The story of Gary Turner and how he turned a dream to the Gay Para Gas Statn at Paris Junctn, Missouri, a Route 66 landmark and road trip attractn.
Contents:
- WHERE IS GEE MAHARIS TODAY? DID GAY STIGMA DAMAGE HIS CAREER?
- GAY PARA, A ROUTE 66 LANDMARK THAT HOLDS A UNIQUE SPOT OZARKS HISTORY
- GARY'S GAY PARA
- ROUTE 66: GARY’S GAY PARA
- GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
- GAY PARA, A ROUTE 66 LANDMARK THAT HOLDS A UNIQUE SPOT IN OZARKS HISTORY
- GAY MOSW · CY GUI
- ROUTE 66: SCLAIR GAY PARA, A GAS STATN OUT OF TIME
WHERE IS GEE MAHARIS TODAY? DID GAY STIGMA DAMAGE HIS CAREER?
The gay bars along Route 66 may be gone, but they n live on our history books—and our photos. * route 66 gay *
Gay bars.
While I traveled Route 66 wh the Natnal Tst om Chigo to Sprgfield, Missouri, I documented plac muni along the inic highway that historilly weled gay travelers.
The subject of gay bars om the past really terts me. Where I live New York Cy I lead a walkg tour about “gay bars that are gone” and people who attend share histori and sometim memori om LGBTQ spac, datg as far back as the 1870s.
GAY PARA, A ROUTE 66 LANDMARK THAT HOLDS A UNIQUE SPOT OZARKS HISTORY
* route 66 gay *
The are spac where gay Amerins found joy, love, muny, and solidary the face of great social and polil adversy.
To document the “gay bars that are gone” of Route 66, I me wh a few important thgs my suse: two LGBTQ USA travel guis om the year 1966 (cintally) and a rabow flag. One was tled: "The Lavenr Baeker ‘66: A Guibook to Gay, Intertg, Hysteril, and Historic Plac the U. The other gui was a Damron Gui om 1966, which is an LGBTQ travel pany that still exists and has been publishg gay travel guis sce 1964.
This third edn Damron Gui chronicled more than 900 plac across the Uned Stat and Canada remend for gay travelers.
GARY'S GAY PARA
LGBTQ-iendly road trip route om San Francis to New York Cy, cludg LGBTQ-iendly hotels, gay bars, and queer entertament. * route 66 gay *
Asi om the dozens of gay bars servg Chigo, the first “gay bar that is gone” I me across was Esquire Cocktails Joliet, Illois, which existed 1966 at 211 North Chigo Street and, acrdg to the Damron Gui, served a mixed crowd while the “back part” was primarily for gay patrons. The addrs proved too difficult to lote, but the fact that there was a gay bar scene the relatively small cy of Joliet (famo for s 1858 prison) amazed me. Let’s remember what was happeng 1966 for gay Amerins: January 1966, Time magaze published a notor article on “The Homosexual Ameri, ” llg homosexualy “a pernic sickns"; gay and transgenr ctomers rted at Compton’s Cafeteria prottg police harassment San Francis; and New Yorkers staged a “sip-” prott at Juli bar Greenwhich Village, prottg discrimatory practic by the New York State Liquor Authory.
ROUTE 66: GARY’S GAY PARA
Ex-soap star Gee Maharis, whose ex om 'Route 66' may have been fueled by producers' upset over his beg gay, is ad at age 94. * route 66 gay *
Another Illois bar, Two Brothers also served both gay and straight patrons. Acrdg to The Lavenr Baeker, there was another gay bar Sprgfield lled Gee I Tavern, specifilly for gay men, at 212 N 5th St. Intertgly, a gay bar lled Smokey’s Den was not listed eher gui, but a lol told me was loted right off of Route 66 downtown Sprgfield.
Louis has long had a thrivg gay scene and 1966 (as bt one n tell om the guis) unted 10 gay-iendly tablishments cludg dive bars, clubs, ffee ho and hotels. Louis was my last stop for documentg “gay bars that are gone” along Route 66 before flyg back to New York Cy out of Sprgfield, Missouri. Louis rint told me about the one gay place he knew of his hometown of Rolla, Missouri, some 100 wt of St.
GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
Explore gay Mosw wh Mr Hudson. The bt of Mosw for the discerng gay man. Where to sleep, eat, drk, shop and play. * route 66 gay *
He told me, “Every gay man wh lled Suzy’s. To help fight agast that my own small way, I’ll keep a mera and a rabow flag my suse—jt se I e across another “gay bar that is gone.
This property is lled Gay Para, ” the late Gary Turner said 2012, wh his signature gravelly voice. “It was built by Gay and Fred Mason. Gay Para was named after Gay.
But you only see Gay’s name up there, so she’s probably more equal than Fred was. ”The origal Gay Para was built around 1930 Paris Sprgs, alongsi Route md that “Para” is not exactly “equal” Spanish (more likely Italian), and that Para may very well have been an old place name for this part of ral Missouri about 20- wt of Sprgfield.
GAY PARA, A ROUTE 66 LANDMARK THAT HOLDS A UNIQUE SPOT IN OZARKS HISTORY
Gay Mosw Cy Gui for gay travelers. Review of the cy, gay scene, how to get there, travel tips, popular tourist attractns Mosw. * route 66 gay *
That was Gay Mason’s dream hoe. Th was born the lotn for the new Gay Para statn, now vised year-round by 66 travelers. The path wouldn’t be anythg whout the people, ’” Rich relled ’s generosy love, iendship, and food at Gay Para, though, were owed large part to his formative years as a picker, wh his fay tryg to survive poverty.
Meanwhile, the future of Gary’s Gay Para was very Para, Part 2The Gay Para statn sat quiet repose for months followg Lena’s ath. Worse yet, vandals started claimg some of the many antique signs and artifacts that ma Gay Para one of the most popular and unique roadsi attractns on scrib what happened durg this perd: “The statn sat empty…. ”Gary Turner’s impact on Route 66 has been noted by many, particularly the people and muni nearby Gay Para Missouri.
”Today, Gay Para has been given a new lease on life. Gay Para looks much the same as always did, perhaps a ltle neater and tidier plac where Barb has left her fgerprts, but the vibe is no is no such thg as a 15-mute vis to Gay Para, wh or whout Gary. You fet the heat, the humidy, the fli, bee this is the day’s premier event, and this is not the typil Missouri ont lghed aloud, “If you’re a hurry and you stop at Gay Para, you’re trouble!
GAY MOSW · CY GUI
Paris Sprgs has the vtage Route 66 Gay Para Sclair service statn, Gay Para fe & store and s two garag. Attractns and landmarks to vis durg your Route 66 road trip. * route 66 gay *
If you’re a te open road traveler, then Gary Turner and Gay Para were ma for you.
In the early 1960s, Bob Damron began creatg pocket-sized addrs books to help gay men fd queer spac while travelg around the natn. But eedom wasn’t always a given for queer people, leadg LGBTQ travelers to favor well-known gayborhoods liberal ci near the US astl. Marshall’s Beach, a clothg-optnal queer hang beneath the Goln Gate Bridge, is the perfect place to dip your rriere the Pacific; Dolor Park’s southwt rner is a land-locked “gay beach” that attracts crowds on sunny days.
One of the untry’s earlit gay anizatns, the Mattache Society, was found Silver Lake 1950, and historic queer protts agast police btaly at Coopers Donuts (1959) and the Black Cat (1967) led up to NYC’s Stonewall Uprisg and the Gay Liberatn Movement that followed.
ROUTE 66: SCLAIR GAY PARA, A GAS STATN OUT OF TIME
Today, LGBTQ life revolv around Wt Hollywood (WeHo), where you’ll fd the hight ncentratn of LGBTQ tablishments, cludg the Abbey, LA’s go-to gay bar, and Micky’s, the bt spot to see RuPl’s army of glamazons. You’re most likely to fd queer crowds around the Pri Flag Lifeguard Tower or at Roosterfish, a gay bar that also hocks lol art. This inic Amerin roadway, mythologized by Stebeck as the “Mother Road” The Grap of Wrath, slic eastward through LA’s gayborhood as enters Ameri’s wtern wilrns.
Phoenix might be Arizona’s gayt cy, but LGBTQ-iendly Flagstaff sports an abundance of outdoor activi where weary travelers n stretch their legs. For a gay daytime hang, drive 30 mut to Lake Travis where you’ll fd iendly queer folx sunbathg at Hippie Hollow — the Lone Star State’s only legal nu beach.