Do You Wanna Funk wh Me?: A Begner’s Gui to Gay Nightclubs | PopMatters

Contents:

• DO YOU WANNA FUNK WH ME?: A BEGNER’S GUI TO GAY NIGHTCLUBS
• THE BT GAY CLUBS AMERI
• THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI
• HOW TO BEE POPULAR AT A GAY BAR
• THE BT GAY CLUBS MIAMI FOR A NIGHT OUT WH THE BOYS
• THE DOS & DON'TS OF GAY CLUBBG
• WT HOLLYWOOD’S HISTORIC GAY NIGHTCLUB THE ABBEY IS UP FOR SALE
• I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
• GAY USA

DO YOU WANNA FUNK WH ME?: A BEGNER’S GUI TO GAY NIGHTCLUBS

But if you want to go dance, party, and have a good time, tst me — a gay club is where you should be head.

To be fair, there are straight clubs that play great mic and have fun, nonjudgmental crowds, and there are gay bars that are nothg more than S and M (Stand and Mol) clubs. Certa gay/lbian clubs have their target clientele, of urse — wboys and wgirls (The Round-up Saloon Dallas), leather men (La Track Montreal), punk lbians (The Dyke Bar Brighton, UK), and drag queens (1001 Pub Maryl Istanbul), for stance — but what I’m talkg about is your basic glter-ball, all-wele, humpg-on-the-dance-floor dis. This wouldn’t have happened at any of the gay bars town, and we fely would have had a better time, as the doorman was jt the first of numero snooty employe we enuntered, there.

THE BT GAY CLUBS AMERI

If you’ve never been to a gay bar, there are a few thgs you need to unrstand so that you n have the right attu.

That may seem obv, but ’s amazg how many people enter what is clearly a gay bar and say, “Hey, thar’s a bunch a queers ‘ere.

THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI

” And the homosexuals who are there will be dancg wh one another, holdg hands, huggg, and, y, kissg. A gay bar is one of the few plac where homosexuals n exprs their affectn for one another whout beg subjected to someone’s narrow judgment, or, prumably, riskg harm to themselv, so expect to happen.

I went wh three iends — a lbian and a straight uple — to a gay nightclub a while back, but was separated om them immediately after enterg the crowd club.

Unlike what you may have seen on Queer as Folk, the overwhelmg majory of gay bars don’t have backrooms and hallways where wild i are takg place. Dg e, particularly the e of ecstasy and other signer dgs, is higher among the gay populatn than the straight populatn, and some gays and lbians equate a night on the town wh a night of high-energy, dg-duced spastic dancg. In my qut for the perfect dance club, I tried, or was dragged to, diss of all varieti, so I know om experience that the bt dance mic is a gay bar.

HOW TO BEE POPULAR AT A GAY BAR

Sylvter, the late dis diva of the ’80s, was one of the first to target gay dienc, and he tablished a proud tradn of producg multi-layered tracks to which even the most rhythmilly-challenged uld dance. Even though he was straight and had a girliend, Ron and I went dancg together often; we both loved to dance, and if no one wanted to go out wh , we knew we uld dance a gay bar whout beg hassled.

From gym gods to nerds to fag hags (the latter beg the straight women who hang wh their gay male iends) to straight upl who want to try some place new — don’t matter.

THE BT GAY CLUBS MIAMI FOR A NIGHT OUT WH THE BOYS

Although, to be hont, the more you look like a er ught the headlights, the more the regulars will look at you oddly, so try not to eak out when you see your first drag queen or gay/lbian uple makg out. And often, gay clubs smaller towns or ral areas are entrance-by-membership-only, to keep out the rednecks and others who want stir up trouble.

THE DOS & DON'TS OF GAY CLUBBG

When I attend llege the homophobic town of Wa, Texas, gettg to the one gay bar town remd me of enterg a speak-easy durg Prohibn, but once si, the patrons were all nice and easy-gog. Dependg on the cy, the parts of town where gay bars are loted are often rough, and crime rat are high. Even when loted “nicer” parts of town, gay bars tend to attract n artists, pick pockets, and gay bashers lookg to prey on the weak or dnk.

If you would prefer to have bamboo shoved unr your nails to beg around homosexuals, then bt to stay out of gay clubs. However, if you have no problem wh gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenred people general, they turn will have no problem wh you, so you ought to give the lol gay bar a try. 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.

WT HOLLYWOOD’S HISTORIC GAY NIGHTCLUB THE ABBEY IS UP FOR SALE

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.

I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK

—Diana HubbellBoston: Club CafeHow is Boston’s stalwart gay bar/rtrant/performance space inic? 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.

GAY USA

But perhaps most signifintly, gave the gay muny of Boston somethg sperately need: visibily. While other gay bars of the time were basements or board up, Club Cafe faced by Columb Avenue wh floor to ceilg wdows.