Is Dupont Circle still the center and safe space for LGBTQ life Washgton, D.C.? By Mil O'Reilly, Jed Sammons, Tara Suter and Hope Talbert In June 2016, after a gunman massacred 49 people si an Orlando gay bar—the adlit act of anti-LGBTQ vlence Amerin history—hundreds of people poured to Washgton D.C.’s Dupont Circle…
Contents:
- THE GAY LIFE AT DUPONT CIRCLE
- D.C. NO LONGER HAS A CENTRAL GAY NEIGHBORHOOD. DO THAT MATTER?
- THE GAY WAY: HISTORY OF LBIAN BARS SOUTHEAST WASHGTON, D.C.
- WASHGTON DC GAY DISTRICT: DUPONT CIRCLE
THE GAY LIFE AT DUPONT CIRCLE
Dupont Circle is a place where femists first fought, gay rints felt weled, palist entreprenrs embraced novatn, and the cuttg-edge, progrsive thkers of the cy gathered. Activist Dean Maccubb opened Earthworks, a craft store and "headshop" that was the cy's first openly gay bs that wasn't a bar. Earthworks beme a center for the gay muny.
Maccubb expand the bs to open Lambda Risg, which he advertised as "The Largt Lbian and Gay Liberatn Bookstore the U. The neighborhood was also home to The Gay Bla newspaper (now lled Washgton Bla, ) and off our backs, a lbian femist publitn. Maccubb anized Gay Pri Day June 1975, a small muny gatherg that grew every year.
Wh ltle dispute, this area of small shops and old brick townho around the tersectn Connticut and Massachetts Avenu NW has bee the cy's mec for gays of both sex; at least as a place to live. For the third straight year, Washgton area gays held a Gay Pri Day block party the Dupont Circle area last Sunday.
D.C. NO LONGER HAS A CENTRAL GAY NEIGHBORHOOD. DO THAT MATTER?
Both gays and straights say the lotn was not chosen by accint.
Dupont Circle, they say, is whout the tensns or smirks or rentments sometim found such other gay enclav as Capol Hill and South wt. Gay Dupont Circlers say that is te bee they have proven to potentially negative "straight" bs and landlords that, wh one paramount exceptn, they are jt like everyone else. Hell, we're mol cizens, " said Arthur Ltle, a gay who liv on 19th Street NW.
Straights say they get along wh neighborhood gays bee the gays tend to be employed, tend to be stable, tend to spend money the neighborhood and tend to provi street safety a cur sort of way.
THE GAY WAY: HISTORY OF LBIAN BARS SOUTHEAST WASHGTON, D.C.
"The gays are always walkg around, and they're sred away all the muggers. " Tolerance between gays and straights was documented earlier this month when gays passed a petn around the 1700 block of 20th Street NW. They were planng the cy's third annual Gay Pri Day, all of which have been held near Dupont Circle.
Before the police would agree to seal off the 20th Street block for this year's party, the gays had to get wrten approval om at least 51 per cent of the people livg or dog bs there. "More than I expected, " said Richard McGnis, manager of the gay Lambda Risg bookstore around the rner. Last Sunday, at the party self, attend by more then 2, 000 gays, all but three of 30 celebrants terviewed said they lived wh eight blocks of the party se.
Still, a gay e n quickly bee a neighborhood e. Soon after Ana Bryant's recent victory a Miami homosexual rights referendum, most of the rtrants around Dupont Circle agreed - some whout proddg - to stop servg the Florida orange juice Bryant advertis.
WASHGTON DC GAY DISTRICT: DUPONT CIRCLE
Gays have plac they equent around Dupont Circle, such as the Paramount Steak Hoe on 17th Street and Mr. Gays have also tablished "The Black Fort, " a grove of tre near P Street Rock Creek Psrk where a gay n meet another. But gays are also good ctomers of bs that serve everyone.