From historic gay bars to Jack London's favore dive, here's where to drk the past.
Contents:
- SHAS OF THE RABOW: EAST BAY GAY BARS EVOLVE, STAY RELEVANT WH THE QUEER MUNY
- TOP 5 FIERCT GAY BARS IN THE BAY AREA
- GAY SAN FRANCIS
- DOORS TO BAY AREA GAY SEX VENU SWG OPEN
- EAST BAY GAY BARS
SHAS OF THE RABOW: EAST BAY GAY BARS EVOLVE, STAY RELEVANT WH THE QUEER MUNY
The owner of new Oakland LGBTQIA+ bar Town Bar & Lounge dreams of a gay scene to rival San Francis's the East Bay. * east bay gay bars *
But the area n be harr to navigate for those who are not whe gay men.
The Harvey Milk-era of gay rights activism is no ls important — ’s jt that the LGBTQIA+ muni are vast and nta myriad ways to exprs and reprent sexualy and genr. Growg up gay the Amerin South was not a pleasant experience, Miah Jefa says. In the South Bay, they go to the off-the-beaten-path gay bar Renegas.
“Jolene’s is also a spot that is workg hard to -cis-gay-man the queer nightlife scene, ” Calamia says. Everyone looks gay.
TOP 5 FIERCT GAY BARS IN THE BAY AREA
* east bay gay bars *
” Across the untry, lbian bars seem to suffer the worst fat of gay spac, gog om 200 bars 1980 to 21 2021.
But attempts to brg queer and trans folks to the folds of legal Amerin life do not make for a full cultural revolutn, nor n they undo the impacts of historil vlenc, like the Lavenr Sre, a postwar moral panic agast homosexualy fomented by the feral ernment, or the implic msag of the ernment’s refal to migate the HIV/AIDS crisis and vt the health of Black and brown queer and trans people. Hidg pla sight, through efforts to “pass” as cis or straight, was a makhift shield agast the outsi world’s homophobia and transphobia. This is also the first time Huynh will own a bar, but a ago he was a bartenr at some of the most proment gay bars San Francis, mostly the Castro district.
When he took stock thgs, Huynh said, “I realized that the bt tim my life were the Castro, beg myself, beg gay and ee. “I would love to make a quote unquote Castro of Oakland, ” he said, “where people flow om bar to bar all night, a real gay scene right here Oakland. The Whe Horse Bar Oakland claims to be the olst ntuoly operatg gay and lbian bar the Uned Stat.
GAY SAN FRANCIS
This Pri Week, check out the iendly LGBT bars the East Bay for some drks, dancg, and—who knows—maybe even romancg. The Whe HorseThe Whe Horse bar is inic. Possibly datg back to the 1930s, this place is the olst ntuoly operatg gay-and-lbian bar the Uned Stat... * east bay gay bars *
A 45-year-old self-intified gay man, Murphy has been g to the Whe Horse for 17 years and workg there, as need, for 16. He the word “fay” a lot his scriptns of the Whe Horse, the putative “olst ntuoly operatg gay and lbian bar the Uned Stat.
The turng pot Stonewall reprents is not when gay Ameri got angry, ’s when straight Ameri started to pay attentn. Gay bars have long been at the center of the movement for equaly. Photo: Cirs WoodMurphy scrib the Whe Horse generally, and gay bars specifilly nearly spirual terms.
”Like Murphy, generatns of Amerins have gone to gay bars to fd and make their own fai. Yet gay bars are closg.
DOORS TO BAY AREA GAY SEX VENU SWG OPEN
Wh everythg om outdoor tiki pat bars to dance clubs, the San Francis Bay Area is one of the bt spots the world for gay bars. * east bay gay bars *
’ Photo urty of The Port BarBut the biggt sgle factor drivg gay bars out of bs is the broar trend of natnal acceptance. Gay bars have bee a sualty of progrs. ”“Dpe the advanc that we have ma terms of our rights, so many people, even around here, grew up hom that were evangelil, or acceptg of other people beg gay but not their kid, ” he said.
Whereas lbians, gays, bisexuals and even trans dividuals of prev generatns hewed largely to genr norms and sexual orthodoxy, younger generatns are ls likely to choose and stick to an early and dividual letter of LGBTQ, and more likely to reach directly for Q, embracg a sort of “etcetera” or “y, and” inty that allows for multiple and more flexible exprsns of self. In the tradnal sense, gay bars may be closg, but the world is also gettg more queer. The more accurate statement is fively gay bars are closg.
Sullivan not that though the gay rights movement was started by queer, trans people of lor, s primary beneficiari — and most equently picted victims — have been cisgenred whe men. Though historians dispute who actually threw the first brick, unlike the fictnal Danny Wters, Johnson was actually Uribe, general manager of Club 21 and Club BNB, two gay nightclubs Oakland. Uribe wants to make sure Club 21 and Club BNB n wele but also expand beyond the queer subcultur most associated wh gay bars — the “typil gogo boys, or high femme female-prentg folks, ” he said — subcultur that still hold to tradnal, if hyperbolic, terpretatns of bars are a place to ask “how n those of who intify as queer or LGBTQ+ be better alli wh the muny?
EAST BAY GAY BARS
”The role, as Uribe se , of gay bars is to expand outward to queer bars, which is to say to a more pletist reprentatn. Gay bars are a place to ask “how n those of who intify as queer or LGBTQ+ be better alli wh the muny? “It’s part of our rponsibily as owners and operators of gay or historilly gay and queer spac to ph the envelope to make sure that we’re evolvg wh our muny.
From historic gay bars to Jack London's favore dive, here's where to drk the past.