After readg Jeremy Atherton L's "Gay Bar: Why We Went Out," the "dirty versn" of queer bar history, I revised the refuge of gay bars then and now.
Contents:
- GAY THEMED COCKTAILS
- BEER IS SO GAY
- THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI
- THE 30 BT GAY BARS NYC
- GAY BAR, MEET COCKTAIL BAR
- FOR THE LOVE OF GAY BARS
- WHAT IS THE GAYT DRK
- 'GAY BAR' TRACKS THE WAVE OF A WHOLE CULTURE — AND ONE LIFE
- CANNED COCKTAIL GAY WATER AIMS TO RIGHT BUD LIGHT'S LACK OF LGBTQ+ SUPPORT
GAY THEMED COCKTAILS
A new group of beer pani and breweri like Gay Beer and Queer Brewg are supportg LGBTQ+ muni while rvg out space the beer world for queerns * gay bar drinks *
Between the John Waters film, Denver Zoo’s gay celebry uple, and the blow-up Pri party favors, ’s safe to say that the flamgo is a gay in. This cholate vanilla vodka marti is a ky homage to California’s first openly gay elected official and arguably the most famo Amerin LGBT polician: Harvey Milk.
However, the drks mentned above are some of the most popular choic amongst the LGBT+ muny, and are a good place to start if you are lookg for somethg to drk at a gay bar or event. So, while there’s no five answer to the qutn of whether or not Cosmo is a gay drk, ’s fely bee associated wh the gay muny over the years.
BEER IS SO GAY
Today's bt gay bars span div, dance clubs, cktail loung and muny spac, helpg to shape popular drkg culture at large. * gay bar drinks *
Micky’s WeHo has long been a staple on Wt Hollywood’s strip of gay nightclubs and bars on Santa Moni Boulevard, known for s open-walled two-story buildg where passersby n see the party ragg om the street.
Though Sweetwater isn’t officially known as a lbian bar, the humble tablishment has long been the go-to spot for queer women the lol gayborhood, which featur nearly half a dozen gay bars that le Broadway Long Beach. One of Long Beach’s few, if not only, three-level gay bars, Executive Sue boasts a karaoke bar, vio gam, pool tabl for rent, and regular drag shows. Dubbed by KCET as Montebello’s bt Lato gay bar, Chi is the sister to Club Cobra, servg as a groundg se for the queer Latx muny the suburbs of East LA.
Gay Beer, Dyke Beer, and Queer Brewg are among the emergg group of beer producers that are centerg queer inty and queer muny, whether by highlightg queer brewers, donatg some profs to queer chari, or creatg queer third spac — munal spac distct om home and work — at a time when they’re disappearg. The pair were spired while drkg at Juli’, a historic gay bar New York Cy that was the se of early “sip-” protts, where gay men would drk at bars that refed to serve homosexuals. Together, they were tryg to figure out why there wasn’t already a beer posned more for queer people, which led Moore and Pazmo to realize that gay beer was a project they uld take on themselv themselv.
THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI
Drk and dance the night away at the bt gay bars NYC, offerg everythg om drag shows to chill nights and happy hours. * gay bar drinks *
Growg up, they’d both heard “gay” ed as an sult or to scribe somethg pejoratively, so llg their beer Gay Beer was also a reclamatn. Moore and Pazmo note that “gay” also means “happy, ” a nnotatn hasn’t really held s, but still gets ed as a cheeky way to eli the haters. “A lot of bars are not wantg to say they’re lbian bars, they’re wantg to say they’re queer bars — but a lot of gay male bars keep sayg they’re gay male bars, ” she says.
THE 30 BT GAY BARS NYC
Gay bars and cktail culture are at a historic crossroads. Will queer nightlife tch up to mastream venu' drks programs? * gay bar drinks *
For Moore and Pazmo, that meant an “Amerina whout the Amerin flag” sign, somethg that reflected the athetics of Juli’ Bar, and the gay men of the ’60s who participated the “sip ” protts. Wae says, “Many were pleased to see the lnch of somethg actively tryg to make change wh a stagnant and homogeno dtry, and queer and trans folk were pleased to see somethg that reprented them a way that hadn’t been done before. The word “gay” lls to md our special knack for fdg the light the darkns, for buildg the dance floor off to the si of the cel world.
GAY BAR, MEET COCKTAIL BAR
* gay bar drinks *
Let’s take a look at some of the bt gay bars Ameri, om the open-air, vil-may-re spac Wt Hollywood to the neighborhood pub downtown St. The entrance is through an unmarked shed behd a Chipotle, and featur a blend but unexpected gay/not crowd which same-sex grdg is rigur. —Alfonso Fernanz NavasCourtyAt: Cheer Up CharliBack when I was a young gay, I saw the olt, most betiful woman the world at Cheer Up Charli.
