Let's face . Philalphia, beg perhaps the most historilly md cy the untry, boasts a e-long long list of “firsts” and “olsts.” The obv qutns to ask are “What was the first gay bar here?” and “Which is the olst existg gay bar Philly today?” Rtenhoe Square, 1953. John J. Wilx Jr. LGBT…
Contents:
- THE 7 BT GAY BARS PHILALPHIA
- THE PHILALPHIA GAYBORHOOD GU
- 1920S AND 30S: GAY BARS SURFACE
- TOP GAY BARS PHILALPHIA
- GAY OLD TIM
- GUI TO PHILALPHIA'S GAYBORHOOD
- GAYBORHOOD
- ONE OF NEW YORK CY'S OLST GAY BARS ON TRACK TO BEE CY LANDMARK
- RACISM NS EP PHILALPHIA’S GAYBORHOOD
THE 7 BT GAY BARS PHILALPHIA
The bt gay bars Philalphia ter to everyone om sports fans and leather daddi to dance floor queens. * oldest gay bar in philadelphia *
Before we prent you wh our list of bt gay bars Philalphia, a few tertg facts about the lol LGBTQ scene: almost every LGBTQ-centric statn the cy is found Gayborhood, an enclave Center Cy Philalphia that has quickly bee one of the most regnize neighborhoods town. Gee Chncey has done a wonrful job of documentg gay culture New York back to the 19th century his book Gay New York, and Marc Ste has done the same for Philalphia om WWII through the early 1970s his Cy of Sisterly and Brotherly Lov.
For the answer to our send qutn, though, we’ll probably have to look the heart of the morn Gayborhood on quiet, tree-led Camac Street.
THE PHILALPHIA GAYBORHOOD GU
* oldest gay bar in philadelphia *
They also created semi-public spac where a new emergg mory would be weled, or at least tolerated: those “long haired-men and short haired women, ” that we would label gay today. In 1982, Maxe’s was bought out by a gay male uple: Ed Klar, (below, left photo), who had been a vice-print of Adolfo clothg and a regular at Maxe’s and his lover Louis Rodrigu, who managed a cha of bety salons.
1983, for stance, featured a different lor theme every week and once a year they gave a “Bartenrs’ Ball” for all the workers at gay bars the cy. Mary claimed that when she began at Maxe’s, she didn’t know was a gay bar, but the tth was that she had begun workg for Barney Zeeman at the Forrt many years before. Luckily for the Gayborhood, they’ve now expand their bs ventur to clu Uncl on Loct St., which they’ve jt remolled, and vted Tabu on 12th – where I n be seen about once a week havg lunch, notebook and mera hand.
Owned by JonCarl Lachman, the chef behd the East Passyunk favore (and sadly soon-to-be-closed) Noord, Wkel is a statn bnch spot the Gayborhood. A lot of socializg among the cy’s queer rints durg the ’40s and ’50s happened at hoe parti anized by Quaker-affiliated groups, acrdg to thor Marc Ste, who vered the era his book “Cy of Sisterly and Brotherly Lov: Lbian and Gay Philalphia.
1920S AND 30S: GAY BARS SURFACE
Woody's, Tabu Lounge and Sports Bar, and more our updated gui to the top gay bars Philalphia. * oldest gay bar in philadelphia *
In 1962, the Jan Society was found Philalphia, makg one of the first rerd and publicly known “homophile” anizatns the cy. Dewey’s Rtenhoe lotn, on the other hand, would ny service, discrimatg agast “homosexuals, ” “mascule women, ” “feme men” and “persons wearg non-nformist clothg.
In 1968, then-Police Commissner Frank Rizzo orred raids on gay bars (and on anybody he emed “unsirable”), leadg many to be verbally and physilly abed by officers. The first and olst LGBTQ bookstore the Uned Stat, Gvanni’s Room, would open a year after the events at the Gay Pri Celebratn.
