Philalphia's Gayborhood by night: The people, plac and evolutn of a neighborhood | PhillyVoice

Contents:

• THE 7 BT GAY BARS PHILALPHIA
• TOP GAY BARS PHILALPHIA
• GET YOUR HISTORY STRAIGHT AND YOUR NIGHTLIFE GAY®
• PHILALPHIA'S GAYBORHOOD BY NIGHT: THE PEOPLE, PLAC AND EVOLUTN OF A NEIGHBORHOOD
• PHILLY’S LARGT GAY HANGOUT NIED SERVICE TO 150 PEOPLE 1965 FOR SIMPLY ‘LOOKG GAY’
• 1920S AND 30S: GAY BARS SURFACE
• THERE GO THE GAYBORHOOD
•  PENNSYLVANIA LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS
• GAYBORHOOD

THE 7 BT GAY BARS PHILALPHIA

Before we prent you wh our list of bt gay bars Philalphia, a few tertg facts about the lol LGBTQ scene: almost every LGBTQ-centric statn the cy is found Gayborhood, an enclave Center Cy Philalphia that has quickly bee one of the most regnize neighborhoods town. And today, Philly visors n easily explore s where LGBTQ+ history was ma and where queer life ntu to thrive, pecially the cy’s Gayborhood and durg annual events like Philly Pri 365.

TOP GAY BARS PHILALPHIA

The center of Philalphia’s gay rintial life and culture sce World War II, the blocks between 11th and Broad streets and Pe and Chtnut streets earned their nickname — the “Gayborhood”— durg an October Outft event 1995. The group’s LGBTQ and Trans History tours reunt the stori of Gay Liberatn Front – Philalphia founr Kiyoshi Kuromiya, explore morn history and current social issu the neighborhood, and stop at important muny s like the Attic Youth Center, which supports LGBTQ+ youth experiencg homelsns.

In 1965, the Universy of Pennsylvania expelled Fryer om his psychiatric rincy program on the basis of his homosexualy, which was then classified as a mental illns by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn (APA). In 1972, Fryer, a faculty member at the Temple Universy School of Medice, offered an electrifyg anonymo ttimony that rulted the APA’s 1973 classifitn of homosexualy as a mental illns. A pneer the LGBTQ+ rights movement, Gtgs, a Philalphia rint om age 18 and a lifetime activist, eded The Ladr, the natn’s first lbian magaze; -anized the Annual Remrs at Inpennce Hall (see above) and led charg both to promote posive LGBTQ+ lerature public librari and to change the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn’s classifitn of homosexualy as a mental illns.

It’s where radil gay llective Gazoo found Philalphia’s Gay Liberatn Front and where bisexual blu sger Bsie Smh performed at the Royal Theatre, an early 20th-century Black-owned cultural center.

GET YOUR HISTORY STRAIGHT AND YOUR NIGHTLIFE GAY®

Today, the street’s known for s Magic Garns, cheteak shops and hangouts, cludg dive bar extraordaire Bob & Barbara’s Lounge, home of one of Philly’s bt-loved drag shows; the punk art LGBTQ+ haven Tattooed Mom; and the eclectic, gay-owned boutique shop Workshop Unrground. Bob & Barbara’s – One of Philly’s most legendary dive bars is not gay, per say (nor is the Gayborhood), but Bob & Barbara’s is home to the cy’s longt-nng drag show, which tak place every Thursday night. Guts the adjog dg room are treated to piano tun and a menu of new Amerin fare, and, durg warmer months, patrons populate tabl outsi for weekend bnch and some of the bt people watchg the Gayborhood.

Tavern on Camac – Tucked along zy Camac Street is the Gayborhood’s three--one special, featurg a handsome first-floor piano bar, a haven for songbirds who gather nightly for show-tune sg-alongs; the upstairs Ascend lounge for weekend dancg, karaoke and ocsnal drag shows; and a basement-level rtrant featurg upsle Amerin fare available until 1 a. Woody’s – Seems anyone who’s club-hopped Philly has been to Woody’s, the cy’s bt-known gay bar wh one of the bit weekend scen: Gents squeeze on Friday and Saturday nights to dance and mgle a sea of mcle shirts; the upstairs dance floor wh dis balls, strobe lights and Top 40 tun blarg om the DJ booth; downstairs, patrons revolve around the central bar for beer, cktails and heavy flirtg. Tiki – Mai Tais, daiquiris and zombi wh ltle umbrellas—along wh shrimp dumplgs and pork bao—are the specialti of the neighborhood’s go-to for all thgs tropil, brgg Polynian vib to the Gayborhood until 11 p.

