Why Gay Bars are Val for LGBT Communi | KCRW

Contents:

• 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
• "FOR THE MORNG GAYS": THE IMPORTANCE OF LGBTQ-OWNED F AS SOBER, QUEER SPAC
• FOR LGBTQ MUNY, GAY BARS ARE 'SAFE PLACE' TO EXPERIMENT, FD ONELF
• GAY NIGHTLIFE SANTA FE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE
• LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUTNG (LGBTQ) YOUTH
• THE GAY BAR AS SAFE SPACE HAS BEEN SHATTERED
• DANIEL CRAIG ON WHY HE’S PREFERRED GOG TO GAY BARS: “IT WAS A VERY SAFE PLACE TO BE”
• GAY BARS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SAFE SPAC. BUT THEY OFTEN WEREN’T.
• WHY GAY BARS ARE VAL FOR LGBT COMMUNI

5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)

Sometime between the birth of datg apps, marriage equaly, and gayborhood gentrifitn, tradnal gay bars beme sential. In the recently released cultural history and memoir, Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, Jeremy Atherton L wr, “a gay bar, will be said, affords refuge.

Whether ’s Stonewall or the Stud, gay bars have been nsired LGBTQ “safe spac” — a term scholar and activist Moira Kenney attribut to the gay liberatn movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Through the late 1960s, route police raids meant gay bar patrons uld be threatened wh f, jail time, and possibly job loss or social annihilatn if outed by thori. The Philalphia Commissn on Human Relatns released a 2016 report statg that “LGBTQ people of lor, women and transgenr people often feel unwele and unsafe Gayborhood spac.

” In 2019, a gay Chigo tablishment, ironilly named Progrs Bar, momentarily banned rap mic — a policy quickly cried as anti-Black. Haddad, who has cerebral palsy and a walker, reunted his isolatg gural experience at a gay bar: “…the first thg I enuntered was a stairse. A need for safe space gave birth to the gay bar, but as LGBTQ muni exame what “safe” means 2021, ’s time for the old stutns to adapt.

"FOR THE MORNG GAYS": THE IMPORTANCE OF LGBTQ-OWNED F AS SOBER, QUEER SPAC

Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, which proudly markets self as the last gay bar San Francis’s Tenrlo, raised over $100, 000 on GoFundMe to keep om closg this past year. The progrsive parti regnize that a space isn’t fed by an addrs an expensive gayborhood but by the people who hab . “We did not go out to be safe, ” wr L, who started gog out the 1990s and began wrg his novel chroniclg the ath of gay bars 2017.

In an attempt to help terme the worst plac for gay travelers, the duo created the 2019 LGBTQ+ Danger Inx, rankg the world’s most dangero—and saft—untri for gay travelers. The journalists looked at the top 150 most-vised untri the world by the number of g tourists, then ranked them g eight factors, cludg laws agast gay relatnships, legal protectn agast discrimatn and more.

FOR LGBTQ MUNY, GAY BARS ARE 'SAFE PLACE' TO EXPERIMENT, FD ONELF

There, people n be put prison for up to 14 years jt for beg gay, and some stat even have the ath penalty unr Sharia law. In almost all s, the laws outlawg nsensual gay sex were put to place unr Brish le and were left place followg pennce. “In 2018, India managed to annul Sectn 377, a Brish lonial-era law prohibg ‘unnatural acts, ’ orr to legalize nsensual gay sex, ” says Fergson, who pots out that ancient Indian lerature such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana have many referenc to LGBTQ+ hero cludg transgenr warrrs and two queens who ma love orr for one queen to get pregnant wh an heir for their kgdom.

GAY NIGHTLIFE SANTA FE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE

“Long story short, this pots to the fact that was likely the Brish fluence that largely led to Indian homophobia the first place, ” she says.

“We found this to be a b ironic as the reason for many of the harsh homophobic laws untri throughout the world is largely leftover om laws created durg Brish le, ” says Fergson. “One reason for that is that there is a great al of variatn gay rights pendg on the state you’re , ” says Fergson. Prime Mister Jt T promoted clivy by marchg Toronto’s Pri Para and beme the untry’s first Prime Mister to vis a gay bar.

LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUTNG (LGBTQ) YOUTH

Ci like Lisbon and Porto have the bt gay scen the untry and Portugal is hopg to host the 2022 Europri, the world's biggt event celebratg gay pri Europe. Wh an overall natnal attu that is relaxed and acceptg towards homosexualy, Belgium is known for havg a vibrant gay and lbian scene, particularly Bssels, ” says Fergson. It was ranked so highly largely due to the extreme penalti for simply beg gay, which clu up to 14 years prison and the ath penalty stat unr Sharia law, ” says Fergson.

