Wolfgang Shaffer
Google
Have loved coming here regularly for the past 5 years, but really don't love getting scolded by the bartender for asking them to stop patrons from breaking the bar rules.
Apparently, according to Jaren, masturbating isn't "sexual activity" unless they're ejaculating directly onto me.
The Leather, Kink, BDSM, and LGBTQ+ communities are all founded on a basis of consent. I come here under the assumption that this should be a safe and comfortable space based on the implicit contract this sign on the door creates.
There are not many good safe spaces left for LGBTQ+ folks these days. The Eagle has been my last safe haven for quite some time and I would really hate for that to change. Yes, I understand that this bar is BDSM and kink focused, but BDSM and kink are not inherently sexual. There is no way you can spin or frame blatant public masturbation as anything other than sexual activity.
It's one thing in a thick crowd where you're not really sure what's going on on the other side of that wall of people, but during the slowest time on the slowest day, right between the back door and the patio where I have no choice but to walk past you if I want to use the bathroom or buy a drink... that's just absurd and a violation of my consent; I didn't sign up to be a voyeur in your exhibition fetish.
I'd really love to see this place following their own rules since this is the only place left where I can spend time with my friends and really be myself. I previously rated this bar as 5 stars and will be happy to do so again once I know this has been handled appropriately. The staff and owner know how to reach me considering I'm there several times a week and am a former employee.
Cheers.
Edit: I've been informed by the owner that I'm banned indefinitely due to "slandering" the bar online. Legally speaking, "slander" requires something to be knowingly untrue, and none of the contents of my review were untrue.
The owner did confirm that the bartender was in the wrong and let me know that they have been coached on how to correctly handle similar situations in the future. (And also that he would be fired, but I doubt that's true and genuinely hope it's not the case.) He asked me what my side of the story was, but did not let me tell the story before he interrupted and started scolding me for slander and asking me to leave.
I asked him if he would actually hear my story, and he agreed, but interrupted me several times in a defensive manner before finally telling me to see myself out and not to come back until he says otherwise.
Unfortunately, this means I have no safe social spaces left in PDX, as everyone I know chooses this bar as a meeting/hangout point. For a bar that claims itself to be a safe and welcoming LGBTQ+ space, they are living up rather poorly to the claim.
I broke no rules of the establishment. My only "wrong" was giving a negative (and truthful) review because I had no idea who to go to for this issue. I also made it clear and fully intended to set the review back to 5 stars as soon as I was told that similar situations would be handled appropriately in the future, leaving no real grounds for a "slander" claim.
Hope to see you around, Portland. And keep in mind: it's not safe to raise concerns at Eagle Portland, apparently it gets you banned.
P.S. the food is great. If you're gonna go at all, make sure to support Meat Daddy in the patio.