Pizzeria Cappelli – Conveniently loted across the street om Woody’s and around the rner om after-hours club Voyr, this spot is popularly regnized as the late-night p stop that serv “Gay Pizza.

PHILALPHIA'S GAYBORHOOD BY NIGHT: THE PEOPLE, PLAC AND EVOLUTN OF A NEIGHBORHOOD

The Beagle Tavern NorristownBeagle Tavern1003 East Ma Street, Norristown610-272-3133, s unassumg, beagle-lovg gay bar ( was named after the owner’s pooch Timmy) has great drk specials for happy hour and, on Wednday nights, drag queens Thunr Showers and Summer Clearance stop by to give out blh-worthy priz at their Kky Quizzo event. Bt for: Cheap drks (go for the Cywi Special), live jazz, and rnchy PHL | Photo by Patrick HagertyBoxers PHL1330 Walnut Street215-735-2977, Gayborhood’s newt addn to the gay-bar scene, this New York Cy cha stands apart by havg s bartenrs slgg drks nothg but red mh shorts (Insi tip: ’s mored that most of them don’t wear undi. Bt for: Ftive, unpretent vibe, basic bar food, karaoke, and drag ’s | Photo by Kelly BurkhardtVoyr1221 Sat Jam Street215-735-5772, Gayborhood’s only after-hours club bumps wh late-night dancg and sane light shows after 2 a.

Bt for: Dancg, hot men who are sgle and ready to Philalphia LGBT Guis:Top LGBT Civil Rights OrganizatnsTop Gay Bars the Philalphia RegnTop LGBT Health and Wellns Rourc PhilalphiaTop LGBT Youth Rourc Philalphia. Standg directly across the street om Inpennce Hall, a historic marker honors the Annual Remrs, the monstratn held at this se led by gay activists on July 4 om 1965 to 1969, the last of which occurred jt days after the history-makg Stonewall Rts. Philalphia was the first cy the Uned Stat to lnch a major marketg mpaign (“Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay®”) to wele LGBTQ+ tourism, and reprents a trove of cultural, culary, artistic and ethnic diversy.

PHILLY’S LARGT GAY HANGOUT NIED SERVICE TO 150 PEOPLE 1965 FOR SIMPLY ‘LOOKG GAY’

Don’t miss a vis to the Gayborhood, a Center Cy neighborhood that sets self apart wh rabow street signs as well as rtrants and bars owned by and terg to LGBTQ+-intified clientele.

And while most of her popular shows fd hom the Gayborhood, Jane has been spreadg her wgs a b (leather and all) wh the Philalphia Burlque Battle Royale and the Diabolique Fetish Ball, events that are neher exclively gay nor straight, but tend to ter more toward the fetish muny, an unrcurrent that has always had a place among the gay muny. As people migrate bee of high rents, trends and new ontiers, neighborhoods like East Passyunk Avenue have bee gay mecs, leavg many Gayborhood proprietors wonrg how they n woo back the ex-pats. The birthplace of liberty and the pursu of happs, Philly’s LGBT culture n be traced back to the early 20th century, when gay works would meet privately at unrground hoe parti and other private venu wh Center Cy.

1920S AND 30S: GAY BARS SURFACE

Soon workers were turng away ctomers by the drov — but most of them happened to “look homosexual” or drs genr-variant the urse of April 25 of that year, Dewey’s refed 150 people.

“All too often, there is a tenncy to be ncerned wh the rights of homosexuals as long as they somehow appear to be heterosexual, whatever that is, ” wrote the Jan Society a newsletter distributed followg the s-.

