Black-owned gay bars are dwdlg. Can they survive Covid?

Contents:

• GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
• WT HOLLYWOOD’S HISTORIC GAY NIGHTCLUB THE ABBEY IS UP FOR SALE
• THE L.A. GAY BARS ARE GOG EXTCT — AND THEIR LANDLORD WON’T HELP
• GAY BARS NEAR ME
• GAY BAR
• GAY SEATTLE
• THE CHANGG MIX OF GAY BAR SUBTYP AFTER COVID-19 RTRICTNS THE UNED STAT, 2017 TO 2023
• INDY'S GAY BARS: HEAD FOR EXTCTN?
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
• GAY BARS SAN ANTON
• BLACK-OWNED GAY BARS ARE DWDLG. CAN THEY SURVIVE COVID?

GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT

In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.

The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny. “Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh.

WT HOLLYWOOD’S HISTORIC GAY NIGHTCLUB THE ABBEY IS UP FOR SALE

He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry. The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail.

THE L.A. GAY BARS ARE GOG EXTCT — AND THEIR LANDLORD WON’T HELP

Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.

“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”.

For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

GAY BARS NEAR ME

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said. Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space.

“The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them, ” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. “Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self, ” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh.

“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails, ” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

GAY BAR

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns, ” Roth said.

Of urse, other drks e the word “gay, ” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. The Abbey, arguably the untry’s biggt and most famo gay bar Wt Hollywood, is officially on the market. Nurse livg Wt Hollywood, was on the hunt for new gay iends after breakg up wh his longtime boyiend when, one night, he and another iend gog through a break-up end up at Oil Can Harry’s, a wood-paneled bar the Valley known for s kschy r and le-dancg parti.

“Elrly gay upl their 90s would e jt to chchat, watch the dancers, two-step wh their partners, ” he says. Gay bars don’t get more historic than Oil Can’s, which was was found two years after police officers snuck to L.

GAY SEATTLE

Hastgs opened the bar three years before Wt Hollywood was even found, envisng a gay Cheers that weled all. Another sualty of the panmic was RAGE, known for s mil theater nights, Lat Saturdays, and a popular party for the gay Asian muny lled Gameboi.

”In the mid-ghts, Brocka would go out to gay clubs five to six nights a week, but he me to dread certa teractns wh whe clubgoers. “You felt celebrated as an Asian person the way that you feel celebrated for beg gay at a gay bar, ” Brocka closed abptly September, wh owners Robert Maghame and Saeed Sattari revealg that they were unable to negotiate a renewal of their lease agreement wh Overstreet, acrdg to the news se WEHOville.

THE CHANGG MIX OF GAY BAR SUBTYP AFTER COVID-19 RTRICTNS THE UNED STAT, 2017 TO 2023

) Thankfully, the promoter of Gameboi has pledged to fd a new venue for future those livg Wt Hollywood, the closure of three bars such a short time — as well as the uncerta future of the gay sports bar, GYM Bar, which is crowdfundg to open a new lotn — has led to fears that the cy’s queer inty is beg Hollywood uncilmember John Erickson said the cy has been actively workg wh landlords to prevent evictns, but that learship was powerls when me to property owners unwillg to five tenants who uld not make rent durg the panmic, even if such actns jeopardized the cy’s queer history.

Reached over the phone, Overstreet ially refed to ment on the state of his properti but said that he tends to work wh gay and lbian bs owners the future.

INDY'S GAY BARS: HEAD FOR EXTCTN?

One would be hard-prsed to fd a gay person Southern California who had not vised the waterg hole at least once for drks on the pat or for dancg s terr, where go-go boys (and girls) enliven the crowd and Elizabeth Taylor once held urt.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

Straight, gay, there's no label, " Cooley same n also be said of What Happens at the Abbey, the u of the partnership between Cooley and E!

While the clip did show some LGBT storyl -- a same-sex marriage proposal, a gay bartenr or two -- foced heavily on s straight staff members and their romantic liv.

5 mute promo so I n tthfully say that if anyone lls the Abbey a gay bar any more, they should be (fill the blank/s). "I have straight guys and girls, I have transgenr [employe], I have gay guys, I have lbians, people qutng themselv, and that reflects on the show.

GAY BARS SAN ANTON

So if I hear people sayg I have straight characters on this show and not too many gay characters, [I would rpond], 's a blend of everyone who is accepted and is wele at the Abbey. "Do Cooley, light of this tersectnal clientele, still nsir the Abbey to fall unr the label of a gay bar?

BLACK-OWNED GAY BARS ARE DWDLG. CAN THEY SURVIVE COVID?

" He poted to his recent openg of the Chapel, a gay bar adjog the Abbey, as proof of his belief the brand, his bs mol, and his willgns to take chanc where others haven't. If you don't take risks, you don't succeed, and 's payg off, " he said, cg the l that stretch around the rner each key, Cooley said, is to make all feel wele, which he se as important not jt to keepg gay bars alive, but also to the larger LGBT movement. RuPl me out wh a quote: Bachelorette parti are takg over the gay bars, which I pletely agreed [wh].

And we do really ntrol here, bee we don't want to have our gay muny as an accsory to their fun and their bachelorette parti. That Pri weekend, Cooley plans to host a fundraiser for Pulse's survivors, as the event also marks the one-year anniversary of the adly mass strsed the importance of gay bars today, and how they still provi the "safe haven" and muny that is lackg om digal apps.

"They n go on the ter and do hookups and so forth, but I'm on the siwalk at night many tim by the host stand, and I n pick off all the people who are so aaid to take that step , bee 's their first time to a gay bar. If you’re lookg for a fun and clive place to socialize and meet new people, gay bars are a great optn. The bars are safe spac where members of the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex (LGBTI) muny n e together and celebrate their inti whout fear of discrimatn or judgement.