When the bar fally reopened Sprg 2022, an entire borough’s worth of gays celebrated by floodg the new back pat all summer and Gger’s has been crowd wh queers ever sce. It began s life as a beer-and-we offshoot of the Metropolan Health Club, a gym that opened 1983 to serve the gay ctomers who’d been bullied out of other lol clubs at the height of AIDS hysteria. While you won’t fd any Pri flags at Farraguts, you will undoubtedly hear Cele Dn and Melissa Etheri blarg om the bar’s dty, old jebox and, hontly, isn’t that jt as gay?
FOR THE LOVE OF GAY BARS
A gay drk is one that is enjoyed by people who intify as gay. This uld be any type of drk, om cktails and we to beer and soda. There is no one * gay bar drinks *
CourtyDallas: Round-Up SaloonEqual parts wboy boots and dis ball, Round Up Saloon opened 42 years ago Dallas as a gay untry wtern dance hall. Thanks to Perez-Gallardo and their team, gay people who love the outdoors (most lbians) now have a iendly place to unwd after a hike.
Live out your Brokeback Mounta fantasi at this verno club, where wboy stum are not nsired drag, and le dancg is not an explic exprsn of homophobia. A gay gatherg spot sce 1939, and gay bar sce 1963, and the Bar Complex sce the 80s, s unassumg exterr beli a triple-threat treat of lounge, performance space, and a mirrored dance club reportedly moled after Stud 54. ) The glorly lively bar and rtrant scene is enhanced by a black box theater downstairs, where farcil plays, lbian standup, and gay dance troup reign.
CourtyIndianapolis: English IvyEnglish Ivy advertis self as an “LGBTQ+-enthed” “gay-therg place” and that is not an overstatement. If you want to get away om the typil scene at fellow gay bars Olly’s and Gregs Our Place, English Ivy is an ial place to meet iends: mature enough for a proper Ladi Lunch (or bnch or dner.
WHAT IS THE GAYT DRK
They are stars the makg and their rendn of Cele Dn’s “It’s All Comg Back to Me Now” will shatter your pt glass and break your ltle, gay heart. It’s not a gay bar the tradnal sense, but a place where traed pianists play selectns om Broadway shows and all of the drama teachers and mil theater majors of the tri-state area nverge to sg along. It was the se of an early gay-liberatn “sip ” 1966, years before Stonewall, and has been a low-key haven ever sce, wh a diverse clientele, a small menu, classic cktails, and an extensive (and packed) 4:00-7:00 happy hour.
It’s not que French-themed, ’s not que Mardi Gras-spired, feels as close as we have experienced this untry to a gay neighborhood pub.
The origal was burned down an anti-gay hate-crime a few years back, but the revival has jt opened across the street and is bigger and better, wh a new performance space. CourtyWashgton DC: TraIn a town where n feel like every other bar is crawlg wh Capol Hill staffers lookg to talk shop, Tra is the rare, glorly gay dive where absolutely everyone is wele to jt kick back. “It’s que different om earlier s, ” says Shepard, “pecially pre-Stonewall, when simply beg willg to serve gay men or lbians was enough to secure a grateful clientele, regardls of the qualy of the drks or the tablishment.
'GAY BAR' TRACKS THE WAVE OF A WHOLE CULTURE — AND ONE LIFE
In the 1960s, early eratns of gay bars were often owned by straight people (many nnected to anized crime, who didn’t fear the illegaly of servg homosexuals), known for servg watered-down and overpriced drks, explog the sire any queer people had to jt be a safe (or safe enough) space. As gay polil movements stood up agast opprsn—endg some state laws prohibg gay bars om existg, and th, makg gay bar ownership more accsible and approachable—the qualy and variety of drks served at the spac expand. “When you thk ‘gay bar, ’ you don’t thk they’re focg on cktails; they’re focg on a space that’s clive, somewhere you drk vodka-tonics, ” says Nobody’s Darlg -owner Renda Riddle.
A few hours away Philalphia’s Gayborhood, Cockatoo, which opened 2021, is also creatg more queer space differentiated om the typil gay dive.
CANNED COCKTAIL GAY WATER AIMS TO RIGHT BUD LIGHT'S LACK OF LGBTQ+ SUPPORT
Wh low- and no-alhol drks available, Cockatoo offers an antidote to the mass-produced light beers and well drks found at most other gay bars.
This turn has led to a rponse of an altogether more lic variety: Gay Water, a new premium nned cktail brand packaged lorful ntaers and named after the slang term ed for vodka and soda water wh lemon or lime, a popular drk served gay bars.