Brian Finstad posted his experiences at the U Otter Stop Inn to the Minneapolis Issues List and it reflects my own experiences there as well as what other members of the community have said: It’s generally a welcoming environment, despite the violence the occurred there on Sunday.

I make no comment on the event itself as I was not present and only know of details second hand. However, it appears that a lot of the online discussion seems to be pointing fingers at the Otter itself rather than the perpetrator. My partner and I frequent the Otter on about a monthly basis and it is my favorite bar in MPLS as it has a very tight knight, almost “small town” kind of environment without the pretentiousness of many city bars. At the same time though, it is certainly not redneck or antigay in any way. We obviously are a gay couple and at times have had groups numbering about 20 people in the bar with most in our group being openly (and obviously) homosexual. Also, my partner is black and among our group are other African American LGBT folks as well as Asian, Jewish, and Equadorian. Most of the time when we are there, we are not the only gay people in the room either. The staff all know us now and we are always treated welcomingly and with respect. As appalling as this incident was, I was shocked to find the Otter of all places to be on the “hotseat” so to speak in terms of being an antigay establishment. Some have questioned if it is a “problem property” and whether there should be a boycott. This incident should not be generalized to reflect on the establishment in general. I find the 90’s with their “Men’s only” back room in the back to be more exclusionary and an affront on the values of openness and equality than the Otter. I had a female friend physically manhandled while being taken from that room while the staff were calling her words that were derrogatory references to females. In discussion about this incident with others, I have found reports of numerous similar incidents and now believe the 90’s of all places to be an establishment that has an institutionalized culture and policies that are hateful based upon gender and not do not find it to be an inclusionary establishment at all. I find the Otter to be BETTER than most of our gay bars as my partner, our friends, and I are accepted while we are openly being ourselves while at the same time not relegated to an environment that is cliche, stereotypical, and set apart from dominant society. I just wanted to add my perspective as the Otter is a very small establishment and I feel there might be folks who are jumping to judgement who are likely not familiar with the establishment except for what they know second hand. What happened on the street was terrible, but is not reflective of the Otter itself. In fact, it doesn’t surprise me that this occurred on the street as from my knowledge of this establishment, they could not have gotten away with this behavior inside the Otter.