In honor of Pri Month, take a ep dive to 200+ years of gay bar history and how they paved the way for the LGBTQ rights movement.
Contents:
- THE HISTORY OF HOW GAY BARS BEME THE BATTLEGROUND FOR LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
- THE SLI AND THE EXCISE: NYC’S MOST NOTOR 19TH CENTURY GAY BARS
- A PEEK UNR THE TOWEL: INSI THE 500-YEAR HISTORY OF GAY BATHHO
- HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI
- KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
- GAY RIGHTS
THE HISTORY OF HOW GAY BARS BEME THE BATTLEGROUND FOR LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
* gay bar 1800s *
Durg the “Pansy Craze” om the 1920s until 1933, people the lbian, gay, bi, trans and queer (LGBTQ) muny were performg on stag ci around the world, and New York Cy’s Greenwich Village, Tim Square and Harlem held some of the most world-renowned drag performanc of the time. “They didn’t see a nflict between not beg openly gay at work and sort of only beg gay durg their leisure time, ” says Heap, addg that a person’s class was likely ditive of how you might participate gay and lbian culture at the time.
“The were moments when workg class gay men and women uld more eely explore their sexualy, sir, and terts cross drsg, but probably no doctor or lawyer is gog to drs up drag at the events, out of risk of beg exposed. Prohibn was repealed, and the New York State Liquor laws were updated to serve alhol only plac that were “orrly”, which didn’t apparently clu gay and lbian nightclubs.
THE SLI AND THE EXCISE: NYC’S MOST NOTOR 19TH CENTURY GAY BARS
The story of LGBTQ Seattle is over 130 years the makg. In the 1880s same-sex relatns were of ltle ncern to most rints. Later, 1893, they were clared a crime, and the late 1960s, activists polilly anized around same-sex timacy. Gay Seattle fought for … * gay bar 1800s *
” In the mid ‘30s, productn s were put to effect that rtricted and prevented performanc of openly gay characters film or theater, and the followg s, thoands of LGBTQ people were arrted post WWII for equentg their own clubs. ” 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. “ orr to tablish 'good e' for spensn of platiff's license, somethg more mt be shown than that many of his patrons were homosexuals and that they ed his rtrant and bar as a meetg place.
Jt as did California, this state law was short lived, wh urts eventually led that gays uld ‘peacefully’ assemble at bars, which paved the way for the inic Stonewall Inn to open 1967. “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.
Whether you are a member of the LGBTQ+ muny, work at a gay bar, are an ally the dtry, or if you plan on celebratg this June, jt remember the bars and people who helped make all possible.
A PEEK UNR THE TOWEL: INSI THE 500-YEAR HISTORY OF GAY BATHHO
Durg Prohibn, gay nightlife and culture reached new heights—at least temporarily. * gay bar 1800s *
While you n’t tst police blotters and moraly csars to give an accurate pictn of what The Sli was tly like, an attempt to peel back the hyperbole provis a sight that would rival the bawdit gay bars of today’s Hell’s Kchen.
HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI
Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. * gay bar 1800s *
While you n’t tst police blotters and moraly csars to give an accurate pictn of what The Sli was tly like, an attempt to peel back the hyperbole provis a sight that would rival the bawdit gay bars of Hell’s Kchen.
Dpe survivg 100 years of police harassment, though, the gay bathho of New York Cy uldn’t survive the homophobia of Mayor Ed Koch, who shut most of them down durg the HIV epimic. Transient male-male timacy was not necsarily labeled as gay or homosexual by ntemporari, but was stead seen as a threat to the ials of a heteronormative fay and Christian valu of Seattle’s moral guardians. Although gay dividuals lived ral areas, ci provid opportuni for men and women to pe the supervisn of their fai and neighbors, allowg for the possibily of formg distct inti, muni, and cultur.
KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
Many men wh homosexual tennci met one another the service and went and out of major port ci that had visible and veloped gay subcultur, while women wh sexual tert othe women uld meet wartime factori.
GAY RIGHTS
While not every tavern was genr-tegrated, gay men and lbians largely belonged to the same muny and uld feel fortable visg tablishments that might ter to the oppose sex, as they had durg the Great Deprsn.
Drag performanc quickly beme a central feature of the gay muny, first appearg vville performanc as early as 1898, when the natnally regnized female impersonator Edward Stewart performed a Seattle Theater productn of 1492.
The Garn of Allah, a gay baret loted on First Avenue between Universy and Sene Streets that opened 1946, beme a central venue for drag performanc the postwar perd.