The number of gay bars has dwdled. A new generatn plans to brg them back. - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• BLAGG - BAR LBIAN AND GAY GROUP
• THE NUMBER OF GAY BARS HAS DWDLED. A NEW GENERATN PLANS TO BRG THEM BACK.
• THE PANMIC IS HURTG GAY AND LBIAN BARS. THE NSEQUENC FOR THE MUNY ULD BE VASTATG
• WT HOLLYWOOD’S HISTORIC GAY NIGHTCLUB THE ABBEY IS UP FOR SALE
• A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
• A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

BLAGG - BAR LBIAN AND GAY GROUP

Hassan Khan and Claire Fox, Co-Chairs of the Bar Lbian and Gay Group, on expandg the rem of BLAGG. Is OK to be Gay at the Bar?

In 2011, we beme -chairs of the Bar Lbian and Gay Group (BLAGG) which was formed 1994 by a group of stunts at the Inns of Court School of Law. BLAGG’s primary aim is to support lbians, gay men, bisexual and transgenr members, at whatever stage they are the profsn, whether or not they are ‘out’ or if they simply wish to socialise and meet fellow members of the Bar. In the recent survey, Barristers’ Workg Liv, 3% of male rponnts stated that they were gay, 1% of women stated that they were gay/lbian, and 2% of rponnts said they were bisexual.

THE NUMBER OF GAY BARS HAS DWDLED. A NEW GENERATN PLANS TO BRG THEM BACK.

This n be pared wh the projected percentage of gay people the UK populatn which is around 6%. Recently we spoke to stunts at the pupillage fair, some of whom exprsed ncern that beg gay would prent a barrier to g to the Bar. Common qutns clud whether reference should be ma a CV or at terview to beg volved a ‘gay’ anisatn.

THE PANMIC IS HURTG GAY AND LBIAN BARS. THE NSEQUENC FOR THE MUNY ULD BE VASTATG

It is not that LGBT people enterg the profsn as pupils or tenants wish to shout out ‘I am gay’ om the rooftops, rather they wish to be secure the belief that if their sexualy is revealed, will not be a reason to discrimate agast them the selectn procs or lead to the ncln that they were not ‘the right f’ for chambers. Hassan Khan, 4 Paper Buildgs and Claire Fox, Renaissance Chambers, Co-Chairs of the Bar Lbian and Gay Group. BLAGG - Bar Lbian and Gay Group.

In a New York Tim article explorg the importance of longstandg gay rtrants, several queer rtratrs and ders talk about what gay rtrants mean to them. ” In New York Cy, where gay rtrants have been thrivg for s, Elmo Chelsea has served up two s of lively unwaverg iendls to the muny as a favore neighborhood hnt.

This Pri month, take a moment to nsir supportg your lol gay rtrant when choosg to de out. In New Orleans, a group of queer activists created a mil, Alleged Lbian Activi, spired by speakg wh olr gay and lbian bar patrons about their experienc dyke bars s before.

WT HOLLYWOOD’S HISTORIC GAY NIGHTCLUB THE ABBEY IS UP FOR SALE

“Gay men have always had more money to spend, and often, a more public-facg social life—the lbian potluck tradn was real, ” Brown-Saraco says. “Pl, LBQT dividuals raise kids greater numbers than gay men, which impacts their availabily for nighttime bar socializg.

Gay and lbian bars that ntue to thrive are on that are open and welg to people of all genrs and sexual orientatns. The Lbian Bar Project mpaign 2020 found that there are only 21 remag bars the Uned Stat that are dited to women and nonbary people the LGBTQ muny — pared to around 1, 000 bars for gay men and male-clive O'Connell, -publisher of the lol LGBTQ magaze Bay Wdows, said that many of the lbian bars that were popular Massachetts earlier years have sce shut down. Some of those plac clu Somewhere Else Boston’s Fancial District, along wh the Marquee Cambridge, Sneakers Somerville and Fran’s Place Lynn, which was the first gay bar Massachetts.

A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

Bounce closed 2017, and hundreds of other gay bars have shut down, too. A group is planng a lbian and queer “clubhoe” Los Angel, and an “old-school gay girl” Norfolk plans to reopen the lbian bar she found four s ago. Pike and McDaniel know openg a bar durg a panmic may be risky, but they say they’ve learned one thg om years of visg and workg other queer tablishments: If they want to survive, they first have to build a better and more clive than a barThe gay bar was long the ma, and sometim only, space where queer people uld gather.

A few opened quietly the early 1930s, then after World War II, hundreds more began servg gay men and women. About 200 of those tered to, like Hershee Bar Norfolk, opened when their stat had laws that prohibed bar owners om employg gay people or creatg gatherg spots for them. She mentored foster children whose parents had kicked them out, and every Thanksgivg, she threw a dner for people whose fai didn’t accept 1987, Norfolk had four or five gay bars, and the number natnwi peaked at more than 1, 700.

Many stayed open through the 1990s, but the early 2000s, hundreds of gay bars started to close.

A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

Those servg lbians and people of lor were h all gay bar listgs cled by 37 percent between 2007 and 2019, the number of queer bars servg people of lor cled by 59 percent, and bars for lbians cled by 52 percent, Mattson Francis lost the Lexgton Club, and Rubyu Jungle shut s doors New Orleans.

Still, Mattson has found two prevailg factors — the rise of datg apps and a growg acceptance of gay people.

“Gay bars were never jt hookup plac, but they were plac to meet other LGBTQ+ people, and now that you n meet them om your bedroom or while you’re wag for the b, that has taken away some of gay bars’ monopoly on beg the place where you fd other LGBTQ+ folks, ” he bars are also no longer the only place some queer people, pecially Whe and cisgenr men, feel safe. “I thk this is highly uneven, ” Mattson said, “but for gay, Whe, middle-class people like myself, any bar feels like a gay bar if you show up wh six iends.