DTM (nightclub)

DTM
Photograph of DTM's logo
Drag queen in pink dress under red stage lighting
Finnish drag queen Miss B on stage at DTM's Mannerheimintie location in 2019
Map
AddressMannerheimintie 6 B
LocationHelsinki, Finland
Coordinates60°10′02″N 24°56′30″E / 60.1671°N 24.9417°E / 60.1671; 24.9417
Public transit
OwnerRavintola Oy Afrodite[1] (1992–2012)
Äkä Oy[2] (2012–present)
OperatorTomi Häkkinen
Type
Opened1992 (1992)
Website
dtm.fi

DTM (originally Don't Tell Mama)[3] is an LGBTQ nightclub in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1992, it was once the largest gay club in Northern Europe. The venue was initially situated in Helsinki's Kamppi neighborhood, having since relocated twice: first, to Iso Roobertinkatu in Punavuori in 2003, and second, to Mannerheimintie in Kluuvi in 2012. Popular with gay men, DTM also caters to a straight and lesbian customer base. The club's playlists contain primarily pop songs, dance music, techno and Finnish hits, with live entertainment often taking the form of drag shows. Through an agreement with UK-based promoter Klub Kids, DTM hosted visiting performers from RuPaul's Drag Race from January 2019 to early 2020, when the Mannerheimintie venue closed.

The club temporarily ceased operation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but following a protracted conflict over noise complaints from a neighboring hotel—which ended in June 2020—the Mannerheimintie location's rental agreement was dissolved. DTM is scheduled to reopen in summer 2023 in a new space on the outskirts of Helsinki's Kalasatama neighborhood.

Description

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Man wearing a black T-shirt and white sash smiling and giving a thumbs-up
The first Mr. Gay Finland was crowned at DTM in 2010.

Owned by Äkä Oy,[2] DTM was once the largest gay club in Northern Europe.[1][4] It has relocated several times since its inception, though it has always been in the vicinity of Helsinki's downtown area.[1][5] The most recent location, on Mannerheimintie, closed in June 2020. General manager Tomi Häkkinen has stated that the establishment will reopen at a new address in 2021.[2][5]

The club's music selection consists mostly of "multilingual Eurovision pop tunes",[3][6] English-language dance music[3] and techno, as well as a selection of Finnish-language hits by artists such as Kaija Koo.[7] Its live entertainment often features drag queens and go-go dancers.[8] Each year during Pride Week, the venue hosts the finale of the Mr. Gay Finland competition, which began in 2010.[9] International businesses, such as Nordea and Nokia, sometimes hold events and product launches there.[1]

Since January 2019, DTM has had a partnership with Klub Kids, a European promoter that organizes continent-wide drag tours. The company produces a series of live shows called Klub Kids Helsinki, which brings RuPaul's Drag Race stars to DTM several times per year.[10] To date, performers including Kameron Michaels,[10] Bob the Drag Queen[11] and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo[12] have made appearances.

History

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Background and early years

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In the early 1980s, Helsinki did not have any gay restaurants or nightlife venues. Consequently, Seta, the largest LGBT rights organization in Finland, invested in a company called Ravintola Oy Afrodite. With Seta's funding, the firm opened Gay Gambrin, Helsinki's first LGBTQ restaurant, in 1984. Because this venture was successful, Ravintola Oy Afrodite then took over an existing nightclub, Don't Tell Mama, in 1992.[1][7] Later renamed DTM, Don't Tell Mama was located at the corner of Annankatu and Kansakoulukatu in Helsinki's Kamppi neighborhood.[1][7][13] It was the only gay club in Helsinki until 1996, when a venue called Lost & Found opened and began to compete with it for customers. DTM nevertheless maintained its reputation as Finland's flagship LGBT nightlife establishment.[1] In 1997, the club began to host the Miss Drag Queen competition, a regularly recurring drag show that ran until 2013.[14]

Iso Roobertinkatu location

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Dark nightclub with illuminated television screen and disco balls
Eurovision Song Contest viewers at DTM's Punavuori location in 2006

In late 2002[15] or early 2003,[14][16] DTM moved to Iso Roobertinkatu in Punavuori. There, it occupied a bilevel space that included bars on both floors, a cafe, and a 54-seat terrace for outdoor dining. During this period, DTM was noted for targeting a wider customer base than Hercules, another popular local gay club.[1] Unlike the latter, DTM actively welcomed lesbians and straight clientele in addition to gay men.[1][17] Its second floor was open to women only on Saturday evenings.[1] According to Riitta Suominen, who managed DTM from 1996 to 2006, all profits the venue made under Ravintola Oy Afrodite's ownership were donated to LGBT charities and initiatives.[1][14]

