kind of wholesome entertainment at three DC bars:

La Cage Aux Follies* (affiliated with The Follies adult theater)
Wet (part of the Edge disco)
Secrets (part of Ziegfield's show bar)
* Yes, the movie was called "La Cage aux Folles". The bar is called La Cage aux Follies because of the joint ownership with the Follies theater.

As I understand it, all three hold officially approved nude entertainment licenses and are highly profitable. Recent actions from the DC city council apparently prevent the issuance of new licenses or the transfer of these existing licenses. That means that other nude entertainment will probably not start up in the DC area for some time, and makes these three all the more valuable. I expect them to be around for a long time.

All are located in the high-crime Southeast district of DC, a block or less from South Capitol Street, from which you obtain a wonderful view of the U.S. Capitol building. It's nice to know that our elected representatives, and their employees and hangers-on, can entertain themselves so close to their cloistered quarters.

On a recent visit to Washington, I visited all three of these establishments, observed the dancers, kept track of my tipping expenses for income tax deduction purposes, and interviewed and photographed three dancers at La Cage, as well as its manager/owner, Mickey (see below). I present the results here for you.

You can visit La Cage's own website at this link. There you can see nude photos of the three current dancers in action.
There is apparently another review of these three bars at this link, which can take forever to load.

Stephan's father was a nudist Chuck has a dazzling smile Jason stripped for me in the kitchen Ray has an advanced degree from Harvard La Cage has its own website with explicit photos

Who would run a place like this?

A gal named Mickey would. I interviewed her one Wednesday night as she was getting things all arranged for the weekend. It turns out she's a tough, delightful woman who looks after her "boyz" and does what she can to keep them under her wing.

When I first came up here (DC) I was in the bowling industry. The gay community supported me a lot -- their bowling leagues moved to where I was managing centers, for example. So now it's time for me to give back some time and energy. When this opportunity (managing La Cage) afforded itself (due to the death of the owner from AIDS), I gave it a shot. After 37 years in the bowling industry, it's great. It's so relaxing.
There's no pressure on the boys from us. First, none of them have to sleep with me to keep their jobs! (She grins.) And second, they know I'll never get up on the bar and dance myself. (Smiles again.) You know, those quarters really hurt when the customers throw them at you!

Thanks, Mickey, for keeping La Cage a proud and honest way to earn a living!


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Stephan's father was a nudist	Chuck has a dazzling smile	Jason stripped for me in the kitchen	Ray has an advanced degree from Harvard	La Cage has its own website with explicit photos