Gay bars and cktail culture are at a historic crossroads. Will queer nightlife tch up to mastream venu' drks programs?
Contents:
- THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI
- GAY BAR, MEET COCKTAIL BAR
- GAY THEMED COCKTAILS
- INDIANAPOLIS GAY BARS: 7 SPAC MA FOR THE LGBTQ+ MUNY
- BEER IS SO GAY
- 'GAY BAR' TRACKS THE WAVE OF A WHOLE CULTURE — AND ONE LIFE
- FOR THE LOVE OF GAY BARS
THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI
* drinks in gay bars *
The word “gay” lls to md our special knack for fdg the light the darkns, for buildg the dance floor off to the si of the cel world. Let’s take a look at some of the bt gay bars Ameri, om the open-air, vil-may-re spac Wt Hollywood to the neighborhood pub downtown St.
The entrance is through an unmarked shed behd a Chipotle, and featur a blend but unexpected gay/not crowd which same-sex grdg is rigur. —Alfonso Fernanz NavasCourtyAt: Cheer Up CharliBack when I was a young gay, I saw the olt, most betiful woman the world at Cheer Up Charli.
—Abigail CovgtonCourtyBrooklyn: The ExleyFull of ntradictns, The Exley is a ltle different than other gay bars. When the bar fally reopened Sprg 2022, an entire borough’s worth of gays celebrated by floodg the new back pat all summer and Gger’s has been crowd wh queers ever sce.
GAY BAR, MEET COCKTAIL BAR
Today's bt gay bars span div, dance clubs, cktail loung and muny spac, helpg to shape popular drkg culture at large. * drinks in gay bars *
It began s life as a beer-and-we offshoot of the Metropolan Health Club, a gym that opened 1983 to serve the gay ctomers who’d been bullied out of other lol clubs at the height of AIDS hysteria. It gave the boys a place to gather the ‘80s, the first outpost that helped tablish the South End as the Boston gayborhood. While other gay bars of the time were basements or board up, Club Cafe faced by Columb Avenue wh floor to ceilg wdows.
Big Chicks serv a diverse crowd— ’s young, ’s old, ’s one of the only plac you’ll see gay men and lbians together!
GAY THEMED COCKTAILS
A new group of beer pani and breweri like Gay Beer and Queer Brewg are supportg LGBTQ+ muni while rvg out space the beer world for queerns * drinks in gay bars *
The legendary hoeband, Diamondback, has a 25, 000-song repertoire and a boot llectn that uld make a gay wboy cry.
While you won’t fd any Pri flags at Farraguts, you will undoubtedly hear Cele Dn and Melissa Etheri blarg om the bar’s dty, old jebox and, hontly, isn’t that jt as gay?
CourtyDallas: Round-Up SaloonEqual parts wboy boots and dis ball, Round Up Saloon opened 42 years ago Dallas as a gay untry wtern dance hall. Thanks to Perez-Gallardo and their team, gay people who love the outdoors (most lbians) now have a iendly place to unwd after a hike. Billed as Wt Virgia's olst gay bar, the venue regularly brgs some of the biggt queer performg artists the game right now.
INDIANAPOLIS GAY BARS: 7 SPAC MA FOR THE LGBTQ+ MUNY
Author Jeremy Atherton L wr of the history of gay bars, as their existence is threatened by the populary of datg apps and risg property sts, and reflects on their prence his life. * drinks in gay bars *
Live out your Brokeback Mounta fantasi at this verno club, where wboy stum are not nsired drag, and le dancg is not an explic exprsn of homophobia. A gay gatherg spot sce 1939, and gay bar sce 1963, and the Bar Complex sce the 80s, s unassumg exterr beli a triple-threat treat of lounge, performance space, and a mirrored dance club reportedly moled after Stud 54. ) The glorly lively bar and rtrant scene is enhanced by a black box theater downstairs, where farcil plays, lbian standup, and gay dance troup reign.
Honey’s is sentially a sexy, gay speakeasy wh a DJ booth where queers of all strip n dance their hearts out until 2 am. Jt a uple of blocks om the beach, Twist brgs the whole breadth of the Miami gay world together to dance and flirt and keep movg. CourtyIndianapolis: English IvyEnglish Ivy advertis self as an “LGBTQ+-enthed” “gay-therg place” and that is not an overstatement.
If you want to get away om the typil scene at fellow gay bars Olly’s and Gregs Our Place, English Ivy is an ial place to meet iends: mature enough for a proper Ladi Lunch (or bnch or dner. But this is Nashville we’re talkg about so the gays who perform at Lipstick Lounge aren’t your average karaoke queens. They are stars the makg and their rendn of Cele Dn’s “It’s All Comg Back to Me Now” will shatter your pt glass and break your ltle, gay heart.
BEER IS SO GAY
It’s not a gay bar the tradnal sense, but a place where traed pianists play selectns om Broadway shows and all of the drama teachers and mil theater majors of the tri-state area nverge to sg along. Juli’ is Greenwich Village’s olst bar and New York’s olst gay bar, havg attracted gay clientele sce the 1950s.
It was the se of an early gay-liberatn “sip ” 1966, years before Stonewall, and has been a low-key haven ever sce, wh a diverse clientele, a small menu, classic cktails, and an extensive (and packed) 4:00-7:00 happy hour. : The Stable Gay nightlife the Ocean State’s pal is cltered the joyoly (though creasgly) seedy downtown. In December, Dave’s hosted a queer holiday market wh “live gay bands” and “cute queer vendors” at nearby Bohemian Beer Garn.
'GAY BAR' TRACKS THE WAVE OF A WHOLE CULTURE — AND ONE LIFE
It’s not que French-themed, ’s not que Mardi Gras-spired, feels as close as we have experienced this untry to a gay neighborhood pub.
The origal was burned down an anti-gay hate-crime a few years back, but the revival has jt opened across the street and is bigger and better, wh a new performance space. CourtyWashgton DC: TraIn a town where n feel like every other bar is crawlg wh Capol Hill staffers lookg to talk shop, Tra is the rare, glorly gay dive where absolutely everyone is wele to jt kick back.
In a 2009 article for queer publitn Between the L, wrer Camper English laments the lack of “uture cktails” at gay tablishments, potg to the stereotype that “we’re supposed to be trendy people. ” Havg vered cktail culture sce 2006, English believ drks programs at gay bars have remaed remarkably static as the bar and rtrant dtry have drastilly evolved. “It dawned on me that none of the gay bars were movg the same directn as other bars — they were jt dog the same old flavored vodka drks, most whout h juic or even drk men, ” English tells VePair.
FOR THE LOVE OF GAY BARS
“The days, there are some gay bars g h juic their cktails, at least, and more of the rtrants gayborhoods are gettg right. But seems generally that gay bar cktails are about where nightclub cktails are terms of average qualy.
While the mixology movement has brought well-ma Manhattans and Mojos to hotel bars, cise ship bars, piano bars, mic ftival bars, and, hell, even airplane bars, 20 years after the cktail revolutn lnched NYC, gay bars are one of the last plac Ameri you n’t always fd a good drk. Wh so many prri to juggle, om shiftg socenomics to vanishg venu, gay bars and cktail culture are now at a historic crossroads.