A Woman's Rape at a Gay Nude Bar Sparked a Battle Over New Orleans's Libertine Soul
A reported feature for Talking Points Memo.
The sexual assault case and its aftermath brings a national conversation about “rape culture”—the notion that women invite unwanted sex if they drink or dress provocatively—to the Bywater’s doorstep. But because the Country Club isn’t a fraternity or some other bastion of chauvinism, there’s no clear institutional villain. The Club is a historically gay bar in an artsy neighborhood which, like many across America, is being homogenized by gentrification. The result is a clash of protective liberal instincts that force the question: Can you make a city safe and keep it weird?
