A new book tells the te stori behd Cabaret, and what was possibly the most thrillg gay party scene the world has ever known. Read an excerpt here.
Contents:
- HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI
- GAY HISTORY: THE GAY BARS AND VICE SQUADS OF 1950’S LOS ANGEL
- THE GAY BARS AND VICE SQUADS OF 1950'S LOS ANGEL
- THE PANSY CRAZE: WHEN GAY NIGHTLIFE LOS ANGEL REALLY KICKED OFF
- GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
- A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
- GAY BARS IN CLEVELAND
- CHIGO GAY NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY
HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI
Durg Prohibn, gay nightlife and culture reached new heights—at least temporarily. * gay clubs 1940s *
By the mid-1920s, at the height of the Prohibn era, they were attractg as many as 7, 000 people of var rac and social class—gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr and straight alike. The Begngs of a New Gay World“In the late 19th century, there was an creasgly visible prence of genr-non-nformg men who were engaged sexual relatnships wh other men major Amerin ci, ” says Chad Heap, a profsor of Amerin Studi at Gee Washgton Universy and the thor of Slummg: Sexual and Racial Enunters Amerin Nightlife, 1885-1940. By the 1920s, gay men had tablished a prence Harlem and the bohemian mec of Greenwich Village (as well as the seedier environs of Tim Square), and the cy’s first lbian enclav had appeared Harlem and the Village.
Each gay enclave, wrote Gee Chncey his book Gay New York: Genr, Urban Culture, and the Makg of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940, had a different class and ethnic character, cultural style and public reputatn. Gay Life the Jazz AgeAs the Uned Stat entered an era of unprecented enomic growth and prospery the years after World War I, cultural mor loosened and a new spir of sexual eedom reigned.
Though New York Cy may have been the epicenter of the so-lled "Pansy Craze, " gay, lbian and transgenr performers graced the stag of nightspots ci all over the untry.
GAY HISTORY: THE GAY BARS AND VICE SQUADS OF 1950’S LOS ANGEL
A gatherg of gay men Los Angel 1951. This group found the Mattache Society In the wake of World War II a nformist impulse reasserted self Amerin society. At the same time thoands of gay men found themselv California after World War II, and they were prented wh the problem of… * gay clubs 1940s *
”At the same time, lbian and gay characters were beg featured a slew of popular “pulp” novels, songs and on Broadway stag (cludg the ntroversial 1926 play The Captive) and Hollywood—at least prr to 1934, when the motn picture dtry began enforcg censorship guil, known as the Hays Co.
THE GAY BARS AND VICE SQUADS OF 1950'S LOS ANGEL
In Los Angel throughout the 1950s, gay men lived unr nstant harassment by the police. They risked ostracism and loss of employment if outed. * gay clubs 1940s *
In the mid- to late ‘30s, Heap pots out, a wave of sensatnalized sex crim “provoked hysteria about sex crimals, who were often— the md of the public and the md of thori—equated wh gay men. ” By the post-World War II era, a larger cultural shift toward earlier marriage and suburban livg, the advent of TV and the anti-homosexualy csas champned by Joseph McCarthy would help ph the flowerg of gay culture reprented by the Pansy Craze firmly to the natn’s rear-view mirror. At the same time thoands of gay men found themselv California after World War II, and they were prented wh the problem of livg a life the midst of social disapproval and police reprsn.
On this basis the practice of nversn therapy took hold, wh wispread attempts to change people om homosexual to heterosexual (here are jt a few exampl om stunts at Oberl College Oh).
THE PANSY CRAZE: WHEN GAY NIGHTLIFE LOS ANGEL REALLY KICKED OFF
It was New Years Eve, 1929. Three hundred men tuxedos were celebratg the openg of Hollywood’s first gay nightclub. It was lled Jimmy’s Backyard and sat a… * gay clubs 1940s *
A survey nducted as late as 1967 for a CBS documentary (see the full program or a shorter versn) termed that two thirds of Amerins viewed homosexuals wh “disgt, disfort, or fear” while a majory favored laws agast all homosexual acts.
Some of the well-known gay bars of this time were the Hoe of Ivy and the Wdup Hollywood, and the Crown Jewel, Harold’s, the Waldorf, and Maxwell’s downtown Los Angel. The more nservative group of the gay muny took pas to distance themselv om the “obv” crowd, believg that they perpetuated negative stereotyp and drew unwanted attentn.
GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
The Nazi regime rried out a mpaign agast male homosexualy and persecuted gay men between 1933 and 1945. * gay clubs 1940s *
Divisns wh the muny would eventually e to a head the late 1960s, and the homophile label fell by the waysi as the gay muny asserted self more forcefully. Some of them play fair, asmuch as they wa for the gay one to make a pass at them, but many others wa only long enough to get the r before clarg the arrt. Bars and ClubsNY Magaze rerds that the first “gay bar” New York Cy opened the, same-sex attractn beme a distct inty and nceptualizatns of "straight" and "gay" began to form throughout the 20th century, muni of like-md people also began to form.
Rather than a man who had sex wh men, a homosexual man) began to form and were medilised and penalised, for a long time was unsafe to adm to or act on any feelgs of same-sex attractn. This meant that tablishments that did serve people known or spected of belongg to the LGBT+ muny were closed down, which rulted a lot of gay bars and LGBT+-iendly tablishments were n by illegal anizatns and liable to shakedowns by the police.
Unfortunately, for a lot of reasons - certaly datg apps, but also the 2008 recsn, risg rents, a wir atmosphere of acceptance that renrs LGBT+ bars and clubs val but not a necsy - gay bars and clubs are begng to disappear om the landspe. While there is certaly room to discs the disproportnate rat of alholism the LGBT+ muny, neverthels, gay bars rema important spac of LGBT+ herage and culture.
A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
* gay clubs 1940s *
This Stonewall Factsheet, produced by NYC LGBT Historic S Project, Makg Gay History, New York Public Library, GLSEN, Natnal Parks Conservatn Associatn, and the Stonewall 50 Consortium, provis some answers to FAQs, and provis an excellent list of rourc for you to learn about the history of what is objectively the most famo gay bar LGBT+ history. Juli’ Bar Manhattan may claim to be one of the olst gay bars the Village (though did not always operate as a gay bar), but is probably more famo for beg the se of the ‘sip ’ prott of 1966 that challenged the legaly of nyg service to LGBT+ patrons bars New York state. Soon the “theater people” would start to formulate a strong muny where people were able to be openly gay; they uld cross-drs and play wh genr mak the photos so wonrful is that they are very rare.
The people are iendly, and we have always been on the ont of LGBTQ+ rights and fightg for eedom to be out and the 1950s, there was no nng water and no electricy, but gay men and women were happy to be roughg bee they were ee to be themselv. If you were gay the cy, you went to the dark and dgy bars, which were n by the Mafia, and at any time uld be raid by the police and you uld be Cherry Grove, the police would leave on the last ferry to the maland at midnight, allowg same-sex dancg and open exprsns of affectn to occur the lol bars and rtrants.
Each year, thoands of people e together to drs up and celebrate Inpennce Day the gayt way possible … wh hundreds of drag queens on a ferry returng to the P to keep the tradn gog. When muny members Cherry Grove would pass away, their straight fay members would clean out their ho to sell bee they did not want to live a “gay town.
GAY BARS IN CLEVELAND
GAY BARS IN CLEVEAND have been existence sce at least the 1940s and have served as important s for the cy’s LGBTQ muny to socialize, anize, and distribute rmatn and rourc. , * gay clubs 1940s *
A survey nducted as late as 1967 for a CBS documentary (see the full program or a shorter versn) termed that two thirds of Amerins viewed homosexuals wh "disgt, disfort, or fear" while a majory favored laws agast all homosexual acts.
Some of the well-known gay bars of this time were the Hoe of Ivy and the Wdup Hollywood, and the Crown Jewel, Harold's, the Waldorf, and Maxwell's downtown Los Angel. The more nservative group of the gay muny took pas to distance themselv om the "obv" crowd, believg that they perpetuated negative stereotyp and drew unwanted attentn. This perd, durg the late 1920s and the early 1930s, was a goln era Los Angel for gay performers, entertaers drag and the crowds of Angelenos – gay, straight, rich and poor – that loved them.
Lillian Farman, -thor of “Gay LA: a History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Polics and Lipstick Lbians, ” said of the era, “I thk that sexualy was very fluid Hollywood, particularly the movie dtry the 1920s and the 1930s. Go to the ONE Natnal Gay and Lbian archiv at the USC Librari, and you n see sheet mic om that era, wh vers featurg photos of men and women drsed drag, and tl like “Japansy” and “If you knew Sie, like I knew Sie. Photo urty of ONE Natnal Gay and Lbian archive at USC Librari (The origal image is no longer available, please ntact KCRW if you need accs to the origal image.
CHIGO GAY NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY
The Sunset Strip emerged as a center for gay and lbian clubs durg the 1930s bee was an unrporated part of LA County lled Sherman, and the LAPD had no jurisdictn over the area.