As a paternalistic figure in the city’s ‘gay world,’ his passing asks how and if LGBTQ Pittsburghers are remembered. He had offered so much to his patrons, whom he loving called “the largest and strangest family in the world.” Membership to Lucky’s clubs was truly familial, sharing the city through devastation and resilience. Lucky’s identity, like his patrons, was entrenched in the city’s history. His sexuality, though never a matter of apology, was emphasized alongside his experience as an Italian, as a Northsider, and as a working-class man.
Yesterday I visited an old friend in Pittsburgh, who I probably haven’t seen in 15 years. My friend is a musician and character well-known across Pittsburgh’s many neighborhoods and communities. We stopped for a beer at Froggy’s in Bloomfield at happy hour. He was telling stories, and I didn’t quite get one he was telling about a kid’s picture in front of the Real Luck Cafe, but took notice when my friend said, “Lucky’s of all places.” I asked him if Lucky was still alive and he told me that he’d passed away, something I’d missed hearing about.
I had a story about Lucky telling stories, how he was awarded a medal for valor. My friend had a real Lucky story. Back in the day the Holiday bar apparently wasn’t too fastidious about checking IDs and so straight underage-college students sometimes frequented the bar. During a liquor control raid, Lucky motioned my friend behind the bar wiping a with a bar cloth. My friend took the hint and began washing glasses and wiping the bar down. The police paid no attention to the people behind the bar. My friend is straight and black, something I mention because both Lucky’s news obituary and the Queer History piece mention that looking at his clubs provides a lens to see a history of white gay men in a time, but not black gay men and women generally. I don’t dispute the point, but what’s generally true misses some important nuances.
Lucky was proud of his efforts to help found and support the Persad Center which provides counselling to sexual minorities.
