Contents:
- TWO NEW BARS THE GAYBORHOOD ARE OWNED BY PEOPLE OF LOR, MARKG A MAJOR SHIFT
- THE FOUNR OF HARLEM’S FIRST BLACK-OWNED GAY BAR ON SAVG QUEER SPAC
- HARLEM’S BLACK, GAY BARS ARE THRIVG THE MIDDLE OF A PANMIC
TWO NEW BARS THE GAYBORHOOD ARE OWNED BY PEOPLE OF LOR, MARKG A MAJOR SHIFT
Charl: So people ll the “gay cheers” (lghs). Now we’re, we’re broang our market segment to not jt target mal, but pretty much all the letters wh the LGBTQ+ Some straight women feel safer attendg gay bars. We didn’t want to exclu our trans siblgs or gay men.
Chigo’s Black LGBTQ bargoers — historilly ncentrated on the South and Wt sis due to the cy’s bter legacy of segregatn — have long reported racist behavr gay and lbian bar spac, rangg om unduly thorough ID checks to mic polici that ban hip-hop and rap to explicly racist ments om lol bar owners.
“I uldn’t tell you the last time I saw that kd of te diversy a space: gay men and queer women, nonbary and trans folks, people who are Black, Brown, whe, younger, olr… Havg that power is super important and that’s what I’m hopg to see — more spac that are owned, occupied, and ma by . Two bars opened recently the Gayborhood that are owned and operated by people of lor, markg a big culture shift for the LGBTQ enclave Center Cy, where racism has been documented for years. Racism has been scribed as prevalent Philly’s gay nightlife sce at least the 1980s.
THE FOUNR OF HARLEM’S FIRST BLACK-OWNED GAY BAR ON SAVG QUEER SPAC
Philly drag queen Ta Montgomery has felt the unrcurrent of racism the Gayborhood for her entire reer. The Gayborhood is further gentrifyg now — ’s often lled Midtown Village, and wel jt as many straight bachelorette parti as queer ctomers.
” She hop this is jt the start of a diversifyg Gayborhood. “Everybody says 13th Street is not gay anymore, ” said Cockatoo owner Krishnan.
HARLEM’S BLACK, GAY BARS ARE THRIVG THE MIDDLE OF A PANMIC
Could the diversifyg nightlife scene help rid the Gayborhood of racism?
That’s why, a show of solidary wh the LGBTQ muny, Macy’s tapped the betiful staff of Alibi Lounge, Harlem’s first Black-owned gay bar, to mol for a lookbook celebratg Macy’s and s ntributns to The Trevor Project* throughout Pri we all ntue to pick up the piec the wake of the panmic, lendg a hand of support to margalized muni is not only appreciated, ’s val to the survival of our cultural spac. Bee the queer muny, the centers, gay bars, circu parti, and any other plac where we’re ved to gather full exprsn of ourselv, reprent more than jt their llg rds. “And then, this is the bety of beg part of a muny, whatsoever, and our se, the gay muny; people around me who were iends, who had been ctomers, told me, ‘Absolutely not.
’” So, Mko got to work, buildg out an outdoor space and creatg to-go drk optns an effort to keep his pillar of the uptown gay muny open for bs. And beg one of the only Black-owned gay bars Harlem, Alibi’s prence is pecially important–– offers queer people who live uptown visibily, muny space, and a home away om home that sav them a trip all the way to Chelsea or Hell’s Kchen. “For some of , me clud when I was younger, a gay bar was a safe place, ” Mko explas.