WASHINGTON — Turning his attention from City Hall to stripper poles, former D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham has a surprising new part-time job.
“I’ve decided to go into the adult entertainment industry,” he tells WTOP.
As first reported by the Washington Blade, Graham, who is openly gay, is helping to turn an existing strip club called The House on Georgia Avenue in Northwest into one that will cater to gay men on Sundays, and straight women on Thursdays.
Graham, a four-term councilmember, lost a bid for re-election in the Democratic primary last April.
“I really wasn’t interested in a full time job and the government opportunities were not there for me in ways that I wanted it,” Graham says. “I wanted something that was not full-time, that creates some income, and also would be fun, and I thought this filled the bill.”
The weekly Sunday night event, called “Rock Hard Sunday,” launches this weekend and will be a benefit for the Whitman-Walker Clinic, which Graham used to direct.
Graham says the club has a very upscale look.
“You feel like you’re in a Las Vegas lounge. There is no bar like this in the gay community today in Washington. To get this type of entertainment you have to travel way over to Buzzard’s Point, or way up to the Maryland border. I think a lot of our patrons are going to walk. They’re going to walk from Columbia Heights and U Street, Petworth and Park View. And it’s also got great public transportation. We’re just two blocks from the Metro.”
Graham thinks customers will be impressed, and the club will “sell itself.”
“We’re going to be responsible, we’ve got police protection. Everything about this is going to be a responsible business, and so we think we’re going to be contributing to the neighborhood and to the city.”
