Dead (and Dying) Gay Bars across America

[rustyrex]

There was a time in my small city where we had 5 gay bars, a bathhouse, and 2 lesbian bars. I like to think of it as the golden era because that time is over and will never come back. The last 2 gay watering holes in town aren’t worth going to. One has decided to cater to the straight crowd, the other requires a membership for hole in the wall. We’ve become mainstream...in a way....however we still have a ways to go. Our culture is okay to appropriate but the actual lifestyle is acquired taste.

[thickornotatall]

I went to the bars in the Village when I was 18, because that was the legal drinking age in NY in those days. I liked the dance bars, like the Fawn and the Cherry Lane. I became friendly there with a cute little chorus boy, who took me home to meet his parents in the Bronx, where I was shocked to discover that he was 37.

Those bars are even older than I am..great memory

[cany10011]

How about J‘s hangout in the meatpacking district? My neighbor owns a restaurant there now... but boy, if those walls could talk.

[+ friendofsheila]

Maybe old selfies, retouched, fake, professional misleading pictures and endless texting might bring some gay men back to bars.

 

?

[+ E.T.Bass]

I grew up in fly over country and back when I was a baby gay ventured to Omaha where I discovered a place called The Max. My reaction was it had to be the best gay bar anywhere and how does Omaha have such a fantastic gay spot?

I checked their Web site. Still there.

The only bars I visit now are in Palm Springs. I hope they are surviving.

[+ sync]

My friends and I went to bars when in high school..I remember walking in the back door and trying to be cool..like I belonged there..Too many times to count be asked to leave....The bars on Washington St were rough (or so I thought)..leather bars..back room bars...and Julius on W 10th and W 4th St in The Village..By the time I was legal we were going to private after hours clubs....I stopped going to bars in my mid 30's and settled down..sort of...

Ah, Julius', those legendary burgers.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

You know very well that it is great to be like everyone else but it is better to be an individual.

it is more fun to be a member of group which is just like everyone else but with extra flare. If you have flare, you need a place where it can be shown with best appreciation. The gay bar was that stage.

And now, the end is near, and we must face the final curtain. My friends I'll say it clear and face the fate of which I'm certain, The bars are gone but not forgot though they are shells along the highway. But more, much more than this, the bars were my Gay.

 

As I was reading this, I was also humming Sinatra's My Way.

 

It was damned near perfect.

[thickornotatall]

Ah, Julius', those legendary burgers.

W didn't have a phone for a while..lived down the street and used Julius' phone for messages....next to the jukebox....glad to have gotten a phone...There was a copper shortage which affected installing phones...

[Rudynate]

When I moved to San Francisco in the mid 1980s, both the Castro and "Polk Strasse" neighborhoods had a lot of gay bars. I'm not sure when most of the gay bars in the Polk area closed, but even pre-pandemic there was only one left (The Cinch). Back when I lived in the neighborhood we had The Giraffe (video bar with lots of cute guys), QT (I think some considered this a hustler bar but I went because they frequently had great live music), N Touch (seemed to be focused on Asian and White men looking for each other), Polk Gulch, White Swallow, Rendezvous and I'm sure many more I've forgotten. Not that other neighborhoods in San Francisco haven't lost gay bars, but basically the Polk transitioned from a largely gay district to one with no distinct identity.

 

Edit: I just remembered another one on Polk -- Kimo's. If I'm not mistaken, this one had frequent drag shows.

 

 

I first visited San Francisco in 1974. Both sides of Castro Street were just lined with bars. I cant remember the names of all of them. The big ones were Toad Hall, the Midnight Sun, the Elephant Walk, and the Badlands, but there were many. The Midnight Sun, then, was on Castro. It moved to 18th several years later.

On Polk Street, there was a disco called Buzzby's that was so much fun. A little later, there was a disco on lower Polk called Oil Can Harry's. It don't think it lasted long. There was a bar a half block or so off of Polk, right around California, called the Wild Goose.

 

There was an enormous bar in north Beach that nobody seems to remember - the Cabaret After Dark on Broadway and New Montgomery. They had a show room and Sylvester regularly performed there.

[Luv2play]

You know very well that it is great to be like everyone else but it is better to be an individual.

it is more fun to be a member of group which is just like everyone else but with extra flare. If you have flare, you need a place where it can be shown with best appreciation. The gay bar was that stage.

And now, the end is near, and we must face the final curtain. My friends I'll say it clear and face the fate of which I'm certain, The bars are gone but not forgot though they are shells along the highway. But more, much more than this, the bars were my Gay.

You’ve outdone yourself. Such a funny riff on Sinatra who made the song famous and Paul Anka, who penned the words.

[+ WilliamM]

Hit by rising commercial rents in many big cities LGBT bars are facing an additional competition from dating apps (Grindr and Scruff) that have eliminated the need to meet first in bars or pubs. Gay men have been quick to adopt the new technology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May not be a "need," but all good to meet first in a social atmosphere and establish a connection.

