Gay bars are disappearg. Their past holds keys to their future. - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• THE HISTORY OF HOW GAY BARS BEME THE BATTLEGROUND FOR LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
• HOW GAY BARS HAVE BEEN A BUILDG BLOCK OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNY
• RAISG THE BAR: A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY BARS
• A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY BARS.
• HISTORY OF GAY BARS
• A MEMOIR ABOUT QUEER INTY, TOLD ONE GAY BAR AT A TIME
• 'GAY BAR' TRACKS THE WAVE OF A WHOLE CULTURE — AND ONE LIFE
• GAY BARS AND GAY RIGHTS
• THE HISTORY OF GAY BARS AND THEIR STORY OF LIBERATN
• GAY BARS ARE DISAPPEARG. THEIR PAST HOLDS KEYS TO THEIR FUTURE.
• HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE

THE HISTORY OF HOW GAY BARS BEME THE BATTLEGROUND FOR LGBTQ+ RIGHTS

” Unfortunately, police reports and mastream media verage of a gay bar 1880 proved to be extremely unreliable and hyperbolic, fueled mostly by pearl-clutchg and fear-mongerg rather than actual rmatn. “But that night, for the first time, the ual acquicence turned to vlent that night the liv of lns of gay men and lbians, and the attu toward them of the larger culture which they lived, began to change rapidly.

Dpe the massive stris the lbian, gay, transgenr, bisexual, and queer muni have ma the last few s, the shockg horror of the weekend’s shootgs ma clear the ntued relevance and importance of the bars and nightclubs. While the protts and march at The Stonewall Inn turned the bar to a symbolic headquarters for the Gay Pri movement, gay nightlife has always served as val space for muny buildg and pg societal persecutn. The people behd the plac have sparked polil activism (Joe Scialo, the late former owner of The Monster, supported employe the ‘80s fightg AIDS and even traveled to Mexi to brg back life-savg dgs) and have fostered mic and creative exprsn for s (gay clubs such as the Warehoe Chigo and Paradise Garage New York gave birth to hoe and var stras of electronic mic).

Jt a ltle more than 60 years ago, famo police raids Miami attempted to shut down the cy’s gay nightlife, rultg newspaper headl such as "Perverts Seized Bar Raids, " "Crackdown on Deviant Nts Urged, " and "Great Civilizatns Plagued by Deviat. The notor "Purple Pamphlets" dissemated by state Senator Charley Johns, who had led wch hunts agast gays state ernment and led vtigative mte that fired hundreds of gay schoolteachers, portrayed the culture as viant and dangero.

HOW GAY BARS HAVE BEEN A BUILDG BLOCK OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNY

The sgle-sex arrangement of ary life, as well as creasg pennce (and enomic advanc) of women workg on the homeont, offered many gay Amerins the abily to ngregate greater numbers for the first time.

While this risg awarens helped create new gay rights anizatns, such as the Mattache Society and the Dghters of Bilis, was quickly untered wh a nservative backlash of nformy and Communist paranoia, exemplified by Senator Joseph McCarthy. His vtigatns, part of an anti-gay wch hunt the feral ernment lled the Lavenr Sre, would persecute leftists for years, and along wh sual bigotry and wispread amement over terms such as ‘pixie, ’ would help falsely lk beg gay wh viance and anti-Amerin behavr the popular imagatn.

The Cab Inn, opened by Nat "Big" Ivy Chigo’s South Si Bronzeville neighborhood, put on regular drag shows featurg a chos le of black men, while Esta Noche, a pneerg Missn District gay bar, opened for a predomantly Hispanic clientele 1979. Durg the ‘50s and ‘60s, ps nstantly harassed LGBTQ tablishments, pullg cisers up near the entrance to disurage anyone om gog si, parkg police wagons ont of the door durg equent raids, and even sendg unrver ps to try and get someone to h on them—a daily occurrence every bar, gay or straight—which would trigger a lewd nduct charge.

RAISG THE BAR: A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY BARS

By 1964, when Bob Damron’s Addrs Book, a self-published gay travel gui, was first issued, ntaed more than 750 bars, rtrants, and clubs across the untry, all personally vised by the thor, a bsman who was equently on the road. Woln was cricized, lost the electn, and as was often the se when crics or moralizers attacked the LGBTQ muny, merely broadst to others that San Francis was a great place to meet fellow gay and lbian people.

