Gay Bars going the way of the Dinosaur and the Pay Phone?

[+ purplekow]

http://smallbusiness.aol.com/features/10-businesses-facing-extinction

 

Gay Bars were right in the middle of a list of 10 businesses likely to be extinct in 10 years. The article suggests this is due to greater acceptance of gay people in society and therefore a lesser need for gay watering holes. Is the internet the new gay pick up bar and as a result, will the old ones close down? Doesn't anyone want to go where everyone knows your name? (or at least the alias you use at gay bars.)

 

 

I have never seen a purplekow;

I never hope to see one;

I can tell you anyhow;

I'd rather see than be one

 

Help there is a purplekow in my mirror

[Guest tuesclavo]

>The article suggests this

>is due to greater acceptance of gay people in society and

>therefore a lesser need for gay watering holes.

 

Well, don't tell that to Josie Smith-Malave from Top Chef who was chased out of a bar last month in Long Island, NY of all places for dancing with another woman, and then beaten by 10 bar patrons, who then went back into the bar to finish their drinks while the cops outside non-chalantly took down Josie's complaint.

 

Also, even if you're not worried about taking your life in your hands in a str8 bar, you're chances of finding a bed warmer there are slim.

 

Nevertheless, the article assumedly is based on real numbers, so there must be some reason. Maybe it is the internet, but why wouldn't it also be true then for str8 bars?

 

Interesting post. We must resolve this important condundrum, Mr. Kow.

[seaboy4hire]

Speaking for myself I don't enjoy bars in general any more. I'm at a stage in my life where drinking, bad music and the foul attitudes are not fun any more. I find it more enjoyable grabbing coffee with a few friends chatting it up with them or just staying home and listening to great music (jazz old old old school r&b and you know who) that I enjoy. During my last two trips Indy and Memphis I didn't go out to the bars at all and I'm ok with that.

 

Hugs,

Greg

seaboy4hire@yahoo.com

http://seaboy4hire.tripod.com http://www.daddysreviews.com/newest.php?who=greg_seattle

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/6707/lebec084a9ad147f620acd5ps8.jpg

Indianapolis Sept. 26, Memphis Sept 28-30, 2007

[Guest ncm2169]

< Is the internet the new gay pick up bar

 

Yes, and not just for gays either. My roomie (also an escort) has totally adjusted his 24/7 pursuit of pussy from clubs, etc., to an online pursuit through the various sex hook-up sites. He reports that he's never been more successful. :9

 

Like everything else, the internet has changed our lives in very short order. :7

[+ Lucky]

RE: Gay Bars going the way of the Pay Phone?

 

If gay bars depended on me for their business, they would go defunct very soon! I only patronize bars with go-go boys or strippers!

[Louis]

RE: Gay Bars going the way of the Pay Phone?

 

I never cared for the atmosphere in most bars that I was in. Just too loud. When I was younger it was not uncommon for a fight to get started in a bar, just because a guy looked at another guy's girlfriend.

There is a gay bar in Waterloo, that I went to twice. It was full of smoke at the time, music was terrible, and impossible to find anyone just to chat with. The bar is still active, and does well though. I I have heard talk about a gay bar in Thunder Bay that has been around since the 70's but I have no idea which bar it is.

[Kippy]

"...my roomie (also an escort)". DO I know this escort? With limited talent in the area I hope you haven't been holding out on me NCM!!

 

Peace,

 

Kipp

[+ deej]

>My roomie (also an escort)

 

I never knew you were an escort!

 

}(

[Guest zipperzone]

Gay bars extinct? Personally I can't see it happening.

 

Even if we gain enough acceptance within the straight world to make us welcome, I personally wouldn't want to try and hit on some hottie with a bunch of secretaries out for the evening, as my audience.

 

Granted, some gay bars are a real turnoff, too loud, too crouded and too expensive. But there will always be room for the quieter little neighborhood bar where you know you are always welcome, a place where you can drop in for a beer and a chat on the way home from work or hit later in the evening when you just want to be in the company of like minded individuals - and if the next love of your life is there, that's a bonus - but as he probably won't be, that's OK too.

 

And don't forget we have to have someplace to go to display those great new jeans that arrived in the mail today and to show that obnoxious bitch who turned you down last summer, that your 6 months of hard work at the gym has paid off.

[Guest Merlin]

At times it seems the problem is too many gay bars. The result is that very little is happening at any of them. The market will correct that problem. Some will go out of business and business in others will get better.

