The downtown nightclub, loted at 18 E Universy Ave, beme Gaville’s first gay club after openg s doors more than 30 years ago. It’s wily regnized as the heart of Gaville’s LGBTQ+ nightlife.
Contents:
- PANSY CRAZE: THE WILD 1930S DRAG PARTI THAT KICKSTARTED GAY NIGHTLIFE
- WHY ARE PEOPLE SO SURPRISED THAT LTLE CHILDREN WERE ENTERTAED BY DRAG QUEENS A GAY BAR?
PANSY CRAZE: THE WILD 1930S DRAG PARTI THAT KICKSTARTED GAY NIGHTLIFE
Early drag queens like Jean Mal helped bohemian gay culture thrive – before mob vlence, Nazism and Hollywood homophobia drove back unrground<br><br> * drag queens gay clubs *
The cy already had a number of gay-iendly bars, cludg Pfaff’s Beer Cellar (favoured by Walt Whman) and the Sli, which Joseph Pulzer’s New York Eveng World labelled “morally the lowt New York, Paris, London or Berl”. ” In Berl, you uld hear sgers performg Das Lila Lied (The Lavenr Song), one of the earlit songs to celebrate homosexualy.
“This song beme the gay anthem of the time and still has stat today, ” says sger Ute Lemper.
WHY ARE PEOPLE SO SURPRISED THAT LTLE CHILDREN WERE ENTERTAED BY DRAG QUEENS A GAY BAR?
* drag queens gay clubs *
At Club Abbey, Mal dched the drs and revented himself as a high-mp, waspish, obvly gay man – and was this that sgled him out. “What was novel is that he did not brg a drag act to the club, but stead performed elegant men’s clothg, and brought wh him the mp w of the gay subculture, ” explas LGBT historian JD Doyle. Photograph: Brigte DummerBut Paris had a reputatn for s laissez-faire attu, and queer performers were enuraged by the succs enjoyed the cy by Amerin performers cludg bisexual dancer Josephe Baker and gay trapeze artist Barbette.
The bawdy, openly gay Pl O’Montis died the Sachsenhsen mp, jt 25 north of the stag he once mand. Wh the Hays Co effectively banng Hollywood om portrayg homosexual characters (or “attemptg to keep the dual-sex boys and lbos out of films” as Variety put ), and war Europe on the horizon, the LGBT performers who had domated nightlife for more than a were driven back unrground.