The History of How Gay Bars Beme the Battleground for LGBTQ+ Rights

Contents:

• MALE GAY BAR ETIQUETTE
• DO YOU WANNA FUNK WH ME?: A BEGNER’S GUI TO GAY NIGHTCLUBS
• THE HISTORY OF HOW GAY BARS BEME THE BATTLEGROUND FOR LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
• 'GAY BAR' TRACKS THE WAVE OF A WHOLE CULTURE — AND ONE LIFE
• DEFINITIONS FOR GAY BARGAY BAR
• D.C. IS LIFTG PACY RTRICTNS. WHAT DO THAT MEAN FOR GAY BARS?
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT A SEEMGLY FAKE DOCUMENT A GAY RIGHTS CASE
• ELECTRIC SIX: GAY BAR MEANG
• THE MEANG OF GAY: WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO USE IT

MALE GAY BAR ETIQUETTE

Male Gay Bar Etiquette - In My Humble Opn - Straight Dope Msage Board.

Good advice, but you uld jt do the easy way: fd the bit gay club town. (By “gay bar”, I mean any bar that ters primarily to gay men or lbians. But if you want to go dance, party, and have a good time, tst me — a gay club is where you should be head.

DO YOU WANNA FUNK WH ME?: A BEGNER’S GUI TO GAY NIGHTCLUBS

To be fair, there are straight clubs that play great mic and have fun, nonjudgmental crowds, and there are gay bars that are nothg more than S and M (Stand and Mol) clubs. Certa gay/lbian clubs have their target clientele, of urse — wboys and wgirls (The Round-up Saloon Dallas), leather men (La Track Montreal), punk lbians (The Dyke Bar Brighton, UK), and drag queens (1001 Pub Maryl Istanbul), for stance — but what I’m talkg about is your basic glter-ball, all-wele, humpg-on-the-dance-floor dis.

This wouldn’t have happened at any of the gay bars town, and we fely would have had a better time, as the doorman was jt the first of numero snooty employe we enuntered, there. If you’ve never been to a gay bar, there are a few thgs you need to unrstand so that you n have the right attu.

First, there are gog to be homosexuals there. That may seem obv, but ’s amazg how many people enter what is clearly a gay bar and say, “Hey, thar’s a bunch a queers ‘ere.

THE HISTORY OF HOW GAY BARS BEME THE BATTLEGROUND FOR LGBTQ+ RIGHTS

” And the homosexuals who are there will be dancg wh one another, holdg hands, huggg, and, y, kissg.

'GAY BAR' TRACKS THE WAVE OF A WHOLE CULTURE — AND ONE LIFE

A gay bar is one of the few plac where homosexuals n exprs their affectn for one another whout beg subjected to someone’s narrow judgment, or, prumably, riskg harm to themselv, so expect to happen. I went wh three iends — a lbian and a straight uple — to a gay nightclub a while back, but was separated om them immediately after enterg the crowd club.

DEFINITIONS FOR GAY BARGAY BAR

Unlike what you may have seen on Queer as Folk, the overwhelmg majory of gay bars don’t have backrooms and hallways where wild i are takg place. Dg e, particularly the e of ecstasy and other signer dgs, is higher among the gay populatn than the straight populatn, and some gays and lbians equate a night on the town wh a night of high-energy, dg-duced spastic dancg. Havg said all that, why should you go to a gay nightclub?

In my qut for the perfect dance club, I tried, or was dragged to, diss of all varieti, so I know om experience that the bt dance mic is a gay bar.

D.C. IS LIFTG PACY RTRICTNS. WHAT DO THAT MEAN FOR GAY BARS?

And numero dance masters and producers market their goods to gay clubs specifilly. Sylvter, the late dis diva of the ’80s, was one of the first to target gay dienc, and he tablished a proud tradn of producg multi-layered tracks to which even the most rhythmilly-challenged uld dance. Not so a gay club.

Even though he was straight and had a girliend, Ron and I went dancg together often; we both loved to dance, and if no one wanted to go out wh , we knew we uld dance a gay bar whout beg hassled. From gym gods to nerds to fag hags (the latter beg the straight women who hang wh their gay male iends) to straight upl who want to try some place new — don’t matter. Although, to be hont, the more you look like a er ught the headlights, the more the regulars will look at you oddly, so try not to eak out when you see your first drag queen or gay/lbian uple makg out.

Still, there are a few thgs to keep md before venturg to your first gay bar. And often, gay clubs smaller towns or ral areas are entrance-by-membership-only, to keep out the rednecks and others who want stir up trouble. When I attend llege the homophobic town of Wa, Texas, gettg to the one gay bar town remd me of enterg a speak-easy durg Prohibn, but once si, the patrons were all nice and easy-gog.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT A SEEMGLY FAKE DOCUMENT A GAY RIGHTS CASE

Dependg on the cy, the parts of town where gay bars are loted are often rough, and crime rat are high. Even when loted “nicer” parts of town, gay bars tend to attract n artists, pick pockets, and gay bashers lookg to prey on the weak or dnk.

ELECTRIC SIX: GAY BAR MEANG

If you would prefer to have bamboo shoved unr your nails to beg around homosexuals, then bt to stay out of gay clubs. However, if you have no problem wh gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenred people general, they turn will have no problem wh you, so you ought to give the lol gay bar a try.

Today, people tend to equate gay bars as beg plac to party pecially hard. They’re fun spots if you’re gay, straight, or anywhere between.

‘Wild night out’ stori often clu or end at the neighborhood gay bar. It’s hard to overstate the importance of the gay bar wh the LGBTQ+ rights movement over the past uple hundred years.

THE MEANG OF GAY: WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO USE IT

In honor of Pri Month, we wanted to highlight the historil signifince of gay bars and their impact on equaly for all. Bee of the need for tense secrecy, the very earlit history of the gay bar has been mostly lost.

However, 1810, we get our first rerd stance of a gay bar—unr admtedly unfortunate circumstanc.