June 27, 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Atlanta’s first gay pri march. Here’s a look back at some key moments that shaped the cy’s LGBTQ mu
Contents:
- GAY CLUBS
- DRAG, DGS AND DIS: WHEN ATLANTA WAS A CENTER OF THE GAY REVOLUTN
- GAY DIS ATLANTA (GEIA)
- MARCHG FOR GAY RIGHTS ATLANTA, 1971: AN EXCERPT OM A NIGHT AT THE SWEET GUM HEAD
- GAY KROGER, AKA KROGAY
GAY CLUBS
Explore LGBT Atlanta bars and nightlife, events and neighborhoods. Fd thgs to do and where to de wh this official gui to Gay Atlanta. * disco gay atlanta *
We let you know which on ter to gay men or lbians, what kds of shows and entertaments they host, and what tracks the DJs sp. Among the most celebrated gay bars Atlanta has to offer, Mary's has been named Atlanta's bt gay bar by "Creative Loafg" and one of the top 50 gay bars the world by "Out" magaze.
The ial hangout for anyone weary of over-the-top gay clubs Atlanta, The Hiout is the olst remag gay bar the cy. An old-school landmark amongst gay bars, this Atlanta hot spot is still one of the most beloved plac to party Midtown.
DRAG, DGS AND DIS: WHEN ATLANTA WAS A CENTER OF THE GAY REVOLUTN
A new book tails Atlanta's gay g of age the 1970s, when Atlanta beme a mag for gay and lbian transplants om elsewhere the South. * disco gay atlanta *
One of the most unpretent gay clubs Atlanta, the Eagle, a nontradnal leather bar, has been drawg wonrfully diverse and amible crowds for s. A lotn near Piedmont Park, floor-to-ceilg wdows lookg out on 10th Street, and a iendly, sual vibe distguish this neighborhood bar, whose clientele is largely gay. In 1975, at the dawn of dis, Backstreet officially opened for bs at 845 Peachtree Street the heart of the begng, the massive, three-level, 10, 000-square-foot space ( had hoed Lang’s Interrs the 1950s), tered almost exclively to the cy’s burgeong whe gay male populatn.
GAY DIS ATLANTA (GEIA)
Take advantage of Menspac to look for sentially the most appropriate Gay Dis Atlanta (Geia) even though you keep Atlanta. Our wi spots talog is gettg bigger jt about every day due to men and women like you. * disco gay atlanta *
He also owned a place Provcetown lled the Crown & Anchor, which was a hotel, gay bar, and baret for female impersonators.
Gay people played hard, they drank hard, and they danced hard and had more money to spend than the straight crowd. RUSSELL BOWEN-YOUNGBLOOD: Atlanta gay nightlife photographer Bowen-Youngblood was a Backstreet ctomer om 1994 to 2004.
MARCHG FOR GAY RIGHTS ATLANTA, 1971: AN EXCERPT OM A NIGHT AT THE SWEET GUM HEAD
This excerpt, as well as the acpanyg vio stills, centers the activism of Bill Smh, a central figure the foundg of Geia’s Gay Liberatn Front and a member of the Southeastern Gay Coaln. Smh served as the first out-gay man Atlanta cy ernment as Sam Massell’s appoted Communy Relatns Commissner (1973–1976) and played a key role the velopment of the Atlanta gay prs through his edorship and ownership of The Barb (1974–1977). Adapted om the book A Night at the Sweet Gum Head: Drag, Dgs, Dis, and Atlanta’s Gay Revolutn (New York: W.W. Norton, 2021). Reprted wh the permissn of W.W. Norton. * disco gay atlanta *
But after we got the 24-hour liquor license [ 1987], was a gay bar until all the other bars town closed and then, everyone piled to Backstreet. The later got, the straighter I had been workg at Backstreet, a gay club, for years but I didn’t officially e out until I was 32.
VANESSA: Growg up at Backstreet, you kd of got sensized to thgs like that after a Bee we were exposed to gay people at such an early age, ma more open-md. It was the same vantage pot where I had stood the first time I went there and realized I wasn’t the only gay person the state.
GAY KROGER, AKA KROGAY
VANESSA: It was a place where black, whe, Asian, Lat, gay, straight, bs people, nerds, everybody uld e together and party.
BackstreetOne of the largt gay bars the Southeast, this two-story Midtown club was among the few Atlanta nightspots wh a 24/7 liquor license. Home to Charlie Brown’s Cabaret and a dis floor that drew gay and straight revelers, Backstreet was the go-to place to party after other clubs It stopped ra’ men 2004 after a cy ordance mandated 3 a.