[KY_TOP]

>http://smallbusiness.aol.com/features/10-businesses-facing-extinction

>

>Gay Bars were right in the middle of a list of 10 businesses

>likely to be extinct in 10 years. The article suggests this

>is due to greater acceptance of gay people in society and

>therefore a lesser need for gay watering holes.

 

After just finishing trips to Chicago and Orlando, I'd say they are already extinct. Every "GAY" bar I visited was "MIXED" with 1/3 to half being women, and where you have str8 women....you have str8 men.

 

Every bar I visited in Chicago's boystown was very mixed. I even noticed in the local Gay Rage/Guide, bars that use to have an M or MO (for men or Men only) now have MF (for male and female) in the description of the bar. The whole list , with a couple of exceptions (leather bar) had MF listed in the description. I visited 3 bars in Orlando (surprised it was Pride weekend there) and it was a very very mixed crowd at all 3. No way gays were a majority in any of the bars.

 

As for the bars with go-go boys, the mostly str8 go-go boys really play to the girls now, no tips needed from them to get a little frisky. Tip form a guy, a thank you ...maybe. The girls were getting alot more

 

One thing I like about Montreal is that you have a gay crowd at the strip bars , except for their "ladies night". But I noticed that was even changing some. 4 weeks ago during a night at stock, early in the week and not ladies night, several women came in and sat right in front of the stage. They did their usual girl screaming, wooping cat calls and had the attention of many dancers. I over heard a patron mention something to the bartender and he rudely told him that he, the bartender, could decide who gets to come in. The patron left followed closely by me as the women continued their wooping and the dancers continued to give then their attention.

 

So maybe even the Montreal Gay strip club will soon be a thing of the past.

[+ Lucky]

Generally speaking, I like gay bars to stay male. But there is an exception to every rule, and sometimes it is okay to allow certain women in. At the Gaiety, the young girls acted so badly, and so rudely, I hated to see them there. But every once in a while a woman came in who knew "her place" so to speak, and by that I mean she understood it was a gay place and did not try to make it about her.

 

But I remember taking my sister to a gay dance place years ago and they wouldn't let her in. I was mortified. I also remember taking a male friend to the baths and they wouldn't let him in because he was too old...he was 46! So I don't know the answer. Clearly the younger guys are more comfortable with the women at the "gay" bars, and they are the ones who will determine the future, not us older men.

[edjames]

I'll go down fighting this one! Gay bars extinct? What's happenning to the world?

Gay men and women enjoy a seperate and distinct lifestyle from their hetero bretheren and part of the experience is the celebration of that lifestyle among their own, often in gay bars.

I can't see a harmonic blending of the sexes into one massive lump of humanity. How would you know who to cruise? People would be falling all over themselves trying to figure out who's who.

Gays enjoy a distinct culture, and gay bars help us celebrate that.

I admit I don't go out to the bars as often as I used to but to this day I still enjoy walking into a testosterone filled atmosphere knowing that perhaps somewhere among the patrons waits "Mr. Right...Now!

Just imagine the silliness of walking up to the bar at the Eagle and fighting through a crowd of twenty-something bimbettes slugging down their cosmos or appletinis while the leather man next to them trys to order his beer.

Sometimes there needs to be a division among the sexes. People need to get away from their puters and get out and interact with each other. Trust me, it can be fun.

Young gay men and women should remember that they have not enjoyed this privelege for very long. Pre-1969 gay bars were outlawed and raided on a frequent basis. It wasn't that long ago when you would enter a gay bar and see a sign that said "This Is A Raided Premises." Most bars had strict conduct code enforcement. People of the same sex couldn't dance together. You weren't allowed to talk to the guy standing behind you in the bar. Cruising was done through the mirrors on the back wall of the bar. Gays have fought long and hard for their equality and rights, but I seriously don't want to share my bar space with the straight guys and gals! Sometimes you just need to share a good stiff one with just the guys!

 

ED

[Guest]

Well, when I used to go to gay bars, it was to get laid, not to get drunk. I had a fake ID when I was 18, and from 18-29 I could get a fine lay almost every time I went out, back when I lived in LA. As my 30s dragged on, it became less and less frequent. Now that I'm in my 40s it happens only sporadically, so there really isn't much purpose in my going. The advantage of the bar over the internet is WYSIWYG; people on the internet do have inaccurate photos and descriptions. There's no denying the internet is easier. (Hiring escorts is easier still!). I'm not sure how those in their 20s feel--I suspect that would be the key market.