A New Generation of Queer Bars Are Betting on a More Inclusive Future
“Gay bars are on the decline, but they’re not going away, they’re evolving.”
They toppled like dominoes in Hell’s Kitchen. First it was Therapy, the two-story carriage house where they served nachos around the dancefloor, then 9th Avenue Saloon, the beat-up dive where barflies swarmed the free popcorn. Then Boxers and Barrage and Posh all shuttered, leaving New York City’s gay bar scene worse for the wear. The pandemic has laid waste to all manner of in-person businesses, and gay and queer bars have been no exception, with longtime establishments in big cities, alongside queer venues of all kinds across the country, closing their doors.
And yet, COVID-19 has marked only a slight acceleration of a trend that has been underway for nearly two decades. More than a third of queer bars and nightclubs in the United States closed between 2007 and 2019, according to studies conducted by Greggor Mattson, a professor of sociology at Oberlin University and author of the forthcoming book Who Needs Gay Bars?. Another 16% of gay bars have gone under in the past three years, a rate consistent with their prepandemic decline.
The queer liberation movement was ignited in gay bars and clubs like Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco and Manhattan’s Stonewall Inn. In the 50 years since, factors like gentrification and a decreased reliance on nightlife for queer socialization have been cited as contibuting to their growing disappearance. But given their significance to our history of building community, when gay bars shutter, we lose more than a place to belly up for a drink.
