Forum focuses on gay figures
By Sarah Baker
Staff Reporter
Although many people have never
realized it, historic figures and lead
ers of the Great Plains were not all
heterosexuals.
Peter Boag, a history professor
from Idaho State University, spoke
Wednesday about the aspects and his
tory of non-heterosexuals in the Mid
west.
Boag’s lecture, “Reality and Illu
sion in Great Plains Lesbian, Gay and
Transgendered History,” was part of
the Paul Olson Seminars in Great
;; Plains Studies.
Boag discussed how historic Ne
braskans showed signs of alternate
sexual orientations, but people did not
recognize or accept those orientations.
Author Willa Cather may have
been an example of a transgendered
person, someone who lives the lifestyle
of the opposite sex, but is not neces
sarily homosexual, he said.
“Cather definitely rejected the tra
ditional female role. She boldly ac
cepted a male persona in her adoles
cence,” Boag said. “There is no evi
dence that Cather was a lesbian, but
the theory of transgender fits her situ
ation, and there is evidence to back
the theory up.”
Boag also talked about the changes
in the Midwestern non-heterosexual
attitudes long ago, after the coming
of the Europeans.
“The Native American community
had a much greater acceptance of
those who fell outside the traditional
male-female gender roles,” Boag said.
“The European standards penetrated
the society over time and changed
these values.”
Boag said American Indian cul
tures gave non-heterosexual members
of their community honored positions
and respect. Boag said the gay mem
bers of the community were allowed
to practice the roles of the opposite sex
if they liked, and some were even al
lowed to pursue homosexual relation
ships.
To illustrate how society views
non-heterosexual culture today, Boag
used an example of pop culture.
“To Wong Foo; Thanks for Every
thing, Julie Newmar” shows the ini
tial impact of non-heterosexuals en
tering an unaccepting community.
“Three New York drag queens find
themselves in the middle of rural Ne
braska, and they truly make the best
of the situation,” Boag said.
In the movie, small-town residents
do not easily accept the three drag
queens, he said. The movie relayed
some of the old American Indian val
ues that had been forgotten.
“The drag queens put life back into
the small town and they earn accep
tance from the people that live there,”
Boag said.
Boag also made comments on the
present state of the gay community.
Boag said he was glad more people
accept gays and lesbians in society, but
also spoke of the horrible backlash that
comes along with that acceptance.
Bars battle for title of oldest
BATTLE from page 1
beat-up decor — tattered bar stools at
the Rail, dark wood paneling at
Duffy’s — but still bring in steady
crowds from the universities.
The first liquor license granted in
. town belonged to a bar where
Knickerbocker’s now stands, but the
bar has changed ownership and names
several times, Duffy’s owner Reg
McMeen said.
Tommy Mausbach, owner of the
Rail, says his proof of its “oldest bar”
status is brittle, yellowed checks from
the Rail to local companies dated
1935. A Lincoln resident found the
box of old checks while remodeling
his house and brought them into the
bar, Mausbach said.
Mausbach, who has owned the bar
for a year and a half, added that the
Rail may have been a speakeasy be
fore the 1920 Prohibition.
“The Brass Rail is the oldest bar
in Lincoln,” he insists.
But Duffy’s owner stakes the same
claim.
“I have documentation that says
Duffy’s is older than the Brass Rail,”
McMeen said.
McMeen said when he bought
Duffy’s 10 years ago, he went to the
state archives and found records that
showed Duffy’s had received its liquor
license two months before the Rail did
in 1936. Although the Rail had checks
in 1935, it doesn’t mean it had a li
quor licence then.
Banding together
Duffy’s brings ‘em in with bands
and bowls — fishbowls, that is.
The fishbowl phenomenon started
six months after McMeen bought
Duffy’s. He heard about the fishbowl
technique at a bar on a South Dakota
Air Force base.
Take a fishbowl, fill it with any
well drink (and lots of ice), and stick
in long straws for a drink that can be
shared by several people. Fishbowls
start at $6.50.
Another big draw for Duffy’s is its
bands.
Andy Fairbaim books bands for
Duffy’s and said the bar started bring
ing in bands after another popular Lin
coln bar, the Drumstick at 48th and
Vine streets, closed.
“If you were any kind of cool band,
you played the Drumstick,” Fairbaim
said. Those who had graced its stage
included Soul Asylum and R.E.M., he
said.