After pourg their drks, a bartenr Juli's Bar ref to serve John Timms, Dick Lesch, Craig Rodwell, and Randy Wicker, members of the Mattache Society, an early Amerin gay rights group, who were prottg New York liquor laws that prevented servg gay ctomers, New York, New York, April 21, 1966. " Wrer Daniel Harris noted that "assiatn … has profound ramifitns for the untry’s cultural life, which will be prived of a major source of artistic and tellectual energy as homosexuals are fally tegrated. That sense of openns, pri, and eedom, and the welg nature of plac that allow everyone, pecially the gay muny, to exprs themselv, was one of the reasons police believe that Pulse was targeted earlier this week.

But I’m not here to weigh the pros and ns of gay bars — we n all do that on Twter (and we do) — I jt want to talk briefly about the history of gay bars, talk a teeny b about some of the first on to exist, and some of the olst on that we still have today.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY BARS.

So, to separate molly ho om gay bars — and I’m not gog to claim this is the official fn, ’s jt what I’m workg wh here — I’m gog to fe gay bars as legimate, legal bs foced entirely (or almost entirely) on the sale of alhol to queer ctomers.

Meanwhile, Berl had also bee a hotspot of gay and lbian nightlife by 1900, thanks largely to the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee‘s prence there, though a lot of the specific rerds about the spots were lost thanks to the Nazis. Still, ma a reputatn for s wild parti and fluenced a lot of gay bars ’s Hangout New York Cy was one of the first, if not the first, lbian bar the Uned Stat, openg 1925 and closg at the end of 1926 due to police raids. All of Mexi Cy’s gay bars were closed 1959 and even though there are gay bars the cy now, none of the origal on first gay bar South Ai opened the Carlton Hotel Johannburg the late 1940’s — terg to wealthy whe gay men.

However, some of the bars, such as the Butterfly Bar (now the Skyle) began to tegrate the mid-1980’ Amerin occupatn of Japan followg World War II brought gay bars to the untry — New Sazae opened Tokyo durg this perd, 1966, and is still open the 1970’s, a lot of clubs Sgapore began havg gay nights but no actual gay bars opened until the lbian bar Crodile Rock opened the 1980’s. Juli’ – Juli’ opened Manhattan 1864 but was cidly not a gay bar but by the late 1950’s, gay men started equentg but were often thrown out or simply refed service bee was illegal to serve homosexuals New York Cy at the time. After the Stonewall rts, the owners of the the Eagle’s Nt (which had been open sce 1931, and is now Eagle NYC) ma their club a gay bar and beme a very popular spot for more mascule gay men, and pecially the leather scene, to hang out.

HISTORY OF GAY BARS

The earlit example of a gay bar San Diego me the 1957, when straight ally Lou Arko bought the popular lunch club of the 1930's, the Brass Rail, and extend to a meetg spot for gay people at post-World War II era herald the openg of many more bars, terg to the pennt men and women who had moved to the btlg port cy for ary jobs. WCPC also hosted some of San Diego's first Pri events, but they quickly outgrew the AIDS began vastatg the gay muny the '80s, the bars beme the plac for folks to gather, grieve, and raise money for men dyg om the disease. As a rult, a small nstuency of nightlife venu, bars, and theatr cropped up prewar “bohemian districts” to give refuge to self-intifyg gay lols (thk: New Orleans’ French Quarter, New York’s Greenwich Village, San Francis’s Barbary Coast) the war was full swg, the persecutn of homosexual behavr began to dimish (slightly).

There were a uple of factors at play, here: the same-sex livg ndns fundamental to the ary allowed self-intifyg gay men a space to ngregate large numbers, women gaed more fancial pennce on the home ont, and the release of the Ksey Report 1948 tailed homosexualy as entirely normal (and th, not a disease). S began to spearhead whole swaths of unrground gay bars and clubs alongsi their newfound this time, due to the Ksey Reports, several gay rights anizatns began to emerge — and naturally, nservativ panicked. Safe spac were cril for members of the gay muny — and folks were mobilizg to make nightlife venu gatherg spac for queer-intifyg Amerins statned all over the said, In the ’50s and the ’60s when the existence of gay bars skyrocketed, thgs were hardly easy.

