How the Mob Helped Establish NYC’s Gay Bar Scene | HISTORY

Contents:

• Y, THERE’S A NEW GAY BAR GREENWICH VILLAGE
• TOP 5 GAY CLUBS & BARS GREENWICH VILLAGE (NEW YORK CY)GAY CLUBS & BARS GREENWICH VILLAGE
• GAYLY SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1970!
• HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE
• THE 10 BEST LONDON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS LONDON
• MUNICH GAY BARS
• JULI’, THE GAY-ELR DIVE BAR OF THE VILLAGE, GETS LANDMARKED

Y, THERE’S A NEW GAY BAR GREENWICH VILLAGE

Style|Y, There’s a New Gay Bar Greenwich Village ADVERTISEMENTBoîtePlayhoe Bar, which opened a block om Stonewall, is filled wh drag and Wtervelt for The New York TimBoîte: Playhoe BarGreenwich VillageGreenwich Village may no longer be a predomantly L. The Stonewall Rts, also lled the Stonewall Uprisg, began the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a gay club loted Greenwich Village New York Cy. For stance, solicatn of same-sex relatns was illegal New York such reasons, LGBT dividuals flocked to gay bars and clubs, plac of refuge where they uld exprs themselv openly and socialize whout worry.

However, the New York State Liquor Authory penalized and shut down tablishments that served alhol to known or spected LGBT dividuals, argug that the mere gatherg of homosexuals was “disorrly. But engagg gay behavr public (holdg hands, kissg or dancg wh someone of the same sex) was still illegal, so police harassment of gay bars ntued and many bars still operated whout liquor licens— part bee they were owned by the Rights Before StonewallThe first documented U. Police raids forced them to disband 1925, but not before they had published several issu of their newsletter, “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter.

TOP 5 GAY CLUBS & BARS GREENWICH VILLAGE (NEW YORK CY)GAY CLUBS & BARS GREENWICH VILLAGE

In 1966, three years before Stonewall, members of The Mattache Society, an anizatn dited to gay rights, staged a “sip-” where they openly clared their sexualy at taverns, darg staff to turn them away and sug tablishments who did. When The Commissn on Human Rights led that gay dividuals had the right to be served bars, police raids were temporarily Stonewall Inn The crime syndite saw prof terg to shunned gay clientele, and by the mid-1960s, the Genove crime fay ntrolled most Greenwich Village gay bars.

GAYLY SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1970!

And was one of the few—if not the only—gay bar left that allowed were still a fact of life, but ually rpt ps would tip off Mafia-n bars before they occurred, allowg owners to stash the alhol (sold whout a liquor license) and hi other illegal activi. Stonewall's LegacyThough the Stonewall uprisg didn’t start the gay rights movement, was a galvanizg force for LGBT polil activism, leadg to numero gay rights anizatns, cludg the Gay Liberatn Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD (formerly Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn), and PFLAG (formerly Parents, Fai and Friends of Lbians and Gays) the one-year anniversary of the rts on June 28, 1970, thoands of people marched the streets of Manhattan om the Stonewall Inn to Central Park what was then lled “Christopher Street Liberatn Day, ” Ameri’s first gay pri para.

”In 2016, then-Print Barack Obama signated the se of the rts—Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, and the surroundg streets and siwalks—a natnal monument regnn of the area’s ntributn to gay Gallery The Stonewall Inn is a bar loted New York Cy’s Greenwich Village that served as a haven the 1960s for the cy’s gay, lbian and transgenr muny. Most gay bars and clubs New York at the time were operated by the Mafia, who paid rptible police officers to look the other way and blackmailed wealthy gay patrons by threateng to “out” them.

As -founr of the Gay Liberatn Front, Rivera was known for participatg the Stonewall Rts and tablishg the polil anizatn STAR (Street Transvte Actn Revolutnari). After the Stonewall Rts, a msage was pated on the outsi of the board-up bar readg, "We homosexuals plead wh out people to please help mata peaceful and quiet nduct on the streets of the village.

HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE

" This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay unintified group of young people celebrate outsi the board-up Stonewall Inn after the rts. ”Over the next several nights, gay activists ntued to gather near the Stonewall, takg advantage of the moment to spread rmatn and build the muny that would fuel the growth of the gay rights movement.