Duffy’s boasts bands such as Nir
vana, 311, The Millions, Henry
Rollins and the Mighty Mighty
Bosstones.
“I don’t think the campus realizes
this,” McMeen said. “We’ve had all
kinds of great bands here.”
And if Duffy’s isn’t popular with
this four-year generation of students,
McMeen said, just wait a few years.
“It’s a rotational thing,” McMeen
said. “Each generation of college stu
dents picks a bar to be theirs.
“There’s one hot college bar for a
couple years, then it’s somewhere
else.”
Last call home
One might wonder at first glance
why the Rail is consistently one of
those hot college bars.
It’s home to wobbly, mangled bar
stools and bright green walls; it’s
smokier than a barbecue pit. Bartend
ers say the thick smoke even bothers
smokers. Mausbach says he knows the
bar lacks frills, and that’s fine.
“I’ve heard it many a times and I
don’t take offense to it,” he said.
One touch of class is boarded be
hind the Rail’s west wall. A forest
scene with a deer, a lake and trees is
painted on the wall, and it’s been
named a Nebraska state monument,
Mausbach said.
According to his lease, he can’t
touch the wall if it would hurt the
mural. And, anyway, to restore the
painting might actually detract from
the bar, he said.
The painting needs to be restored
but would be too costly, Mausbach
said, so it remains covered by boards
emblazoned with the bar’s name.
No matter the decor, students keep
coming back year after year. Owners
and bartenders at the Rail say tradi
tion plays a big part in the bar’s popu
larity.
Brad Mausbach, Tommy
Mausbach’s brother and a bartender
at the Rail, said the bar’s reputation
as a greek hangout is grounded in
truth, but groups who have frequented
the Rail in past years have been more
diverse than usual. He also cited tra
dition as a reason for the bar’s popu
larity.
Brad Mausbach also said customer
service might draw the crowds back.
“We very much like to focus on
service to our customer,” he said.
One addition is the Rail’s month
old World Wide Web site at
<www.thebrassrail.com>.
It features upcoming bands, drink
specials, a “Family Photo Album”
with pictures of regulars, and a spe
cial “bathroom” page — telling the
reader to “Print this page out. You may
need toilet paper while visiting the
Brass Rail.”
Like McMeen, Tommy Mausbach
said he’s not worried about shifting
interest in college bars.
“Competitiveness is always there,”
he said. “But I’m not worried that the
Rail will ever close because of lack of
business.” —
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ASUN honors, rer::± ns
deceased UNL staff mini1: :r
By Kasey Kerber
Staff Reporter ^
ASUN opened its meeting
Wednesday with a moment of si
lence for Kim Hobson, a student
organization consultant in the Of
fice of Student Involvement.
Hobson died Saturday of a heart
attack.
ASUN President Eric Marintzer
gave a short speech on what
Hobson meant to the university.
“She was extremely dedicated
to her work,” Marintzer said. “And
when I say she was a friend, she
was to the many students whom she
worked with.”
ASUN also passed a govern
ment bill in honor of Hobson and
sending ASUN’s sincerest condo
lences to her family.
In other ASUN news:
■ Senate Bill No. 20 was
passed, addressing the danger of
pedestrian/motor vehicle accidents
along the intersections of 14th and
Vine streets and 17th and Vine
streets.
Since there has been no imme
diate action by the Office of Public
Works or the city of Lincoln, ASUN
will direct its Government Liaison
Committee to urge the appropriate
city offices to resolve the issue.
■ ASUN also passed Bylaw F
after a voice vote.
The bylaw amended Bylaws 2
and 3. It required the ASUN presi
dent be part of additional commit
tees, and an ASUN newsletter be
primarily shifted to its World Wide
Web Page. It also advocated form
ing an Information Services Com
mittee.
■ Senate Bill No. 21 was passed
unanimously, extending ASUN
support to an idea proposed by the
University of Nebraska at Kearney,
suggesting a fall break during the
middle of fall semester.
The fall semester would start
two days earlier because of the
break. Students would get a short
break midway through the semes
ter.
■ ASUN senators received Al
location Bills No. 5, 6 and 7, in
which the Committee for Fees Al
location approved a 6.9-percent
budget increase for Campus Rec
reation, a 1.9-percent budget in
crease for the Nebraska and East
Unions and no budget increase for
the University Health Center.
ASUN will vote next week
whether to accept the recommen
dations of the Committee for Fees
Allocation and pass Allocation
Bills No. 5, 6 and 7.
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