Enomic growth, betifitn of the area and a cle the crime-rate were propelled by Philalphia’s first LGBT muny center openg 1976 (William Way) and the tablishment of s first publicly-distributed newspaper (Philalphia Gay News), s first gay bs group openg 1977 (Communy Alliance of Philalphia) and s first LGBT health and wellbeg center 1979 (the Mazzoni Center). To discs the creepg rise of “Kaposi’s Sara and Opportunistic Infectns” afflictg gay men, a disease that would later be termed Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
TOP GAY BARS PHILALPHIA
Posts about Philalphia gay bar wrten by ilrago * oldest gay bar in philadelphia *
LGBTQ movements, spac, anizatns and efforts the cy, up until then, had maly been domated by and tered to the needs of whe homosexual men.
The Beagle Tavern NorristownBeagle Tavern1003 East Ma Street, Norristown610-272-3133, s unassumg, beagle-lovg gay bar ( was named after the owner’s pooch Timmy) has great drk specials for happy hour and, on Wednday nights, drag queens Thunr Showers and Summer Clearance stop by to give out blh-worthy priz at their Kky Quizzo event.
Bt for: Cheap drks (go for the Cywi Special), live jazz, and rnchy PHL | Photo by Patrick HagertyBoxers PHL1330 Walnut Street215-735-2977, Gayborhood’s newt addn to the gay-bar scene, this New York Cy cha stands apart by havg s bartenrs slgg drks nothg but red mh shorts (Insi tip: ’s mored that most of them don’t wear undi. Bt for: Bar food and drk specials, 12 taps of rotatg seasonal beer, Bike Stop206 South Quce Street215-627-1662, gay neighborhood’s got s leather bar, and ours is The Bike Stop. Venture Inn225 South Camac Street215-545-8731, of the olst gay bars the cy matas s old-fashned vibe wh snazzy cktails, fabuloly gay shows, and karaoke.
GAY OLD TIM
Historic s, popular neighborhoods, and LGBTQ+-owned bars and rtrants Philalphia's Gayborhood and beyond. * oldest gay bar in philadelphia *
Bt for: Ftive, unpretent vibe, basic bar food, karaoke, and drag ’s | Photo by Kelly BurkhardtVoyr1221 Sat Jam Street215-735-5772, Gayborhood’s only after-hours club bumps wh late-night dancg and sane light shows after 2 a. Bt for: Late-night drks, parti hosted by Stimul, drag shows by Mimi Imfurst, turng your nose up at the hot ’s202 South 13th Street215-545-1893, s is a staple the Gayborhood. Bt for: Dancg, hot men who are sgle and ready to Philalphia LGBT Guis:Top LGBT Civil Rights OrganizatnsTop Gay Bars the Philalphia RegnTop LGBT Health and Wellns Rourc PhilalphiaTop LGBT Youth Rourc Philalphia.
Trackg down the gay pneers who first settled the blocks between Broad Street and Washgton Square, Amy Korman hears tal of urage, crisis, muny, drag queens and Frank Rizzo — and chronicl the makg of the place we ll the Gayborhood. Jane Jabs, the thor of The Death and Life of Great Amerin Ci, talks about Rtenhoe Square the ’50s as one of the most succsful parks Ameri, and pegged Washgton Square as the center of homosexuals and generat.
Thom Nickels, thor, Gay and Lbian Philalphia, and archecture lumnist for the Bullet and In magaze: Maxe’s was really elegant. It was like the gay bar for the Socially David: A lot of gentlemen told me that even before I was born, you’d know they were gay if they wore a red tie and a red handkerchief when they went to Dry Nickels: The Allegro was really the happeng place, but the Dry was this charmg piano bar; they had great manhattans. At the Allegro, I n remember guys wh tambour on the dance floor, and the excement — we kd of knew that the future was wi open, and there was this kd of pri and pleasure beg gay.
GUI TO PHILALPHIA'S GAYBORHOOD
Wh Philly Pri fast approachg, take a look at the history and happengs of the cy's Gayborhood. * oldest gay bar in philadelphia *
So if the homophob hadn’t thrown out, we never would have been able to get this great lotn we’re now [at 345 South 12th Street].
Across 13th street om the parkg lot I discsed last time stands the enigmatic buildg that now ho Nt, a pre-school “early enrichment center” wh a playspace, ffee lounge and kids’ hair salon; the ultimate fay iendly space, right the heart of the Gayborhood at 1301 Loct St.
