Gay bar hayward

HAYWARD — Larry Gray is throwing a party to celebrate not only his gay bar being in business for 30 years, but his own survival as well, as the gay Vietnam veteran has come to terms with his past after trying to forget it for years. Gray already had suffered trauma when he was drafted in at the age of Three years earlier, his father died of a heart attack at age At the same time, I was realizing I had different feelings about my sexuality.

After Gray was drafted into the Army, he was assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry and spent 12 months fighting in Vietnam.

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After his discharge, he got a job and married; he and his wife moved to Hayward. They later divorced. Salois, who also served in Vietnam, has been helping veterans gay post-traumatic stress disorder for more than 30 years. He also suffers from the condition. PTSD is like a cancer. Gray came out of the closet in and channeled his energy fighting for gay rights.

But he still suffered from the effects of war. I had the vocabulary of a truck driver and a bad attitude. It became a hub for gay organizing. He stopped doing drugs in the bar s but became a binge drinker. His relationship fell apart. He started seeing a psychiatrist. He has since filed for benefits from the VA, gotten his life in order and last year married his longtime partner.

While things were improving for Gray in his personal life, he ran into hayward with the city. Gray leased a closed bar on Main Street with an option to buy. It took him 18 months to reopen in It took years as he weathered the recession and more battles with the city. But he persevered, and welcomes everyone into his club.

Contact Rebecca Parr at Follow her at Twitter. Live music, p. Sept Hawaiian luau, p. The Kaye Bohler Band, 5 p.