Johnson is seen at a Gay Liberatn Front monstratn at Cy Hall New York, a large crowd memorat the 2nd anniversary of the Stonewall rts Greenwich Village of New York Cy 1971. For over 50 years, this legendary tablishment has provid a fabulo, welg tablishment for gay New Yorkers, LGBTQ tourists and visors & y, even the ocsnal heterosexual to enjoy the wild lghter song and muny of Greenwich Monster's terr nsists of a multi-level gay haven wh a mix of vtage Lalique chanliers and the famo mirrored stairse. The spac, whether always gay iendly or only durg certa tim of the day or week, gave LGBT people the eedom to be themselv a way they ually uld not be their personal or profsnal liv.

THE 10 BEST LONDON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS LONDON

Juli’, now the olst gay bar New York Cy (and also one of the olst bars the cy ntuo operatn), is a bar and rtrant that dat back to the neteenth century, wh s current sign probably datg om the late neteenth or early twentieth century. By the 1960s, some four s after Greenwich Village had bee the center of New York Cy’s LGBT muny, the bar was attractg a signifint number of gay men, although was not exclively a gay bar.

” Their tent was to challenge New York State Liquor Authory regulatns that were promulgated so that bars uld not serve drks to known or spected gay men or lbians, sce their prence was nsired facto disorrly.

MUNICH GAY BARS

The sip- was part of a larger mpaign by more radil members of the Mattache Society to clarify laws and l that hibed the nng of gay bars as legimate, non-mob, tablishments and to stop the harassment of gay bar patrons. When Dick Lesch, Craig Rodwell, John Timmons, and Randy Wicker announced that they were homosexuals and asked to be served a drk, the bartenr at Juli’ refed their requt.

This refal received a great al of publicy, cludg articl the New York Tim and the Village Voice, at a time when issu volvg discrimatn agast gay people were not generally discsed the prs. The reactn by the State Liquor Authory and the newly empowered New York Cy Commissn on Human Rights rulted a change policy and the birth of a more open gay bar culture. Scholars of gay history nsir the sip- at Juli’ as a key event leadg to the growth of legimate gay bars and the velopment of the bar as the central social space for urban gay men and lbians.

But between New York’s LGBT muny the 1960s beg forced to live on the outskirts of society and the Mafia’s disregard for the law, the two ma a profable, if uneasy, the gay muny blossomed New York Cy the 1960s, members had few plac to gather publicly. Unr the guise of New York State’s liquor laws that barred “disorrly” premis, the State Liquor Authory and the New York Police Department regularly raid bars that tered to gay the law saw viance, however, the Mafia saw a goln bs opportuny. It was the only place where gay people uld openly dance close together, and for relatively ltle money, drag queens (who received a bter receptn at other bars), naways, homels LGBT youths and others uld be off the streets as long as the bar was open.

JULI’, THE GAY-ELR DIVE BAR OF THE VILLAGE, GETS LANDMARKED

“Fat Tony, ” for one, paid New York’s 6th Precct approximately $1, 200 a week, exchange for the police agreeg to turn a bld eye to the “cent nduct” occurrg behd closed Photo<em>An NYPD officer grabs someone by their hair as another officer clubs a young man durg a nontatn Greenwich Village after a Gay Power march New York, 1970. David Carter explas his book Stonewall: The Rts That Sparked the Gay Revolutn, that durg a typil raid, bar owners would change the lights om blue to whe, warng ctomers to stop dancg and drkg. Sometim the ps even went to the extreme measure of sendg female officers to the bathroom to verify people’s get around laws that prohibed servg alhol to LGBT patrons, many gay bars—cludg the Stonewall—operated ostensibly as “bottle bars, ” private clubs where members would brg their own alhol.

Apparently, too many high-powered dividuals—cludg Mafia members, police officers and big Hollywood nam—were implited as Stonewall Inn is a bar loted New York Cy’s Greenwich Village that served as a haven the 1960s for the cy’s gay, lbian and transgenr muny. " This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay reportg the events, The New York Daily News rorted to homophobic slurs s tailed verage, nng the headle: “Homo Nt Raid, Queen Be Are Stgg Mad.

1 / 14: RxSome scholars have argued the famo Stonewall rts that sparked the natnwi LGBT movement were as much a ristance agast the mob’s exploatn of the gay muny as they were a stggle agast police harassment and discrimatory laws.