Gay Nightlife Baltimore: Bt Bars, Clubs, & More

Contents:

• THE HIPPO, LONGTIME ANCHOR OF BALTIMORE'S GAY MUNY, TO CLOSE THIS FALL
• WI STANCE: THE HIPPO IS CLOSG, BUT A CY LIKE BALTIMORE, WHAT'S THE POT OF A GAY BAR?
• INIC GAY NIGHTSPOT, THE HIPPO, MAY BE CLOSG
• 'WHERE DO WE GO?' BALTIMORE'S GAY NIGHTLIFE TAK A H WH GRAND CENTRAL'S IMPENDG CLOSURE
• GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE
• BT GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE
• BT GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE

THE HIPPO, LONGTIME ANCHOR OF BALTIMORE'S GAY MUNY, TO CLOSE THIS FALL

Now his 60s, he says the Hippo had outsized importance for young gay men s early years, llg “the central place” for not jt the cy of Baltimore but the entire state.

“If you were a untry boy om Hagerstown or southern Maryland, you knew you ma your gay life the moment you were able to walk to the ont door of the Hippo, ” says Noël. It was this historic event that sparked the gay rights movement of the 1970s.

“I didn’t know where I would be wele, bee there are divisns the gay muny, where the Black gays may not like the whe gays their clubs, or the whe gays may not want the Black gays their clubs, ” says Kev Brown, owner of Nancy by SNAC Statn North. He was providg a safe haven for gays the muny, where they uld e and be who they are. In the precedg years, the cy had lnched s first-ever Pri Para and found s gural LGBTQ activism and rource anizatn, the Baltimore Gay Alliance, both 1975.

WI STANCE: THE HIPPO IS CLOSG, BUT A CY LIKE BALTIMORE, WHAT'S THE POT OF A GAY BAR?

“It was very dangero for a gay man to hang out a non-gay bar or club at the time, ” says José Villarbia, a former Hippo patron and rint of Mt. “Gay spac were the only space where you uld act like yourself.

In the summer of 1981, the first s were reported of what would e to be known as the AIDS crisis, and on July 3, The New York Tim published an article wh the omo headle: “Rare Cancer Seen 41 Homosexuals. At the turn of the 21st century, the club add karaoke the Saloon’s si lounge and troduced hip-hop nights the distheque, providg “the kids who were gay, who really didn’t want to be out, a place they uld e out unexamed, ” says Brown.

INIC GAY NIGHTSPOT, THE HIPPO, MAY BE CLOSG

The “gayborhood” has changed, too, though a few LGBTQ bars rema.

I believe is a place wh a lot of promise-but might need a b of an ternal facelift to keep up wh some of the swankier gay bars nearby.

I am a straight girl and went wh another straight girl and two gay men. After more than four s as an anchor Baltimore's gay muny and the Mount Vernon bs district, The Hippo will close this fall and the se will be nverted to a CVS nightclub first opened as a gay tablishment at the rner of North Charl and Eager streets 1972. "Loted across the Charl and Eager tersectn om Grand Central, another longtime gay tablishment, The Hippo has helped to serve as a central meetg pot for the LGBT muny for few exceptns, cludg last summer's events, the cy's annual Baltimore Pri block party has revolved around the tersectn, brgg LGBT and allied people om around the state to Mount Vernon and through the Hippo's doors.

'WHERE DO WE GO?' BALTIMORE'S GAY NIGHTLIFE TAK A H WH GRAND CENTRAL'S IMPENDG CLOSURE

"Bowers purchased the club 1978 om s origal founrs, Kenny Elbert and Don the AIDS epimic spread durg the 1980s, Bowers stepped up to provi support for gay men who ntracted the disease.

Through the years, he has supported many of the cy's nonprof anizatns dog siar work — om the Gay, Lbian, Bisexual and Transgenr Communy Center of Baltimore to Moveable Feast, which provis meals to people wh chronic and life-threateng illns, cludg also ma the Hippo available through the years to performanc by Broadway st members as part of the Broadway Car/Equy Fights AIDS Adks, print of the GLCCB board of directors, lled Bowers a "great supporter" through the years, and said the center is "fely gog to do somethg to wish Chuck a fond farewell" durg this summer's Pri ftivi — though the tails haven't been Davis, owner of Grand Central, said Bowers "has n a first-class operatn, " but bs jt isn't what once was for gay bars and clubs. And gays feel more fortable now drkg wh their straight iends Feral Hill and Fells Pot, " Davis said he isn't que sure what the Hippo's closg will mean for Grand Central.

Mic was pulsatg throughout the night as Maryland’s largt gay bar, Club Hippo, celebrated s 40th anniversary on July 7. He beme the chair of the Gay Paper newspaper mtee and th s edor 1983 whereby he changed the name to Baltimore Gay Paper. In 1972 Elbert and Endbr had turned the space to a gay-iendly nightclub.

GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE

Durg the AIDS epimic of the 1980s, Bowers was an outspoken advote for gay men who ntracted the disease.

BT GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE

Last Call really was Last Call on Saturday night for the Hippo, Baltimore’s well-known gay nightclub, which closed s doors permanently after 43 years bs. It quickly beme an anchor for Baltimore’s Mount Vernon “gayborhood.

The Hippo’s closg leav Grand Central at Charl and Eager streets as the cy’s largt gay bar, although owner Don Davis refers to as an “alternative bar.

The 43-year-old Baltimore gay club and Mount Vernon stutn announced this month that would soon shutter s doors and lease the space to a CVS Health lotn.

BT GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE

I'm as sad as anyone else about the loss of a lolly owned bs, but I n't help but ask: In 2015, a cy like Baltimore, what's the pot of a gay bar?

The Hippo operated this tradn throughout s history, actg as an anizg and fundraisg hub for groups such as the HIV/AIDS support anizatn Moveable Feast and the Gay, Lbian, Bisexual, Transgenr Communy Center, and for the 2012 fight for marriage gay and lbian bars ntue to fill the rol for our muni, but 2015, they're no longer the only act town. )Queer arts and ias have left Baltimore's gay ghetto too—The Charm Cy LGBT Film Ftival and our regular viss om drag a ppella quartet Ksey Sicks take place at the Creative Alliance, nowhere near the gayborhood. Even hookups have found a home outsi of gay bars and cisg spots, lotn-based apps such as Grdr or Scff (and OkCupid, acrdg to the lbians I've asked).

Perhaps that is why gay and lbian bars are disappearg across the natn. Consir how equently stori about disappearg gay bars (and their s, the gay bookstore) pop up. Even the gay haven of San Francis, last year saw the closg of the cy's only lbian bar and only gay Lato bar.