It was meant to spice up the city's gay nightlife options and reclaim an anti-gay slur, but the promoters of the June 1 "Fag Bash" party stirred up more than just electroclash and 1980s new-wave pop hits.

The party's name and poster imagery of two closed fists on a black background elicited complaints. Promoters DJ Jeff Johnson and Kurt Cooper said some people questioned their use of the word "fag" and thought it was inappropriate.

"I have had a couple friends who said, 'I don't like that name.' Others said they loved the name," said Johnson, adding he has long thought the name would be perfect for a dance party. "I intended it to spark some reaction and make people wake up and take notice."

Notice some did. One critic left an anonymous letter with the Bay Area Reporter about the poster images. The B.A.R. ran two ads promoting the party held at The Cat Club on Folsom Street featuring special guest DJ Reed McGowan.

"I can't believe that you would call a club 'FAG BASH' – it's so wrong and in bad taste as to defy description," said part of the letter written on the back of one of the posters and left at the B.A.R.'s office.

The person added that he had ripped the poster off the parking lot of the South of Market Gold's Gym and would "destroy EVERYONE [sic] I see from now on."

The party promoters said they were taken aback by the negative reactions. After all, they pointed to the fact that the Endup has played host to the long-running "Fag Fridays" party and one bar in the Castro used to promote a special night called "Faggot."

Cooper said he saw using the word "fag" as a way to reclaim it in a positive way for the LGBT community.

"Bash is a party. We wanted to take the negative out of that name and make it good again," he said.

The fists are actually Cooper's, and the original idea was to have him wear "big girly rings," said Johnson. But "with no budget" and short of time, he said the two just went with the closed fists.

"We wanted to have an edge. We wanted to be different and to stick out," said Johnson, a member of the board that oversees the Folsom Street Fair.

Perhaps the kerfuffle over the party name should not come as a surprise as there has been a string of gay bashing incidents and reports of male rapes in the Castro and surrounding areas over the last year. The day before the party, the B.A.R. reported on two incidents where assailants allegedly beat up gay men.

Last fall after it was disclosed that three men had reported being sexually assaulted in the Castro, a group of concerned gay men formed their own version of the Guardian Angels. Called Castro Community on Patrol, three-people teams have been walking the streets of the gay neighborhood on weekend nights to add a level of protection and assist police efforts.

Cooper is a member of the group's board, and both men are friends with founder Carlton Paul, who in fact promoted their "Fag Bash" party in his weekly column in a local gay club magazine.

About 100 people attended the party, with 10 percent being women, said the party promoters, though they are unsure when they will throw their next one. Johnson, who bartends at the club, said due to their busy schedules the next Fag Bash may not take place until August.

The two said they have yet to decide if the name or poster art would be changed for the next party.

"We just want to do something different. We are not controversy whores," said Cooper.