THERE GO THE GAYBORHOOD

And when O’Brien claimed that “the Stonewall rts were the first time homosexuals stood up and fought, ” he wasn’t exactly fact, the Dewey’s s-s were preced by the 1959 Cooper’s Donuts rt Los Angel and followed by the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria rt San Francis, both standoffs between drag queens and police was a slower lead-up to an era of tense civil unrt, durg which var mory groups overlapped prott tactics and msagg. ClubFly provis a gay bar, club, nightlife, and GLBT center mapper for Philalphia, Pennsylvania and the rt of the US filtered by hang-out Philalphia gay bars and clubs are mapped the gayborhood wh an overview, tags, ntact tails, webse, social media lks, trans/walkg directns, and drivg directns.

A lot of socializg among the cy’s queer rints durg the ’40s and ’50s happened at hoe parti anized by Quaker-affiliated groups, acrdg to thor Marc Ste, who vered the era his book “Cy of Sisterly and Brotherly Lov: Lbian and Gay Philalphia. Enomic growth, betifitn of the area and a cle the crime-rate were propelled by Philalphia’s first LGBT muny center openg 1976 (William Way) and the tablishment of s first publicly-distributed newspaper (Philalphia Gay News), s first gay bs group openg 1977 (Communy Alliance of Philalphia) and s first LGBT health and wellbeg center 1979 (the Mazzoni Center). “There go the neighborhood, ” I thought as the last illn I had of this part of the cy as an clive yet uniquely gay space dissolved before my the past few years, the “ath of the Gayborhood” — a phrase once uttered mock horror whenever a favore hangout changed hands or a well-known stutn screwed up — has taken on an air of evabily.

Two popular Gayborhood bars, Venture Inn and ICandy, have closed down, and Voyr and Woody’s have tried to broan their ctomer base by hostg bachelorette parti, exotic male revue shows for women, and even NFL watch parti. We saw this the polil arena 2018, when two openly gay black ndidat, Mallm Kenyatta and Alex Deerg, peted for a state Hoe seat the 181st District — a sectn of North Philalphia that’s both geographilly and enomilly distant om the Gayborhood. Cywi, LGBTQ visibily is siarly creasg the cultural realm: Large-sle LGBTQ-themed events have moved beyond the tradnal Pri weekend June and Outft October, and many former Gayborhood event producers and performers are bookg venu throughout the cy.

 PENNSYLVANIA LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS

For many Philalphians, the Gayborhood is no longer the sole place for an LGBTQ experience, but jt another optn a growg field of clive this 50th anniversary year of the Stonewall rts New York, which brought the gay rights movement the U. To mastream attentn, members of Philly’s LGBTQ muny are reflectg — some wistfully, some crilly — on what the Gayborhood means today, and wonrg whether there’s really anythg left to be lost by venturg outsi the neighborhood’s now-fadg rabow-pated crosswalks.

•In the 1950s, Center Cy the vicy of 13th and Loct streets, which we now ll the Gayborhood, was known as the Loct Strip — a red-light district full of strip and htler bars, some of which tered to a gay clientele. ”“When the gay bars and shops were lumped wh the ‘unsirable’ elements of the ’60s and ’70s and threatened wh police raids, the attacks had the effect of galvanizg the muny, ” says Bob Skiba, a Gayborhood historian and curator. ”In the wake of extensive civil rights work by LGBTQ activists around the untry the 1970s and durg the AIDS epimic the 1980s, the openly gay character of the neighborhood was firmly entrenched by the time Cy Paper edor and lumnist David Warner scribed an Outft celebratn as “a betiful day the gayborhood” the early 1990s.

GAYBORHOOD

By 1999, the term Warner had ed was appearg on maps, and veloper tert soon stoked a rapid revalizatn that would turn the area om a llectn of bars and niche bs to a hot spot filled wh high-end rtrants and stutns played their own large rol the Gayborhood’s growth.

In 2003, the Greater Philalphia Tourism Marketg Corporatn, now known as Vis Philalphia, lnched a hugely succsful mpaign vg potential visors to “Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay. And while some observers would suggt that the change is a natural nsequence of wispread LGBTQ acceptance, others argue ’s a paful sign of gentrifitn that’s erasg the inty, culture, and tersectn of racial and genr diversy wh the Gayborhood.

”“The Gayborhood has changed along wh all of Center Cy, ” unters Valerie Saan, who wh her partner, Marcie Turney, owns Barbuzzo, Bud & Marilyn’s, and several other popular rtrants and retail shops the neighborhood.