Harlem’s Black, Gay Bars Are Thrivg the Middle of a Panmic | Them

Contents:

• HARLEM’S BLACK, GAY BARS ARE THRIVG THE MIDDLE OF A PANMIC
• HARLEM'S FIRST GAY, BLACK OWNED BS STGGL TO STAY AFLOAT

HARLEM’S BLACK, GAY BARS ARE THRIVG THE MIDDLE OF A PANMIC

“What I love about Black people, there’s a rilience , and if you’re Black and gay, ’s even stronger, ” he explaed.

At plac like Alibi, they n feel at down the street om Alibi — a quick, five-mute walk so close that hoppg a r would feel like a waste of gas — is Lambda Lounge, the neighborhood’s only other Black-owned gay bar. “I really wanted the Black muny to have good optns, to not only have to go to Chelsea for a gay bar.

We have a lol gay bar!

HARLEM'S FIRST GAY, BLACK OWNED BS STGGL TO STAY AFLOAT

”Though the gradual shift om summer’s warmth to wter’s chill has put an end to that specific sense of outdoor mararie, Alibi and Lambda still offer a wele change of pace om the gay bars of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Not only are Mko, Hugh, and Solomon an spiratn for lnchg succsful bs as out and proud Black gay men, but what they’ve created — a safe space for queer people a neighborhood not typilly known for embracg s LGBTQ+ populatn — has life-changg agre. I jt knew that if Alibi had closed down, was gog to be the same script, the same story: Oh, another gay, Black bs nnot survive.

"While we’ll never know whether Lambda would have opened if Alibi had shut down, we do know that havg two gay, Black-owned bs is always better than one. “I feel honored to be a part of our queer history, ” Hugh said when asked about this new gayborhood.

Alibi Lounge is one of New York Cy’s last remag Black-owned gay bars, and over the last year, s owner has fought to keep the bs afloat.