A MEMOIR ABOUT QUEER INTY, TOLD ONE GAY BAR AT A TIME

And a strange twist, Mafia fai on the East Coast saw a rare opportuny to moize here: They uld pay off the police and keep them at bay while earng big bucks om the gay muny for up-charged drks served guaranteed p-ee venu (one of which was no other than the Stonewall Inn) this stage, large-sle protts and movements were takg place, and bs owners were buildg alns ci like Los Angel, San Francis, and New York — which brgs to the Stonewall Rts on June 28, 1969. And wh the emergence of more gay bars a broar market — which some folks are llg the gentrifitn of gay the same, is undoubtedly te that the powerful, long-standg history of the gay bar is ccial to LGBTQ+ liberatn as we know . AdvertisementSKIP Jeremy Atherton LWhen you purchase an penntly reviewed book through our se, we earn an affiliate 9, 2021GAY BARWhy We Went OutBy Jeremy Atherton LHistory, as is tght, is a straight le of domo fallg — the relentls clack of fact htg fact, an orrly que of aly stretchg on forever.

'GAY BAR' TRACKS THE WAVE OF A WHOLE CULTURE — AND ONE LIFE

History, as is lived, is a reelg spiral of flight and return; the erative reawakeng of new selv faiar plac; a never-endg terrogatn of our own nfed and nfg motiv; a msy slather of dots on a graph where the center n be plotted only Atherton L’s betiful, lyril memoir, “Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, ” cloaks this lived history that learned history, examg an objective subject — gay bars — to create a highly subjective object: a book about his life, flensed down to jt the bs that ma past the chapter foc on one particular gay bar (jumpg om London to Los Angel to San Francis and back), s history and s place the trajectory of Atherton L’s life. Atherton L himself is renred only relatn to the bars he walks through; you’ll fd yourself hard-prsed at the end to say where he was born or how many siblgs he has (and you won’t re) Atherton L has a five-octave, Mariah Carey-que range for discsg gay sex.

GAY BARS AND GAY RIGHTS

“Gay Bar” is well crafted (which is pecially pleasg nsirg this is a memoir about stctur), wh a strong thorial hand that mak the rear feel refully shepherd through the text, even as Atherton L jumps s and ntents. When he discs an important 1966 prott at the historic Greenwich Village gay bar Juli’, he c a New York Tim article to talk about the “tr of activists” volved — not realizg that the article left out a fourth man, Randy Wicker (the only one still alive, cintally enough) a half page later, though, Atherton L warns that spe the activist claim that gay bars “should be kept open to facilate knowledge passg between generatns, ” he himself had never really received gay wisdom “on a barstool.

THE HISTORY OF GAY BARS AND THEIR STORY OF LIBERATN

” This book is not about history, the subject you study, but history, that thg you have wh that guy by the jebox whose name you n’t the fal chapter of “Gay Bar, ” Atherton L grappl wh gog to a new generatn of bars, created by very different forc, meetg very different needs. " That history clus the famo 1969 uprisg at the Stonewall Inn New York, but Atherton L also div to other, lser-known bars, cludg on that endured police raids meant to put gay people their place.

GAY BARS ARE DISAPPEARG. THEIR PAST HOLDS KEYS TO THEIR FUTURE.

And while succeeds on many levels, perhaps the most remarkable one is Atherton L's nstant qutng of himself, and the realizatns of how he's changed sce he walked to his first gay bar years ago: "Maybe, I thought, I'm a dis ball. Gay bars, one of the few public plac of ngregatn for LGBTQ+ people before the Stonewall rebelln of 1969, were flash pots for the crimalizatn of same-sex sexual nduct, acrdg to legal scholar Patricia A. "Here are five stori that scratch the surface of the Fox Ci' LGBTQ muny and Lambda Lounge: Appleton's first gay barThroughout the late 20th century, gay people primarily found muny through the bar scene, often seen as a safe space for LGBTQ people to socialize.

