San Diego’s own little bit of New Orleans, the Bourbon Street bar on Park Boulevard, is leading a fund-raising effort to assist the gay and lesbian victims of Hurricane Katrina.

“Bourbon Street is taking a lead in trying to do something for the people of New Orleans,” said “Big” Mike Phillips, a bartender at Bourbon Street. “Michael Weiss, [co-owner of Bourbon Street], said, ‘We own a bar called Bourbon Street, so we should do something to help the people deal with this devastation.’”

Bourbon Street is teaming up with Ordinary Miracles, a charitable organization of bartenders in San Diego, to plan fund-raisers throughout San Diego for the next six weeks. Big Mike, one of the founders of Ordinary Miracles, said Bourbon Street has already started an ongoing benefit.

For $20 you can buy a drink in a collectable glass at Bourbon Street. The glasses are being donated from Mama’s Kitchen’s recent wine tasting event at Bourbon Street and Miller Light. Bourbon Street is donating the alcohol. One hundred percent of the money is being donated to the hurricane relief effort.

Bourbon Street’s goal is to raise more than $20,000 in the next six weeks. That money, Big Mike said, is going to be donated to gay and lesbian victims of Hurricane Katrina.

“Our purpose is to give back to the gay community. We’re sorely left out of things a lot of times, so we just want to focus on our brothers and sisters.”

A benefactor has not been chosen as of press time.

“We want to help the gay community there, but there is no gay community there any more,” Big Mike said. He did say they are considering the Gay and Lesbian Center in Houston, which has been instrumental is assisting hurricane refugees, or Family Matters, which is launching a national campaign to feed, cloth and find everyone a place to sleep. A decision should be made by the end of the week.

The $20 souvenir glass is just the start of what Big Mike sees as a citywide fund-raising campaign.

“This is a community effort. It’s about us coming together to give back to our community,” he said.

Leo Moore, assistant manager at Bourbon Street, is planning specific fund-raising events. Nigel Mayer, the co-founder of Ordinary Miracles and co-owner of Flicks, is also planning a fund-raiser. Big Mike said the campaign is still new, so he hopes more and more bars will join in.

“We’re doing these promotions through Ordinary Miracles, so it can be tax deductibles,” he said.

The Brass Rail has an event planned for Oct. 5. All door money as well as 100 percent of bar sales will go to the relief efforts. He said half of the money raised at the Brass Rail will go to Ordinary Miracles and the other half to the Red Cross.

The Eagle also hosted a separate fund-raising event Friday, Sept. 2. Organized by Daddy Don, San Diego Leather Daddy 2005, and Boy Joe, San Diego Leather Boy 2005, the event raised more than $6,000.

“This event brought bears, leather folk, pansexual, the Imperial Court and members of the deaf leather community together in a rarely seen effort to lend their support for this worthy cause,” said Daddy Don in a letter to the GLT. “That evening over $3,000 was raised; contributions poured in on the following days and finalized on Tuesday with an anonymous benefactor matching the final sum dollar for dollar, increasing the total raised to $6,280.”

Big Mike suggested that people make donations on their own, or host a fund-raiser themselves. “If anyone would like to do home parties, they are welcome to join us. This is a community effort.”

For more information, contact Bourbon Street at (619) 291-0173.