In December 2011, American singer Adam Lambert and his then-boyfriend Sauli Koskinen were arrested outside the club, which had ejected them for fighting.[18][19]

Mannerheimintie and conflict with St. George

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After Ravintola Oy Afrodite went bankrupt in early 2012,[13][15] Äkä Oy bought DTM and moved the business to Mannerheimintie.[5][20] The new address, in Kluuvi, was near the Helsinki central railway station.[5][13] For part of the 2010s, the establishment was managed by Markku Valtanen.[17] In June 2018, a woman was raped in one of the club's toilet stalls. This prompted DTM's management to make structural changes to its bathrooms and to increase signage encouraging patrons to report suspicious activity. According to Häkkinen, the frequency of harassment and other inappropriate behavior in the venue subsequently decreased.[20]

Around the same time, in May 2018,[21][22] a luxury hotel called St. George opened next door. Four months later,[23] St. George's management lodged a complaint against DTM, stating that loud music from one of its dance floors, the Puma Bar, was audible in three hotel rooms.[5][13][24] The City of Helsinki's environmental board investigated the matter in August 2019, concluding that the noise was loud enough to prevent hotel guests from sleeping.[23][24] In response, DTM modified its sound equipment and indicated that the onus for addressing any remaining concerns should be on the hotel.[24] Nevertheless, the environmental board deemed DTM's adjustments insufficient and notified the club that it would be fined €25,000 if it did not quiet the music by the end of January 2020.[2][5][24] DTM challenged the decision in court, but a ruling had not been made by June.[5] In the meantime, the venue had been closed for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[7][22] though it continued to stream live music shows online.[25][26]

After consulting with acoustics experts, the club's management learned that the only way to soundproof the Puma Bar enough to shield hotel patrons from the noise would be to reconstruct the area as a room within a room, which would have been prohibitively expensive.[5][7][22] Because of this, they decided that the only viable solution was to move.[5][22] They dissolved the Mannerheimintie rental agreement in late June,[13] announcing together with the establishment's closure that it would reopen pending the procurement of a new space.[2][5][22]

Move to Kalasatama

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In January 2023, Helsingin Sanomat reported that DTM is scheduled to reopen in the Teurastamo area of Helsinki's Kalasatama neighborhood in summer 2023.[27]

