(Pictured above: scene from Rise Bar; also pictured below – the bar’s shirtless bartenders.)

On February 28, 2017, the LGBT Ministry at St. Francis of Assisi Church in the Archdiocese of New York hosted a Mardi Gras party at the Rise “gay” bar. In 2015, the Rise Bar was featured in a New York Times article:

“On a commercial street lined with midprice restaurants and a dance studio, Rise Bar is a few blocks north of the cluster of gay bars like Industry and Flaming Saddles Saloon. A sleek white bar and cozy black tables create a Lewis Carroll-style checkerboard effect. The feeling is surprisingly airy for a smallish space. A solitary glitter ball twinkles over the proceedings. A large video screen looms behind the stage, where the lineup promises drag competitions and Broadway nights.”

Those confirmed to be attending are Meredith Augustin, the Director of LGBT Ministry at St. Francis of Assisi and Joseph Nuzzi, Director of Evangelization.

In his book “Homosexuality and the Catholic Church,” Fr. John Harvey, the founder of Courage, wrote:
“A person with same-sex attraction must avoid gay bars, magazines, and Internet websites, just as a heterosexual person should not go to movies and night clubs which hold chastity in contempt.”

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Further reading:

https://josephsciambra.com/drag-performer-is-contact-person-for-archdiocese-of-new-york-lgbt-outreach

https://josephsciambra.com/pride-priest-offers-retreat-for-lgbt-catholics-in-nyc