Owner of Aut Bar to the vandals: ‘Our community is stronger than you’

Aut Bar, a gay bar in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is back on its feet after being attacked by vandals on 25 August.

Though the damages only totaled about $450 (£347.45; €379.44), the bar’s GoFundMe page raised over $13,000 (£10,037.51; €10,961.63). The GoFundMe page was set up by Michigan state representative Yousef Rabhi.

‘Whatever was on the minds of the people ripping stuff down is nothing compared to all the support from the community,’ Keith Orr, the owner of Aut Bar, tells GSN.

Aut Bar plans to donate the excess funds to a local LGBTI community center and LGBTI book store, also at the suggestion of Rep. Yousef Rabhi.

For Orr, the event was more about a sense of violation than it was about money.

‘We live at a time where people are emboldened to attack women, to attack people of color, to attack Muslims, and to attack members of the LGBT community,’ Orr says. ‘So it struck a nerve.’

Orr is incredibly thankful to all the support from the community and those who rallied behind the bar at this difficult time.

When asked if Orr had anything to say to the vandals themselves, he said: ‘Our community is stronger than [them].’

Aut Bar celebrated their twenty-second anniversary on 26 August.

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