Reception

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In an interview with Gay Star News, Terry Miller of the Tom of Finland Store described DTM as "a great place to go party and feel comfortable with your community", further classifying it as "the closest to a traditional gay club as you're going to get" in Finland.[8] He stated to NewNowNext that the venue is "Helsinki's premier LGBTQ disco/bar".[28] Helsingin Uutiset, a local Helsinki newspaper, called DTM "legendary".[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k de Camp, Walter (30 March 2004). "Pinkkieurojen metsästäjät - bisnesalueena gay-ravintolat" [The pink euro hunters – gay restaurants in the area of business]. Viisi Tähteä (in Finnish). ISSN 1458-8013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Paastela, Kaisa (29 June 2020). "Legendaarinen DTM-yökerho suljetaan Mannerheimintiellä – Puumabaarin melu kantautui kolmeen hotellihuoneeseen" [Legendary DTM nightclub is closing on Mannerheimintie – noise from the Puma Bar carried over into three hotel rooms]. Helsingin Uutiset (in Finnish). Etelä-Suomen Media. ISSN 0356-2352. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Discovering The Wonders Of LGBTQ Helsinki". Passport Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  4. ^ Tabberer, Jamie (11 April 2017). "9 places to take a date in Helsinki". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Räty, Hanna (4 July 2020). "DTM on jo toinen hotelli St. Georgen tieltä väistynyt homoyökerho – Apulaispormestari Nasima Razmyarin mukaan lopputulos kertoo Helsingin epäonnistumisesta" [DTM is the second gay club made to get out of hotel St. George's way – According to Deputy Mayor Nasima Razmyar, this result says something about Helsinki's failings]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). ISSN 0355-2047. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  6. ^ Stroude, Will (10 January 2020). "Prison break: A gay weekend at Helsinki's famous jail-turned-hotel". Attitude. ISSN 1353-1875. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e Kartastenpää, Tero (7 July 2020). "DTM ei pystynyt tilkitsemään melua ja lopetti – Dj:t kertovat, millaisia diskohittejä soitettiin gay-klubin viimeisinä iltoina" [DTM couldn't quiet its noise and closed – DJs share the disco hits that were played on the club's last nights]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). ISSN 0355-2047. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  8. ^ a b Capon, Tom (21 August 2018). "Tom of Finland's Terry Miller strips down and uncovers Helsinki's sexy secrets". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Mr. Gay Finland on valittu jo kymmenen kertaa - kurkataan kisan historiaan" [Mr. Gay Finland has already been chosen 10 times – let's take a look at the competition's history] (in Finnish). Mr. Gay Finland. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Kameron Michaels". My Helsinki (in Finnish). Helsinki Marketing. January 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  11. ^ Hoyle, Andrew (2019). "Klub Kids Helsinki presents Bob the Drag Queen (ages 18+)". Eventbrite. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  12. ^ Hoyle, Andrew (2019). "Klub Kids Helsinki presents 'An Evening with Vanessa Vanjie' – (ages 18+)". Eventbrite. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d e Montell, Sami (24 June 2020). "DTM ei enää avaa oviaan Manskulla" [DTM will no longer open its doors on Mannerheimintie]. QX (in Finnish). ISSN 1401-1794. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  14. ^ a b c Koskela, Miika (13 September 2020). "'Yhteiskunnan homosaatio on todellista', murjaisee HLBTQ-klubeista näyttelyn tehnyt Janne Siironen, ja valokuvat Helsingin yöstä sen todistavat" ['The gayification of society is real', jokes Janne Siironen, creator of an exhibition about LGBTQ clubs; photographs of the Helsinki night prove it]. Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Yle. ISSN 1798-4734. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  15. ^ a b Mollgren, Sami (18 February 2012). "Ravintola Oy Afrodite konkurssissa" [Ravintola Oy Afrodite in bankruptcy]. Ranneliike.net [fi] (in Finnish). Sateenkaariyhteisöt ry. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  16. ^ Mollgren, Sami (4 July 2014). "Kolme vuosikymmentä homobaareja Suomessa" [Three decades of gay bars in Finland]. Ranneliike.net (in Finnish). Sateenkaariyhteisöt ry. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  17. ^ a b Montell, Sami (15 November 2014). "Tinder, Grindr, miten käy homoklubien?" [Tinder, Grindr, how does it go in gay clubs?]. QX (in Finnish). ISSN 1401-1794. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  18. ^ Roxborough, Scott; Halperin, Shirley (22 December 2011). "Adam Lambert Arrested, Jailed in Finland". The Hollywood Reporter. ISSN 0018-3660. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  19. ^ Everett, Christina (22 December 2011). "Adam Lambert arrested in Finland after getting into bar fight with boyfriend Sauli Koskinen". Daily News. ISSN 2692-1251. OCLC 9541172. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  20. ^ a b Jokinen, Juho (11 December 2019). "Nainen raiskattiin yökerhon wc-tiloissa Helsingin keskustassa, DTM on 'tarkastellut toimintaansa kriittisesti' tapauksen jälkeen" [Woman raped in nightclub's bathroom in downtown Helsinki; DTM has 'reviewed its actions critically' after the incident]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). ISSN 0355-2047. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Welcome to Hotel St. George". stgeorgehelsinki.com. Hotel St. George. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  22. ^ a b c d e Jokinen, Juho (29 June 2020). "Seksuaalivähemmistöjen yökerho DTM lopetti toimintansa Mannerheimintiellä" [Sexual minorities' nightclub DTM closed its business on Mannerheimintie]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). ISSN 0355-2047. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  23. ^ a b Pajuriutta, Satu (13 December 2019). "Yökerho DTM ja luksushotelli St. George riitelevät ravintolasta kantautuvasta musiikin melusta" [DTM nightclub and luxury hotel St. George quarrel over loud music spilling out of the club]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). ISSN 0355-2047. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  24. ^ a b c d "Homobaarin meteli kantautuu luksushotelliin, 25 000 euron uhkasakkoa vaaditaan – tarkastuskäynnillä hotellihuoneessa ei olisi pystynyt nukkumaan" [Gay bar's noise spilling over into luxury hotel; €25,000 fine demanded – inspection revealed it would be impossible to sleep in a hotel room]. Helsingin Uutiset (in Finnish). Etelä-Suomen Media. 15 January 2020. ISSN 0356-2352. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  25. ^ Montell, Sami (4 April 2020). "DTM jatkaa virtuaaliklubia – tänään taas musiikki raikaa" [DTM continues its virtual club; music again today]. QX (in Finnish). ISSN 1401-1794. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  26. ^ Montell, Sami (28 March 2020). "DTM avoinna launtaina – virtuaalisesti" [DTM open on Saturday—virtually]. QX (in Finnish). ISSN 1401-1794. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  27. ^ Väliaho, Tuomo (13 January 2023). "Homoklubi DTM avaa ovensa uudelleen – Tältä näyttävät sen uudet tilat kantakaupungin laitamilla" [Gay club DTM to open its doors again; see its new space on the outskirts of downtown]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). ISSN 0355-2047. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  28. ^ van Gorder, Bryan (14 August 2018). "Helsinki, Tom of Finland Style". NewNowNext. Logo TV. Archived from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
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