Kev Maxen be first male ach a US men’s pro sports league to publicly e out as gay | CNN

Contents:

• ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER
• HOW GAY BARS HAVE BEEN A BUILDG BLOCK OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNY
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• THE GAY ‘SIP-IN’ THAT DREW OM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TO FIGHT DISCRIMATN
• GAY CLUBS
• THE BEST MUNICH GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MUNICH
• GAY

ABOUT THE CENTERSCE 1983 THE CENTER HAS BEEN SUPPORTG, FOSTERG AND CELEBRATG THE LGBT MUNY OF NEW YORK CY. FD MORE RMATN ON AND OUR WORK ABOUT THE CENTER. VIS ABOUT THE CENTEROUR MISSNCYBER CENTERCENTER HISTORYRACE EQUYMEDIA CENTERLEARSHIP & STAFFEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNICORPORATE PARTNERSHIPSANNUAL REPORTS & FANCIAL INFORMATNCONTACT USHOURS & LOTNSEMAPSUPPORT THE CENTER

Insi The Monster, a gay bar around the rner om Stonewall, where the event played out on vio screens, was difficult to hear for a different reason.

But the muny and mararie ma the bar’s buzz of activy special, and (thankfully) ordary: Space to socialize and celebrate at a gay bar 2016 isn’t hard to fd. Dpe the massive stris the lbian, gay, transgenr, bisexual, and queer muni have ma the last few s, the shockg horror of the weekend’s shootgs ma clear the ntued relevance and importance of the bars and nightclubs. While the protts and march at The Stonewall Inn turned the bar to a symbolic headquarters for the Gay Pri movement, gay nightlife has always served as val space for muny buildg and pg societal persecutn.

HOW GAY BARS HAVE BEEN A BUILDG BLOCK OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNY

The people behd the plac have sparked polil activism (Joe Scialo, the late former owner of The Monster, supported employe the ‘80s fightg AIDS and even traveled to Mexi to brg back life-savg dgs) and have fostered mic and creative exprsn for s (gay clubs such as the Warehoe Chigo and Paradise Garage New York gave birth to hoe and var stras of electronic mic). The worldwi ralli honorg the Orlando victims, often at plac siar to where their liv were cut short, unrsr the importance of gay nightlife over the last half century.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Jt a ltle more than 60 years ago, famo police raids Miami attempted to shut down the cy’s gay nightlife, rultg newspaper headl such as "Perverts Seized Bar Raids, " "Crackdown on Deviant Nts Urged, " and "Great Civilizatns Plagued by Deviat. The notor "Purple Pamphlets" dissemated by state Senator Charley Johns, who had led wch hunts agast gays state ernment and led vtigative mte that fired hundreds of gay schoolteachers, portrayed the culture as viant and dangero. But wasn’t until the seismic shift of World War II changed gay culture the Uned Stat that the bars and nightlife of today began to tly take shape.

While on s own the war didn't create any lastg legal chang the shameful way the untry treated homosexuals, did set motn other lastg social shifts.

THE GAY ‘SIP-IN’ THAT DREW OM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TO FIGHT DISCRIMATN

The sgle-sex arrangement of ary life, as well as creasg pennce (and enomic advanc) of women workg on the homeont, offered many gay Amerins the abily to ngregate greater numbers for the first time.

The release of the Ksey Reports (1948’s Sexual Behavr the Human Male and 1953’s Sexual Behavr the Human Female) rerced the then-new notn that beg gay was perfectly normal.

GAY CLUBS

While this risg awarens helped create new gay rights anizatns, such as the Mattache Society and the Dghters of Bilis, was quickly untered wh a nservative backlash of nformy and Communist paranoia, exemplified by Senator Joseph McCarthy. His vtigatns, part of an anti-gay wch hunt the feral ernment lled the Lavenr Sre, would persecute leftists for years, and along wh sual bigotry and wispread amement over terms such as ‘pixie, ’ would help falsely lk beg gay wh viance and anti-Amerin behavr the popular imagatn.

THE BEST MUNICH GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MUNICH

At the same time, he ntued, popular culture was "pollutg homosexualy" by labelg gays cultural subversiv, child molters, predators, and disease sprears. In Provcetown, Massachetts, the A-Hoe, a gay hangout, beme one of the landmarks of the northeastern vatn muny, famo for a nu photo of Tennsee Williams strollg a lol beach hangg on the wall.

The Cab Inn, opened by Nat "Big" Ivy Chigo’s South Si Bronzeville neighborhood, put on regular drag shows featurg a chos le of black men, while Esta Noche, a pneerg Missn District gay bar, opened for a predomantly Hispanic clientele 1979.

Margalized much like their clientele, gay bars were often forced to set root unrveloped, or dtrial sectns of town, or well off the beaten path ral areas. Durg the ‘50s and ‘60s, ps nstantly harassed LGBTQ tablishments, pullg cisers up near the entrance to disurage anyone om gog si, parkg police wagons ont of the door durg equent raids, and even sendg unrver ps to try and get someone to h on them—a daily occurrence every bar, gay or straight—which would trigger a lewd nduct charge.

GAY

In Eric Marc’s book, Makg History, Shirley Willer, a gay civil rights activist, rells a night she spent tryg to fd a bar lled Seven Seas on Chigo’s Rh Street. By 1964, when Bob Damron’s Addrs Book, a self-published gay travel gui, was first issued, ntaed more than 750 bars, rtrants, and clubs across the untry, all personally vised by the thor, a bsman who was equently on the road. Outsi of the work of early gay civil rights activists, LGBTQ culture was margalized and often ignored, and rarely enterg the polil bate outsi of lls for a crackdown.