Gay bars rema closed Baltimore jt as LGBTQ muny needs them most - The Baltimore Banner

Contents:

• GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE
• THE BEST BALTIMORE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS BALTIMORE
• GAY BARS REMA CLOSED BALTIMORE JT AS LGBTQ MUNY NEEDS THEM MOST
• THERE GO THE GAYBORHOOD
• BT GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE
•  MARYLAND LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS
• GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE
• GAY BALTIMORE : THE CHARM CY – A CHARMG PLACE TO CALL HOME
• MOVG TO LGBT BALTIMORE, MARYLAND? HOW TO FD YOUR PERFECT GAY NEIGHBORHOOD!
• DES OF PA, MISTST AND A SIRE TO SELF-MEDITE LEAD TO HEAVIER DRK POURS AT BALTIMORE GAY BARS
• 'WHERE DO WE GO?' BALTIMORE'S GAY NIGHTLIFE TAK A H WH GRAND CENTRAL'S IMPENDG CLOSURE
• MAPPG THE CLOSG OF GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE
• GAY CISG SPOTS

GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE

C., is a powerhoe of the gay nightlife scene on the East Coast, s unassumg and quirky next-door neighbor promis gay travelers an equally good time.

It's the hometown of inic gay filmmaker John Waters and his drag queen me, Dive, and the Mount Vernon neighborhood is one of the longt-tablished gay districts the untry. If you're on the lookout for somethg different om the stereotypil gay bars, then this cy will likely appeal to you. Some of Baltimore's gay bars have been around for s, and ntue to attract patrons both young and old.

THE BEST BALTIMORE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS BALTIMORE

Mount Vernon is the gay neighborhood Baltimore, and many of the bars are ncentrated around that central area. However, other LGBT spots are sttered throughout the cy and even if you don't go to an explicly gay place, the majory of bars Baltimore nsir themselv gay-iendly.

GAY BARS REMA CLOSED BALTIMORE JT AS LGBTQ MUNY NEEDS THEM MOST

The Drkery: One of Baltimore's olst gay bars, The Drkery has a laid-back pub feel wh daily drk specials and weekend drag shows. The Rowan Tree: A sual neighborhood bar South Baltimore, The Rowan Tree ters to a diverse crowd but leans toward gay ctomers on the weekends. Leon's of Baltimore: A leather bar that's been servg the gay muny Baltimore sce 1957.

In the early years, ctomers were asked if they were a "iend of Dorothy" before enterg, a reference to Judy Garland's "The Wizard of Oz" character and mon lgo om the era to furtively ask if someone is gay. Mastream gay dance clubs are glargly absent the Baltimore area, wh the largt one shut down early 2020. Factory 17: Prevly known—and still sometim referred to—as Club 1722, Factory 17 is the after-hours gay dance club Baltimore.

THERE GO THE GAYBORHOOD

Club Orphs: This unrground dance spot is technilly a self-scribed "goth club, " but the alternative vibe attracts a nsistent gay crowd as well. Baltimore has a long history of beg a gay-iendly town and offers great optns to stay on your vatn. Recent shows clu The Folks at Home, a lighthearted portra of an terracial gay uple livg South Baltimore, and Thoughts of a Colored Man, an hont exploratn of what means to be Black and male the 21st century.

The olst ntuoly operatg gay bar the cy is Leon’s Of Baltimore, which has been open sce 1957. Wh Pri Month celebratns full swg, the fate of Baltimore’s gay bars and nightspots remas uncerta jt as the LGBTQ muny fac a myriad of mountg of the cy’s largt bars and venu — Central and The Manor — rema shuttered, wh no ditn that eher will be open for Pri Week activi this absence of what many ll “safe spac” for LGBTQ members occurs as they and their rights are unr attack by many nservative policians, activists and Knaff, a Harbor East rint and the longtime edor of The Washgton Bla, has been monorg the LGBTQ muny for the past two s. We’ve seen attacks on trans youth and drag queens, along wh book bans and even ‘Don’t say gay’ laws that are ripped om Vladimir Put’s playbook, ” Knaff strsed the sential nature of tablishments centered around LGBTQ clientele.

“We need our own safe spac where we n be ourselv — gay bars are where I me out, where I met close iends and met my future hband.

BT GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE

No reopeng date has been Hay, Central’s owner, did not rpond to repeated msag om The Baltimore Manor’s fate also remas rtrant and nightclub has been “temporarily closed” sce shortly before Christmas due to damage om broken Up for AlertsGet notified of need-to-know om The Banner“At the current time, we do not have an exact reopeng date and we are at the mercy of ntractors, but we are hopeful won’t be much longer until we n reopen, ” said Josh Gay, who -owns the bs. Other plac — such as The Charl Feral Hill and The Brass Tap Statn North — have regular weekend drag shows, which are normally filled to plac like Guilford Brewery regularly offer LGBTQ-themed events, such as drag bnch, gay bgo and karaoke.

”In addn to providg a safe space for patrons, gay bars also offer employment opportuni for LGBTQ workers who might feel ls fortable workg heterosexual World War II, gay bars have served as “havens” for people such as drag performers and bartenrs lookg to make a livg the gay esystem, acrdg to Greggor Mattson, a soclogy profsor at Oberl College and thor of the 2023 book “Who Needs Gay Bars? ”“For people who are very butch women or very femme mal or genr nonbary, gay clubs have been a key place of employment as well as for ctomers to fd ourselv, ” Mattson Beno, a bartenr at Leon’s Backroom, said his bar offers employment opportuni for all people, gay or straight.

