A ‘fotten tragedy’ at a New Orleans gay bar and a new effort to honor victims’ remas | PBS NewsHour

Contents:

• THE HISTORY OF HOW GAY BARS BEME THE BATTLEGROUND FOR LGBTQ+ RIGHTS
•  MICHIGAN LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS
• A ‘FOTTEN TRAGEDY’ AT A NEW ORLEANS GAY BAR AND A NEW EFFORT TO HONOR VICTIMS’ REMAS
• BT GAY BARS BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN
• TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON’T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER’S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT
• THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI
• 'IN FDG EACH OTHER WE STARTED VELOPG POWER': A LOOK AT MIDWT’S LARGT GAY BAR
• HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE
• BEYOND STONEWALL: HOW GAY HISTORY LOOKS DIFFERENT FROM CHIGO
• 'LIVG JOYOLY IS A RADIL ACT': WHY AMERI'S GAY BARS STILL MATTER

THE HISTORY OF HOW GAY BARS BEME THE BATTLEGROUND FOR LGBTQ+ RIGHTS

Although is nice to thk of gay bars as unanimoly safe plac, where the LGBTQ+ muny uld exist whout threat, that clearly wasn’t always the se. ” 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.

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

“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. This month pecially, ’s important to remember the signifince of the gay bar as an Amerin in, as somethg fiant and revolutnary— the most grassroots sense of the word. 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.

NEW ORLEANS – For nearly a half-century, the remas of gay World War II veteran Ferris LeBlanc have been hidn away an overgrown potter’s field on the far east si of New Orleans. Fifteen people, mostly men, were also jured at the popular New Orleans gay bar, which served as one of the cy’s ma LGBTQ safe spac at the time.

A ‘FOTTEN TRAGEDY’ AT A NEW ORLEANS GAY BAR AND A NEW EFFORT TO HONOR VICTIMS’ REMAS

“The entire intifitn [of the remas] was summarily dismissed by cy ernment bee they simply did not want to go through the effort of notifyg his fay and also bee they simply didn’t re about another ad gay man, ” Morrell said. Robert Fieler, journalist and thor of “Trbox: The Untold Story of the UpStairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberatn, ” chronicled the tragic event not jt his book but to the cy uncil and “anyone who would listen.

His book tails the aftermath of the fire, which was no ls trmatic – fai ashamed to claim loved on, the church this eply Catholic cy refg proper burial rights, and a botched vtigatn all reflected a world of toxic prejudice and rampant homophobia that thrived after the fire. He tracked down survivors of the fire and relativ and iends of those killed to pile an acunt of a fotten moment gay history his book, “Let the Faggots Burn: The UpStairs Lounge Fire. Whether you ll yourself boi, bear, bisexual, daddy, male, guy, woman, gay, fem, alternative, transgenr, man, female, gal, cross drser, lbian, girl, leather, gurl, transsexual, qutng, drag queen, cur, boy, butch, homosexual, drag kg, or simply human - where to fd a fun place to meet or scene to ee your life.

BT GAY BARS BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN

Travel om north, central, south, wt, east, cy, downtown, untry, midtown, or uptown - drivg directns om your addrs to the lotn of the new Battle Creek, Michigan gay waterg hole. Conversely, there are plenty of seemgly badass rap lyrics that, upon closer examatn, turn out to be unrwhelmg, nonsensil, or jt untentnally and spectacularly gay. Rhymg "I go niggas' mouths" (as , "I enjoy havg oral sex wh men") wh "I stretch a nigga out" ("anal too") may be the most terrifyg homosexual boast history.

TEXAS JUDGE WHO DON’T WANT TO PERFORM GAY MARRIAGE CEREMONI HOP WEB SIGNER’S SUPREME COURT SE HELPS HER FIGHT

If nobody knows your alternate meang when you say "I'll give this faggot a French kiss, " they are forced to assume you simply mean you'll give that homosexual a tongue bath. Acrdg to the Texas judicial missn’s 2019 warng, Hensley referred gay upl who wanted her to pri over their marriage ceremony to other people who would officiate.

THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI

—Alfonso Fernanz NavasCourtyAt: Cheer Up CharliBack when I was a young gay, I saw the olt, most betiful woman the world at Cheer Up Charli. When the bar fally reopened Sprg 2022, an entire borough’s worth of gays celebrated by floodg the new back pat all summer and Gger’s has been crowd wh queers ever sce. It began s life as a beer-and-we offshoot of the Metropolan Health Club, a gym that opened 1983 to serve the gay ctomers who’d been bullied out of other lol clubs at the height of AIDS hysteria.

'IN FDG EACH OTHER WE STARTED VELOPG POWER': A LOOK AT MIDWT’S LARGT GAY BAR

While you won’t fd any Pri flags at Farraguts, you will undoubtedly hear Cele Dn and Melissa Etheri blarg om the bar’s dty, old jebox and, hontly, isn’t that jt as gay? CourtyDallas: Round-Up SaloonEqual parts wboy boots and dis ball, Round Up Saloon opened 42 years ago Dallas as a gay untry wtern dance hall. Live out your Brokeback Mounta fantasi at this verno club, where wboy stum are not nsired drag, and le dancg is not an explic exprsn of homophobia.

