60°10.083′, 024°56.067′ Behind rain chute
”I used to go to Café Escale a lot. I especially loved the karaoke. A group of Romani women showed up one time – Romanis couldn’t get into straight bars to sing karaoke. I had to hide in the restroom for a couple of hours until the women had sung and left. I didn’t want other Romanis to find out that I was gay and hanging out at gay bars.” Romani man, late 1990s
Finnish Roma who belong in sexual and gender minorities are between a rock and a hard place. Their right of self-determination is restricted by the values, customs and attitudes of the Romani culture on the one hand, and the discriminating attitude of the mainstream culture, on the other. Very few of them get to live as they would want.
Café Escale existed in 1994–2001. In its place today is Pizzeria Dennis, which has expanded the restaurant space by one half.