"For the morng gays": The importance of LGBTQ-owned f as sober, queer spac |

Contents:

• "FOR THE MORNG GAYS": THE IMPORTANCE OF LGBTQ-OWNED F AS SOBER, QUEER SPAC
• GAY PARIS · CAFéS & RTRANTS

"FOR THE MORNG GAYS": THE IMPORTANCE OF LGBTQ-OWNED F AS SOBER, QUEER SPAC

We're jt for the morng gays. "When people thk of gay spac or queer spac, they immediately thk of a nightclub or bar — maybe a ltle hole the wall, " he said. Gay bars hold a eply important place the history of LGBTQ rights and visibily the Uned Stat.

For s and s, jt visg a gay bar was a high-risk activy. For young members of the LGBTQ muny, gog out to a gay or lbian bar was almost like a re of passage.

Growg up as a queer, Black women Louisville, Kentucky, Arielle Clark said that she felt like there were certa "ton" she wanted to meet to feel at home the muny: She wanted to attend Kentucky Pri and meet other LGBTQ people, and then she wanted to get to some kd of gay bar or nightclub bee that's where everyone spent time on the weekends. It’s a move forward, but also backward: Coffee has a long history of fuelg unofficial queer spac, om mid-century ffee shops and ders that hosted gay, lbian, and trans muni to funky, lived- ’90s f.

GAY PARIS · CAFéS & RTRANTS

Very few bs, outsi of the thng ranks of gay bars and downright endangered LGBT bookstor, label themselv as queer-centric.

There are ffee shops wh gay or queer owners, and often they tend to draw a siar clientele — there have been a handful of tim I’ve walked to a random ffee shop and disvered, to my light, that was full of queer people like me.

There were too many people for to feel like a hoe party, but was also a far cry om the scene at many gay bars, where patrons tend to arrive — and clter — wh iends they already know, or foc on pursug romantic partners.