By SANDERS KENNEDY
Crowds gathered at a popular queer bar in Brooklyn, NY to attend a watch party for the highly anticipated presidential debate this week where the sounds of gay gasps, “yass queen” and a few “boos” were heard throughout the night.
“There was no way I was gonna be watching this alone, I had to be with my girlies [friends].” said Eric, 35, who lives several blocks away from the bar.
Dozens filed in Tuesday night at Good Judy’s in Park Slope Brooklyn to watch former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris battle it out in their first debate for the 2024 election, that was moderated by ABC News. The bar is more typically known for their outlandish themed events throughout the week, including Drag Queen Bingo and piano karaoke night, that was scheduled to take place on the second level after the debate.
Eric and his four friends were tucked into a corner of the cozy dimly lit narrow bar sipping their cocktails waiting for the debate to begin.
“I’m going to need a couple more of these,” said Steph, 24, as she pointed to her cosmopolitan. “These boys are great support, but it doesn’t hurt to have extra reinforcements.”
Not everyone there went to watch the debate. Some were unaware of the event.
“Oh no, I’m not here to watch the debate tonight,” said Kia, 38, sitting in the back end of the bar. “I have no interest to watch the shit show. I didn’t know they [the bar] was going to show it, once it starts, I’m out of here.”
Around 30 minutes before the start of the debate, people started to look for a place to stand or sit to get a good view of one of the two 55” inch TVs. The level of people’s voices was at a moderate level, with the latest pop song lightly playing in the background. Discussions of how they expect the debate to go and concerns for what would be addressed was the popular conversation.
“I know I’m not voting for Trump but I’m on the fence with Kamala,” said Jace, 21, who will be voting for the first time. “She’s not doing enough for the families in Gaza. I want to know her plan on a cease fire.”
Judy’s is known for having wide range of ages sharing the space.
“If these kids think not voting for Vice President Harris is a smart idea, then they should get ready for hell.” said John, 53, while rolling his eyes.
While waiting in line to use one of the gender-neutral restrooms, Elena, 29, is confident on who she will vote for.
“We dropped the ball with Hillary [Clinton], we can’t let that happen again,” said Elena “I’m voting for Kamala, strong Black women get shit done.”
Elena who is white, isn’t only voting for Harris because she’s Black. She was impressed by Harris’s previous positions in government.
“Look at her resume. When she was a Senator, she had these men shook,” said Elena, referring to Harris’s senate hearings when she questioned Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
The TVs were set on CNN. With 30 seconds left until the start of the debate, the music stopped, and the TVs were unmuted. Conversations slowly came to a halt and all attention was on the debate.
Once Harris stood in front of her podium with the camera on her, an attendee shouted, “Yass queen,” one of the many slang terms used for encouragement in the LGBT+ community.
Throughout the night the crowd mostly stayed silent to listen to what Harris had to say. When former president Trump spoke, a smattering number of conversations started back up.
“Look how orange you look, bitch,” screamed an attendee, referencing a popular line from the show RuPaul’s Drag Race.
For most of the debate, the crowd vocally showed their support for Harris. When she declared her support for fracking, many people in the bar began to boo. She also received negative reactions from a smaller amount of people when questioned about her stance on the war between Israel and Gaza.
During the first half of the debate, the two men working the bar focused on making the drinks. But as the debate heated up, they started to sneak more glances at the TVs. Request for drinks dwindled, and they started to focus on the debate, only occasionally glancing along the bar to see if anyone wanted a refresher.
When Trump was questioned on immigration, he mentioned immigrants are “taking jobs.” Several attendees in unison shouted, “Black jobs.”
The crowed laughed whenever Harris made facial expressions in reaction to Trump’s answers, or when she would call him out on his lies.
“Read her,” yelled another attendee, which is a gay term that means to call someone out on their flaws.
Trump brought up a debunked dehumanizing allegation saying that Haitians immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating “the dogs, the cats, the pets.” Some people in the crowd gasped in disbelief.
Nearing the end of the debate, people started to return their empty glasses. One of the bartenders shut off the TVs and announced that piano karaoke would be starting upstairs.
While John was making his way to the stairs, he wasn’t surprised about how Trump fared.
“He lied, he lost,” he said while Harris “told people her plan. She won,” said John. “Trump would be stupid to debate her again.”
Jace, who was undecided on whether he would vote for Harris, was still unsure after the debate.
“I heard what she had to say but it’s just words,” said Jace “I need to see her do something, I’ll vote for her if she actually does something.”