Last week, Connecticut’s oldest gay bar, The Cedar Brook Cafe in Westport, shut its doors because of increasing rents.
The Mercurial scored an interview with “The Brook’s” 27-year-old DJ, Willie Rodriguez, who is so heartbroken over the closing he may stop spinning forever.
My favorite part of the interview:
TM: What are your goals with music? What do you try to achieve as a DJ?
WR: I don’t know. I really like working in the Brook and I don’t think I’m going to find another place like this one, so I’m thinking of not DJ anymore. I’m honestly not sure of what I’m going to do.
TM: Could you share a special memory from your time at Cedar Brook? Something that was either funny or crazy?
WR: A few years ago I had a bad experience with a gay person, and since then I had a very bad impression about gay people. But working in the Brook completely changed that impression; I think I learn a good lesson.
TM: What do you think is the importance of Cedar Brook for CT gay culture?
WR: I think it will be [remembered] as the longest going gay bar in the US. I think that for the gay culture, [The Brook] is more than just a club; It is a monument.
Read the whole interview here