[marylander1940]

May not be a "need," but all good to meet first in a social atmosphere and establish a connection.

 

Before it was the only choice, one thing doesn't exclude the other. It would be nice not to see so many guys on their iPhones inside a gay bar but its' their choice.

[+ WilliamM]

Before it was the only choice, one thing doesn't exclude the other. It would be nice not to see so many guys on their iPhones inside a gay bar but its' their choice.

 

Other choices:

 

Friends of Friends

Meeting in walks in parks or any place men exercise

And a dozen other places/situations

[marylander1940]

Other choices:

 

Friends of Friends

Meeting in walks in parks or any place men exercise

And a dozen other places/situations

 

exactly!

 

Do you think that's what's killing bars?

 

Don't you think dating/hookups apps are the ones keeping (before covid) men from going to bars?

[+ WilliamM]

exactly!

 

Do you think that's what's killing bars?

 

Don't you think dating/hookups apps are the ones keeping (before covid) men from going to bars?

 

I am not bother by men looking at phones all the time. Learned to relax and not get upset

[marylander1940]

I am not bother by men looking at phones all the time. Learned to relax and not get upset

 

Me neither.... others seem to be mourning the loss of gay bars in this thread, go quote them and please quote me fully or don't quote me at all.

Edited September 7, 2020 by marylander1940

[+ WilliamM]

Me neither.... others seem to be mourning the loss of gay bars in this thread, go quote them and please quote me fully or don't quote me at all.

 

Please lighten up about quoting you. Nobody else has ever complained.

 

I had a head start on ignoring phones when

 

I audited courses at the University of Pennsylvania. Students there were ahead of most people

[Eggman]

My favorite bar in DC - Larry’s Lounge at 18th and T. It’s the local gay “Cheers” bar. Good men and good drinks. I’ll see you at the outdoor patio!!

 

https://m.mainstreethub.com/index.php/larryslounge

[Monarchy79]

I am not bother by men looking at phones all the time. Learned to relax and not get upset

 

Funny story about guys and their phones in bars....

 

At the time, I had the scruff app, and I was at a bar on a Saturday night. My phone was in my pocket, and kept buzzing. A really attractive guy was sending me messages.

 

What was silly, was that this same guy, looked me dead in the eye when I came in the bar, said absolutely nothing to me, and resumed to using his phone. I was even right beside him, ordering a drink (for at least three more minutes).

 

This clown waited for me to go to the other side of the bar, and then sends me a message.

[Monarchy79]

My favorite bar in DC - Larry’s Lounge at 18th and T. It’s the local gay “Cheers” bar. Good men and good drinks. I’ll see you at the outdoor patio!!

 

https://m.mainstreethub.com/index.php/larryslounge

 

Love that entire block!!!!

 

I would usually end up a Larry’s having a few drinks after eating (and drinking) at Bar Charley (which is diagonally across the street.

[CheckCar]

Funny story about guys and their phones in bars....

 

At the time, I had the scruff app, and I was at a bar on a Saturday night. My phone was in my pocket, and kept buzzing. A really attractive guy was sending me messages.

 

What was silly, was that this same guy, looked me dead in the eye when I came in the bar, said absolutely nothing to me, and resumed to using his phone. I was even right beside him, ordering a drink (for at least three more minutes).

 

This clown waited for me to go to the other side of the bar, and then sends me a message.

While I would never do what that guy did, I get it. Texting you on an app allows him to avoid the potential embarrassment of being turned down in view of others. Again, I would never do what he did, but I get it.

[Monarchy79]

The gay bars isn’t all that’s dying.

 

The art of dating and mating is dying too.

 

From the experience I mentioned earlier about how some guys behave in bars, to the socially inept proclivities many guys seem to have... I firmly believe that this is why the escorts, and masseurs will ALWAYS be in business.... It’s just easier and less of a headache...

 

From awkward dates, to guys with zero conversational skills, and who are bad in bed, it just seems that it’s more of a guarantee to have a pleasurable experience from a provider.

 

Most guys don’t hire out of desperation. They hire out of convenience.

 

I haven’t used a dating/mating app in years, and don’t plan to in the future either.

[handiacefailure]

Brings back some memories. Was really sad when I was in Ann Arbor a couple weeks ago to see the Aut had closed, I was looking forward to having dinner there.

 

I was surprised Carol's Speakeasy in Chicago.

 

Vlada was my favorite bar in NYC back in the day. Was small but very short walk from the hotel I stayed at back then and loved their vodka selection. Met up with a one night stand my second or third time there and we were FWB's for a while and still keep in touch.

[caliguy]

Next one down. It's under the same landlord for Flaming Saddles that closed earlier.

 

https://la.eater.com/2020/9/9/21429311/rage-nightclub-weho-closed-rent-landlord-dispute-covid-19