In 1962, a Philalphia Magaze article about Philalphia’s gay subculture lled “The Furtive Fraterny, ” listed the Venture Inn among the bars the cy which were plac that homosexuals equented. In 1973 the Venture Inn went om beg a “gay iendly” bar to beg a gay bar, when was bought by Hans Lang, who had prevly owned The Midway on 12th Street, which is iCandy today. Cy n boast a gay bar that’s tucked a way on a 200 year old si street and is hoed a buildg that had been a stable to Quaker abolnists and a Prohibn era tea room.
GAYBORHOOD
In the send half of the twentieth century, the Center Cy Gayborhood formed the vicy of Loct and Thirteenth Streets. * oldest gay bar in philadelphia *
Wh s newly pated faça boastg two Amerin flags and four rabow flags, below, packs the most visual punch of any bar the Gayborhood.
Each level of Indy, “a unique nightlife experience, ” is different, om the first floor, the Tn Tavern, which DePiano lls the “gay Chickie and Pete’s, ” to the top floor, which is home to the “Cobalt Arena, ” the dance floor.
The Cy of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affectn hosted the untry’s first major monstratn for gay rights, the Annual Remrs, 1965. And today, Philly visors n easily explore s where LGBTQ+ history was ma and where queer life ntu to thrive, pecially the cy’s Gayborhood and durg annual events like Philly Pri 365. The center of Philalphia’s gay rintial life and culture sce World War II, the blocks between 11th and Broad streets and Pe and Chtnut streets earned their nickname — the “Gayborhood”— durg an October Outft event 1995.
ONE OF NEW YORK CY'S OLST GAY BARS ON TRACK TO BEE CY LANDMARK
Sce 2015, the brilliant rabow crosswalks at the tersectn of 13th and Loct Streets have served as an sential Gayborhood landmark.
The group’s LGBTQ and Trans History tours reunt the stori of Gay Liberatn Front – Philalphia founr Kiyoshi Kuromiya, explore morn history and current social issu the neighborhood, and stop at important muny s like the Attic Youth Center, which supports LGBTQ+ youth experiencg homelsns. The Gayborhood got a h new mural at the start of Pri Month 2021 when muralist Ash Ryan fished this three-story-tall tribute to pop star Lil Nas X. In 1965, the Universy of Pennsylvania expelled Fryer om his psychiatric rincy program on the basis of his homosexualy, which was then classified as a mental illns by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn (APA).
In 1972, Fryer, a faculty member at the Temple Universy School of Medice, offered an electrifyg anonymo ttimony that rulted the APA’s 1973 classifitn of homosexualy as a mental illns. Philalphia Gay News Marker: This marker stands ont of the first office of the Philalphia Gay News, one of the natn’s most award-wng weekly newspapers.
RACISM NS EP PHILALPHIA’S GAYBORHOOD
A pneer the LGBTQ+ rights movement, Gtgs, a Philalphia rint om age 18 and a lifetime activist, eded The Ladr, the natn’s first lbian magaze; -anized the Annual Remrs at Inpennce Hall (see above) and led charg both to promote posive LGBTQ+ lerature public librari and to change the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn’s classifitn of homosexualy as a mental illns. It’s where radil gay llective Gazoo found Philalphia’s Gay Liberatn Front and where bisexual blu sger Bsie Smh performed at the Royal Theatre, an early 20th-century Black-owned cultural center. Today, the street’s known for s Magic Garns, cheteak shops and hangouts, cludg dive bar extraordaire Bob & Barbara’s Lounge, home of one of Philly’s bt-loved drag shows; the punk art LGBTQ+ haven Tattooed Mom; and the eclectic, gay-owned boutique shop Workshop Unrground.
A four-story buildg loted Philalphia’s btlg gayborhood, visors enter through an alleyway wh a dumpster on one si and a sparsely attend massage parlor on the other. As a “much larger guy” at the age of 22, Robson said that he “didn't f the mold” expected at many other gay spac, but what he liked about Bike Stop is that weled the “eaks and the geeks.
“The attentn on perfect, whe male bodi that is foreground most gay spac might exist there, but there’s also plenty of room for other body typ, like me, ” he said. In 2007, the cy of Philalphia officially regnized the area, addg 36 gay pri rabow flag symbols and street signs throughout the Gayborhood.