A gay gatherg spot sce 1939, and gay bar sce 1963, and the Bar Complex sce the 80s, s unassumg exterr beli a triple-threat treat of lounge, performance space, and a mirrored dance club reportedly moled after Stud 54. ) The glorly lively bar and rtrant scene is enhanced by a black box theater downstairs, where farcil plays, lbian standup, and gay dance troup reign. If you want to get away om the typil scene at fellow gay bars Olly’s and Gregs Our Place, English Ivy is an ial place to meet iends: mature enough for a proper Ladi Lunch (or bnch or dner.

They are stars the makg and their rendn of Cele Dn’s “It’s All Comg Back to Me Now” will shatter your pt glass and break your ltle, gay heart.

HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE

It’s not a gay bar the tradnal sense, but a place where traed pianists play selectns om Broadway shows and all of the drama teachers and mil theater majors of the tri-state area nverge to sg along. It was the se of an early gay-liberatn “sip ” 1966, years before Stonewall, and has been a low-key haven ever sce, wh a diverse clientele, a small menu, classic cktails, and an extensive (and packed) 4:00-7:00 happy hour. The origal was burned down an anti-gay hate-crime a few years back, but the revival has jt opened across the street and is bigger and better, wh a new performance space.

CourtyWashgton DC: TraIn a town where n feel like every other bar is crawlg wh Capol Hill staffers lookg to talk shop, Tra is the rare, glorly gay dive where absolutely everyone is wele to jt kick back. Sitrack has been ont and center as a fundraiser, donor and anizer for LGBTQ 15, 000 square feet spanng two stori and more than eight storeonts, Sitrack is believed to be the largt gay bar the Midwt. ” That was s only plard – along wh a gay slur, which some hospable neighbor had graffied on the ont door as a wele gift li of the ctomary baked then, Chigo’s Boystown neighborhood – which recently changed s name to “Northalsted” – was a rough-and-tumble area blighted by gangs and crime.

Then, a ar iend me to them wh a novel ia: He wanted to open the Midwt’s first gay “vio bar, ” and he wanted Peña to n for vios were jt begng to arrive on the scene – MTV buted 1981 – so Peña had to create many of the vios himself by aggregatg tertg visuals om films and settg them to popular mic. As part of her “Save Our Children” csa, anti-gay activist Ana Bryant waged a succsful mpaign to overturn a Da County, Florida, ordance prohibg discrimatn based on sexual orientatn.

BEYOND STONEWALL: HOW GAY HISTORY LOOKS DIFFERENT FROM CHIGO

When she vised Chigo a week later, she was greeted by 5, 000 members of the LGBTQ muny who had turned out to prott – cludg Johnston and Peña, who were so spired that they subsequently joed efforts to secure passage of the Chigo Human Rights Ordance, a landmark law protectg lbians, gay men and bisexuals om discrimatn hog, employment and public 2022:LGBTQ fns every ally should know for Pri Month (and all year long)'Stand ' support:How one TikTok vio started a movement to help LGBTQ upl on their weddg day“Bee Chigo is a Catholic cy, people thought we’d never be able to pass a basic gay rights ordance here.

:Divi worsens after 'Don't Say Gay, ' report saysSomehow, someway, Sitrack has survived you ask Johnston and Peña, they’ll attribute their longevy to good fortune. But between New York’s LGBT muny the 1960s beg forced to live on the outskirts of society and the Mafia’s disregard for the law, the two ma a profable, if uneasy, the gay muny blossomed New York Cy the 1960s, members had few plac to gather publicly. Unr the guise of New York State’s liquor laws that barred “disorrly” premis, the State Liquor Authory and the New York Police Department regularly raid bars that tered to gay the law saw viance, however, the Mafia saw a goln bs opportuny.

“Fat Tony, ” purchased the Stonewall Inn 1966 and transformed om a bar and rtrant that attracted straight clientele to a gay bar and nightclub.

'LIVG JOYOLY IS A RADIL ACT': WHY AMERI'S GAY BARS STILL MATTER

It was the only place where gay people uld openly dance close together, and for relatively ltle money, drag queens (who received a bter receptn at other bars), naways, homels LGBT youths and others uld be off the streets as long as the bar was open. “Fat Tony, ” for one, paid New York’s 6th Precct approximately $1, 200 a week, exchange for the police agreeg to turn a bld eye to the “cent nduct” occurrg behd closed Photo<em>An NYPD officer grabs someone by their hair as another officer clubs a young man durg a nontatn Greenwich Village after a Gay Power march New York, 1970.

David Carter explas his book Stonewall: The Rts That Sparked the Gay Revolutn, that durg a typil raid, bar owners would change the lights om blue to whe, warng ctomers to stop dancg and drkg. Sometim the ps even went to the extreme measure of sendg female officers to the bathroom to verify people’s get around laws that prohibed servg alhol to LGBT patrons, many gay bars—cludg the Stonewall—operated ostensibly as “bottle bars, ” private clubs where members would brg their own alhol.

Apparently, too many high-powered dividuals—cludg Mafia members, police officers and big Hollywood nam—were implited as Stonewall Inn is a bar loted New York Cy’s Greenwich Village that served as a haven the 1960s for the cy’s gay, lbian and transgenr muny. At the time, homosexual acts remaed illegal every state except Illois, and bars and rtrants uld get shut down for havg gay employe or servg gay patrons.