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
• NYC: MARRIED COUPLE OPENS 'LAMBDA LOUNGE,' SEND GAY BAR IN HARLEM CREATED FOR BLACK LGBTQ PATRONS

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

Harlem Bpoke: Before the panmic, there was only one LGBT bar Central Harlem but now there are a total of 4 gay bars the neighborhood! Photograph: Lemon BrandsLambda Lounge officially opens on July 11th—jt blocks om the cy's only other Black-owned gay bar.When the DJ turned off the mic, Charl Hugh and Ricky Solomon knew was time to start their own bar.

We need to have a gay club, a gay environment that is a safe space for .”. Only six blocks north of Lambda Lounge is Alibi Lounge, the only other Black-owned gay bar town, which was on the brk of closg. “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!

NYC: MARRIED COUPLE OPENS 'LAMBDA LOUNGE,' SEND GAY BAR IN HARLEM CREATED FOR BLACK LGBTQ PATRONS

”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. (Imag via Instagram) In an era where gay bars appear to be a relic of the past, and Black owned gay bars are all but extct most major ci, the Black LGBTQ muny New York Cy will now have two nightlife optns created specifilly wh our muny md.

Alibi, a Black gay bar loted Harlem, was saved om closure last month by crowdfundg. Unfortunately, we never had the opportuny to ga any 've been bearg the st of gettg the place, then gettg the place renovated and drsg up the way we wanted to drs up — and you know we're gay, so we tend to be a ltle extravagant. So we created three sectns outsi of the lotns wh lounge uch, all the tabl are LED and we provi gam like Jenga to keep an entertament are now the send existg Black-owned gay nightlife space New York Cy; had you all worked wh Alexi Mko of Alibi?