Gay Bars Aren’t Disappearing; They’re Changing — Eater
Gay Bars Aren’t Disappearing; They’re Changing — Eater
In ‘Who Needs Gay Bars?,’ Greggor Mattson explores the past, current, and future of America’s queer spaces.
This was a really thought-provoking read.
The gay bar in my city closed down during the pandemic, and then reopened a few months later under the same owner, but rebranded as an arcade bar. It's definitely still an overtly queer-friendly place; gender neutral bathrooms, drag shows, sex toy bingo nights, etc... but I definitely felt more people glaring at me after the switch. Cishet gamer dudes aren't as used to seeing AMAB people in dresses, I guess.
I still feel safe there, but I generally feel safe in most places where I live. I do miss having a place where my queerness didn't even merit a second thought.
hmmm... maybe take the opportunity to both own the space and passively teach by just being you in that space. sometimes, just through normalization, one can have a much bigger influence.
I definitely agree with that sentiment, and I do everything I can to normalize queerness in my surroundings. It's just, sometimes it's nice to have a space where you don't feel like you have to defend your right to exist, you know? And like I'm definitely at a point where I just don't care about cishet people's reactions to my existence, but not all queer people have reached that point, or even ever will.