On April 26, 1977, American society and culture went through a change that would prove to be both shocking and degrading at the same time….
The stories of what happened on the outside along with the stories of the debauchery that took place on the inside would become legendary for years to come. The list of celebrities that partook of the ‘eternal orgy’ would become well known as major magazines and tabloids would devote sections of their society and entertainment sections to pictorally document who was able (and who was not able) to enter in the ‘hollowed halls’ of this famous building.
What am I talking about? I am talking about the day that the now famous nightclub called Studio 54 opened up for business.
While the practice of equality was being implemented nationwide via affirmative action, Studio 54 was openly known for being very inclusive as to who went inside the clubs. Many celebrities were given carte blanche treatment while others were refused entry. It has been documented that many average couples waited outside to enter and eventually the female was allowed in but not the male and vice versa. Guests were hand selected by a man named Steve Rubell, a publically acknowleged homosexual and the ‘visible’ owner of the nightclub (in stark contrast to the straight, silent partner co-owner named Ian Schrager and financial backer Jack Dushey). The nightclub was well known for the integration of celebrities on the same dance floor as the ordinary common people who were lucky to be hand picked to enter the nightclub.
However, the club gained further notoriety for the hedonistic acts that took place within. The balconies were known for sexual encounters. Drug use was rampant. Homosexuality was flaunted as the distinction between ‘gay’ and ’straight’ became almost non-existent. Its dance floor was decorated with a depiction of a Man in the Moon that included an animated coke spoon. And most importantly, the stories of what went on in ‘the rubber room’ and ‘the VIP room’ ranging from sharing heroin needles, group orgies, and wife swapping.