“This oil-rich Middle Eastern untry enforc up to three years prison, floggg and the ath penalty unr Sharia law for any acts of homosexualy. “In Yemen, the punishment for beg gay for both men and women is prison time and 100 lash, wh ath by stong for married men, ” says Fergson.

THE GAY BAR AS SAFE SPACE HAS BEEN SHATTERED

“Sdi Arabia is another of the untri on our list which implements the ath penalty for nsensual homosexualy unr their terpretatn of Sharia law, ” says Fergson.

“In Tanzania, any homosexual acts rult 30 years to life prison, and there has been a recent ernment crackdown on LGBT activy wh the untry. “Iran ma #6 on the x, due part to s extreme punishments for homosexualy, which clu 100 lash for homosexual terurse or the ath penalty, and 31 lash for same-sex acts other than terurse, ” says Fergson. “Publicly, homosexualy is a taboo topic, so LGBTQ+ travelers choosg to vis Sudan should proceed wh utn and rema discreet wh regards to their sexualy.

DANIEL CRAIG ON WHY HE’S PREFERRED GOG TO GAY BARS: “IT WAS A VERY SAFE PLACE TO BE”

“Historilly, Barbados and some other Caribbean islands have had poor anti-LGBTQ+ legislatn and practic, largely left over om the Brish occupatn which put the laws place and rerced anti-gay attus.

Unfortunately, imposed punishment for homosexualy is severe and the existence of gay people Malaysia was nied by their tourism mister as recently as March 2019, ” says Fergson.

GAY BARS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SAFE SPAC. BUT THEY OFTEN WEREN’T.

Pro-LGBTQ+ anizatns are also banned by the ernment Malawi and general public sentiment regards homosexualy as off-lims. That said, the LGBTQ+ muny is margalized this untry and there are heavy nsequenc for beg homosexual, which clu seven years to life prison for any same-sex act, ” says Fergson.

Unfortunately, thgs may soon be gettg even worse for the LGBTQ+ muny, as the Ugandan ernment has recently lled to retroduce an anti-homosexualy bill, which would clu the ath penalty for same-sex acts, the midst of the recent murr of a gay Ugandan activist. “In the Paltian terrori of Gaza and the Wt Bank, the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is taken very serly, wh homosexual acts rultg up to 10 years prison, ” says Fergson. “Groups advotg for LGBTQ+ rights are threatened by the erng thori Palte, who nsir homosexualy to be ‘a blow to, and vlatn of, the ials and valu of Paltian society.

Currently, Kenyan law stat that same-sex terurse between mal rults 14 years prison, while all other homosexual acts between mal are punished wh five years imprisonment, ” says Fergson. “However, the crimalizatn of gay sex is beg discsed wh the ernment, which would likely bolster LGBTQ+ travel to the untry.

WHY GAY BARS ARE VAL FOR LGBT COMMUNI

In fact, Jamai was lled ‘the most homophobic place on Earth’ by Time magaze 2006 and LGBTQ+ people are sadly still the victims of homophobic vlence today. Rankg 19th on our x, Ethpia outlaws same-sex relatns and ‘cent, ’ or homosexual, acts rult up to 15 years prison, ” says Fergson. “Recently, there have been ath threats by Ethpia’s Orthodox Christian muny over gay tourism to the untry, puttg LGBTQ+ tourists at risk.

“Same-sex acts rult up to three years prison wh a fe, and posssn of homosexual materials rults up to two years prison wh a fe.

20 mass shootg at Club Q Colorado Sprgs, which took the liv of five people and jured at least 19 others, LGBTQ bar patrons have been takg the news pecially ’s bee, historilly, the absence of any other safe gatherg plac, gay bars have been the heartbeat of the queer muny. And still now, particularly for those livg ral areas, or nservative strongholds like Colorado Sprgs — headquarters of Christian anti-gay mistry Foc on the Fay and recently nsired the fourth most nservative cy Ameri — ’s often the only place to feel safe while beg fully one’s self, pecially if shunned by fay members and while beg spegoated by policians and targeted by an creasg number of anti-LGBTQ bills. “That's where I learned how to be everythg that I am, ” Kara Coley, bar manager at SIPPS, one of jt two gay bars southern Mississippi, tells Yahoo Life, addg that she “blossomed” such queer bars and clubs have always been a place for people to disver themselv and “fd their chosen fay, ” says Fredd E.