FlashBack – (Gay Bar) | Edmonton Queer History Project

Contents:

• HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 3: THE LONG-RUNNG
• LIST OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS
• EDMONTON GAY BARS
• FLASHBACK – (GAY BAR)
• HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 2: A FLASHBACK TO FLASHBACK

HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 3: THE LONG-RUNNG

Another important venue Edmonton’s gay bar scene was The Roost. At the same time that Flashback ( s first lotn on Jasper Avenue) was fillg to pacy, four people who had been fluential the management of Club 70 quietly built a new gay bar on the ma floor at 10345 – 104 Street.

Ultimately, this proved to be a huge benef to Edmonton’s gay bar scene as people moved back and forth between the clubs. In 1985, the AIDS epimic h Edmonton and began takg the liv of clubgoers om the gay muny. Other plac entered Edmonton’s gay bar scene those early years.

Boots ‘n Saddle operated as a more open-door gay bar, as opposed to beg exclive to queer folk. Consistently voted the Bt Burgers by See Magaze and Vue Weekly, the ia of a public eatery joed wh a gay bar was a novelty that was met wh general acceptance by the by lunch crowds downtown.

LIST OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS

Loted a two-story buildg at 10116 – 124 Street, they also tered to the gay and lbian crowd. Seeg an opportuny for a new gay bar, Jim Brown began renovatg the send floor to a licensed space. On July 22, 2000, Buddys Neclub opened the basement at 11723b Jasper Avenue, makg this the third time a gay bar would be suated a basement (and certaly not the last!

List of Edmonton’s Gay Bars. Dis was of particular signifince to gay male culture the late 1970s and to the 1980s, when quickly lost mercial viabily the straight world wh Amerin mpaigns like “Dis Demoln Night” and “Dis Sucks. Origally known as “The Cock’s Roost, ” The Roost opened ially as a gay men’s club.

Tilroe rells how “many gay folks who were not as outgog or good lookg would hang out till the bter end hopg to fd a iend and other folks who clearly were unhappy and had drowned their sorrows. Well to the 1990s, was not unmon for gay-bashers to drive around tcks lookg to e trouble for patrons. As societal acceptance of LGBTQ2 people creased this led to the ls obv need for dited gay bars, which sadly meant bs cled.

EDMONTON GAY BARS

One “ageg gay man” Gloucter, England, lamented the loss, sayg, “The Roost was the bt waterg hole that I have vised, not only Canada but also the world. Read the 5-part seri, The History of Edmonton’s Gay Bars.

First Gay Bar (Club 70) – September 1969. Long referred to Play as “an evolutn of the queer nightclub, ” sayg he wanted a space where his iends uld go after work, “gay and straight-but-queer iendly. “Gay, trans, lbian, bi or qutng, ” Wyns said, “queer is a word that enpass everythg.

This group clud Rob Browatzke, who had more than twenty years of experience workg Edmonton’s LGBTQ2 nightlife scene, and a partnership team that recently ran Hels, a pair of gay hotels Palm Sprgs. Aware there would be immediate parisons wh the former Play Nightclub, the ownership group did their bt to break the “dark and dgy gay bar stereotype. The Hels team had extensive nnectns the world of adult gay films, and famo drag queen and porn director Chi Chi La Rue served as the DJ for the big Grand Openg, which also featured a bevy of adult entertament stars, cludg Matthew Rh, Christopher Daniels, and Tyler Sat.

FLASHBACK – (GAY BAR)

In the fall, Evolutn partnered wh UpStar Ultralounge on a two-gay club pub crawl for Halloween. As wh Play before, and many other gay spac, fundraisg was a central ponent of Evolutn’s programmg and a way to directly support the lol LGBTQ2 muny. This clud the “Hs of HOMOcidal, ” which helped lnch the reers of Edmonton queens such as Gogo Fetch, Chelsea Horrendo, and Lilh Fair.

Other fundraisers clud an event for Makg Wav to support their succsful bid to host the 2016 Internatnal Gay and Lbian Aquatics Champnships. When a long-time ally of the queer muny, Mother Jean, a straight woman wh ep roots the emergg drag muny, was refed entry to Club 70, Reid realized Edmonton need a gay bar where alli and supporters of the muny uld be treated wh fairns and rpect. In 1974, John Reid, Pl Chisholm (Emprs Millie), Pat Fortier, Harvey Jon, and others band together to create Flashback, which beme Edmonton’s first gay dis.

John stated, “gays served more than what Club 70 had to offer… (which clud) a more posive environment. After Flashback left this lotn, the Gymi, a gay bathhoe, reloted om downtown to the same spot, ultimately closg the day after the 1981 raid on the Pisc Spa. This would bee Flashback’s most inic lotn—strategilly loted right across the street om Edmonton’s newt gay bar, The Roost.

HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 2: A FLASHBACK TO FLASHBACK

” The whole place, he said, smelled of Aramis logne, “as tegral to a gay man’s inty at the time as openg that extra button on your shirt. “I jt wanted to be gay, and I wanted to be gay a place that was safe. John Reid beme one of the few gay Edmontonians of the time to speak publicly to the media on behalf of the muny.