Appleton's first gay bar, the Lambda Lounge, opened downtown 1977 by partners Pl DeB and Gene DeB, Pl's sister, said the two bought the bar om Claire Kempky who ran Doris' Super Bar, a bs wh a reputatn as a hangout spot for gay people. " The bar opened 1977 and was Appleton's first gay the bar wasn't openly advertised as a gay bar for the safety of s patrons, people knew of through word of mouth and natnal gay bar guis, such as the Damron Gui. Rearcher for the Universy of Wisns-Green Bay's "Our Voic: LGBTQ+ Stori of Northeastern Wisns" Dennis Jab said bar patrons often experienced backlash om Appleton rints who believed homosexualy was wrong and didn't like havg a gay bar patrons were safe to be themselv si the bar, Jabs said people knew to not enter or leave the bar alone as they faced vlence om straight people and many fights took place outsi the bar.

However, the Lambda Lounge's prence Appleton paved the way for other LGBTQ bars, such as The ReMixx Neenah, Rasls Appleton and the now-closed Pivot A Neenah LGBTQ club is creatg a growg love for drag shows the Fox CiMore: Rasls has long been a gay refuge AppletonBook clubs allow gay people to fd munyBook clubs have often been a place for people wh shared inti to fd muny while discsg lerature pertag to their liv and provi a safe space for gays and lbians to socialize, Appleton Public Library llectns ordator Michael Nz and Lawrence Universy Profsor Dick Wslow found a book club named the Lavenr Salon 15 years, the group met each Sunday members' hom wh potluck meals and discsns on books and club was exclive to gay people, so members — whether they were openly gay or not — were able to be themselv and safely meet other people the LGBTQ muny.

HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE

Participatn the club grew om seven members to over 60 at a time, brgg people om Marette and Sheboygan for the weekly stunts' fight for gay-straight alliance clubDurg the turn of the century, stunts Madison and Milwkee high schools started creatg gay-straight allianc, or GSA clubs, to provi supportive environments for LGBTQ word about the clubs grew, a number of stunts at Neenah High School 2001, cludg Nick Ross — a current Appleton School Board member — wanted to create an official club for LGBTQ stunts to discs experienc and issu they were gog of the stunts were already LGBTQ support groups at the school and the muny, but Ross said was important for them to create an official group to give visibily to LGBTQ stunts and let other stunts know there was a safe space the school to discs their, when the stunts applied for club regnn, Neenah High School Prcipal Mark Duerwaechter nied them, sayg a GSA has polil goals and would go agast district policy, acrdg to Post-Crcent archiv. "It was extremely terrifyg and sry for all the reasons of beg out public as LGBTQ, but also super excg bee we put ourselv out there and ma thgs happen, " Ross Neenah stunts' ph for a GSA and the attentn gathered the Fox Ci spired other stunts to create the club their own schools and a year later all three Appleton high schools had a High School Gay Straight Alliance club om an Oct. "In the last 15 years wh the cy of Appleton, we were dog some pretty active support of LGBTQ folks bee we were tired of seeg teens harmed and havg hate crim our parks, " Flor, who also prevly served as Appleton's diversy ordator, told The first time Appleton got volved LGBTQ issu was 2012 when the cy passed domtic partnership protectn for gay cy employe and their a time when same-sex marriage wasn't legal, domtic partnership benefs allowed cy employe and their partners the same benefs as spo, such as health surance and sick next time the cy got volved LGBTQ issu was Augt 2013 when the cy passed fair hog based on genr inty and exprsn, beg the third cy the state to ban hog discrimatn for transgenr people.

Unsurprisgly, evince of gay bars dat all the way back to the 18th century, but the first ‘official’ gay bar is assumed to be ‘The Zanzibar’ Cann, France, openg 1885 and nng for 125 years until recently closed. For example, London’s Soho was always synonymo wh unrground gay culture, actg as a basis for the dark eds gothic works such as ‘The strange se of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hy’ and ‘The picture of Dorian Gray’. Homosexualy was illegal the UK until 1967 and the crimalizatn the US spanned om the 1960’s to the early 2000’s, rultg unrground gay bars actg as the only place to experience liberatn and eedom.