”Gay bars fadg away BaltimoreWh the populary of datg apps and the growth of gay nights and clivy at straight tablishments, gay bars Baltimore were already a agile state before COVID-19.

 MARYLAND LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS

(Kal Newman/The Baltimore Banner)On a random weekday night, you’ll be hard-prsed to fd an open, by gay bar Baltimore’s famed “gayborhood” of Mount addn to stapl such as The Manor and Central beg closed, The Drkery, a nearby longstandg gay dive bar that attracts a large Black clientele, is closed on Mondays. “It’s a dyg dtry, ” lamented a veteran bartenr at one of Baltimore’s remag gay bars.

”The cle of gay bars Baltimore do not surprise Mattson, who spent time Charm Cy speakg wh ctomers at a handful of LGBTQ tablishments, many now closed, for his recently published book. “I spect the reason is that ci wh gayborhoods are tourism draws both regnally and natnally.

GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE

Given that Baltimore don’t have a herent gayborhood as much as uld be, uld be losg s regnal tourism to Washgton, D.

GAY BALTIMORE : THE CHARM CY – A CHARMG PLACE TO CALL HOME

Natnally, gay bar bs listgs experienced a 45% cle om 2002 to 2023, acrdg to Mattson. ”The viabily of gay bars has been a recurrg topic of nversatn the social circle of Karl Jabs, a gay bar patron.

Wh The Manor beg closed, there are no queer-owned bars left Mount Vernon, ” said Jabs, a 32-year-old neighborhood rint who has been gog to gay bars for the past two s. ”Brandon Gszczynski, manager of the Baltimore Eagle Bar & Nightclub, said he hop all the gay bars and tablishments rema open — particularly The Manor, which he said attracted “D. Baltimore Eagle, which tradnally has attracted members of the leather muny, has tried everythg n to keep patrons g out, addg go-go boy nights, bookg a slew of “RuPl’s Drag Race” nttants, and hostg parti for gay athletic teams, but ’s jt not drawg the same number of ctomers as a few years ago.

MOVG TO LGBT BALTIMORE, MARYLAND? HOW TO FD YOUR PERFECT GAY NEIGHBORHOOD!

Grdano/for The Baltimore Banner)Drag queens scrambleDrag performers have been particularly h by the mise of gay bars and bars were closed bee of social distancg l, they had to fd alternative ways to perform via outdoor spac or virtually. ”Rose attributed the lack of lbian bars to a variety of reasons, cludg sexism and the patriarchy that affects everythg om small bs loans to leas; the wage gap between men and women and straight women and queer women; the fact that women have never owned as much real tate as men; gayborhoods tradnally centerg around men; unclear succsn plans for bars se of ath and illns; and the populary of onle socializatn. “They are welg to everyone, but they still manage to prerve their queer flavor, ” he said, addg that 60% of LGBTQ bars now ter to all Beno, 36, is an art profsor and bartenr at Leon’s, one of the natn’s olst gay bars.

(Kal Newman/The Baltimore Banner)Straight spac beg more cliveAs gay bars and venu have closed and straight bars have started offerg gay nights, events have bee much more mixed.

Gay bars are often open on holidays bee they know that there are some people that have no place to go. “I wonr if those plac serve as polil hubs for activism as gay bars have been historilly? “Gay bars have been plac for philanthropy, for everythg om fundraisg for burial expens to genr-affirmatn surgery.

DES OF PA, MISTST AND A SIRE TO SELF-MEDITE LEAD TO HEAVIER DRK POURS AT BALTIMORE GAY BARS

”Huffman qutned the motiv of some straight tablishments offerg gay-themed events. “Years ago, gay bars were safe zon when gays were fear of beg beat up, ” says Don Davis, who owned Grand Central for nearly 30 years until new owners took over earlier this year.

'WHERE DO WE GO?' BALTIMORE'S GAY NIGHTLIFE TAK A H WH GRAND CENTRAL'S IMPENDG CLOSURE

Beyond matchmakg webs and LGBTQ-iendly datg apps, the movement to legalize same-sex marriage 2015 also played a part curtailg gay-bar bs. “Most of the owners of the bs were olr, whe gay men that entered to their goln years, ” says Shele Greene of the Pri Center of Maryland. “I’m not sayg there’s no more gay-bashg, but certaly people are more cent now than they were.

MAPPG THE CLOSG OF GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE

“Whether was Grdr or gentrifitn that killed gay bars, ’s our job to explore new optns, ” Keens says.

GAY CISG SPOTS

While bars historilly have served as social hubs for the LGBTQ+ muny, they’re not the only venue to make nnectns for LGBTQ+ Baltimoreans, who have fed their own spac for support on hikg trails, at climbg gyms and ffee Stonewall Uprisg, which unfold over multiple days 1969 after New York Cy Police raid a gay bar lled the Stonewall Inn, is creded wh lnchg the gay rights movement to the mastream the Uned Stat. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun)In Baltimore, some LGBTQ+ tablishments, cludg Leon’s, a Mount Vernon waterg hole that bills self as the cy’s olst ntuoly open gay bar, The Drkery, also Mount Vernon, and the Baltimore Eagle rema open. “The muny was already there, ” said McMichael, who is gay and who believ climbg jiv wh the experience of beg queer.

“What about the [person] that jt found out that they’re gay, but maybe don’t drk?

Where do they go to meet other gay people and learn about what means to be a queer person? It is not always easy to fd a gay bar where you n get fortable and feel at home.