Who Needs Gay Bars? : Bar-Hopping Through America's Endangered LGBTQ+ Places

Gay bars have been closing by the hundreds. The story goes that increasing mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, plus dating apps like Grindr and Tinder, have rendered these spaces obsolete. Beyond that, rampant gentrification in big cities has pushed gay bars out of the neighborhoods they helped make hip. Who Needs Gay Bars? considers these narratives, accepting that the answer for some might be: maybe nobody. And yet... Jarred by the closing of his favorite local watering hole in Cleveland, Ohio, Greggor Mattson embarks on a journey across the country to paint a much more complex picture of the cultural significance of these spaces, inside "big four" gay cities, but also beyond them. No longer the only places for their patrons to socialize openly, Mattson finds in them instead a continuously evolving symbol; a physical place for feeling and challenging the beating pulse of sexual progress. From the historical archives of Seattle's Garden of Allah, to the outpost bars in Texas, Missouri or Florida that serve as community hubs for queer youth―these are places of celebration, where the next drag superstar from Alaska or Oklahoma may be discovered. They are also fraught grounds for confronting the racial and gender politics within and without the LGBTQ+ community. The question that frames this story is not asking whether these spaces are needed, but for whom, earnestly exploring the diversity of folks and purposes they serve today. Loosely informed by the Damron Guide, the so-called "Green Book" of gay travel, Mattson logged 10,000 miles on the road to all corners of the United States. His destinations are sometimes thriving, sometimes struggling, but all offering intimate views of the wide range of gay experience in America: POC, white, trans, cis; past, present, and future. Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Preface: A Sociologist Walks into a Bar Part One: Ambivalence 1. Ambivalence about Gay Bars 2. Changing Bars and Aging Bodies 3. Outpost Bars Put Assumptions under Scrutiny 4. Gay Bar History 5. Not-Quite-for-Profit, Privately-Owned Community Assets Part Two: Gay Bar Fundamentals 6. Mom and Moms and Pop and Pops 7. The Training Grounds of America’s Next Drag Superstar 8. Bars for People of Color and the Ambivalence of Racial Camp 9. There Are Easier Ways to Make a Buck in the Big City than a Big Nightclub 10. Queer Spaces in the Gayborhood 11. Small-City Gay Bars and the Only Gay in the Village Part Three: Safe Spaces for Whom 12. Gay Bars Were Never Safe Spaces 13. Undocu-Queer Dreaming and Government ID 14. Owners Behaving Badly 15. Our Gender Is Medicine 16. Conflicts over Safety in the Queer Pub Part Four: Lesbian-Owned Bars 17 Lost Womyn’s Spaces, Found Lesbian Bars 18. I Always Hated Lesbian Bars 19. Why Can’t We Be Straight Friendly? 20. White Folks, Gay Men, and Straight Black Folks Don’t Come 21. The Drama of Owning a Queer Bar 22. Women First, Lesbians Second But Everyone’s Welcome Part Five: Cruisy Men’s Bars 23. Democratizing Sexy Community 24. We Were a Bear Bar. The Trans Community Was Extremely Forgiving 25. Rebranding The Eagle for the Next Generations 26. Leathermen at Drag Bingo 27. Queering the Gay Strip Club Part Six: How to Save a Gay Bar 28. Crowdfunding While Black 29. Nonprofit Ownership Means We Celebrate Pride Every Week 30. Part of an Otherwise-Straight Hospitality Group 31. The Benefits of Employee Ownership 32. #SaveTheGayBars from Another Pandemic Part Seven: National Monuments 33. National Archive 34. National Memorial 35. Municipal Landmark in Exile 36. AIDS Altars in Plain Sight 37. A Post-Gay, Not Gay, Very Gay, Un-Bar Acknowledgments Notes Index Back Cover "Gay bars had been closing by the hundreds in recent decades, even before another global pandemic brought nightlife to its knees. The story goes that increasing mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ people, plus dating apps like Grindr and Tinder, have rendered these spaces obsolete. Beyond that, rampant gentrification in big cities has pushed gay bars out of the neighborhoods they helped make hip. Greggor Mattson's titular question Who Needs Gay Bars? plays on these narratives, accepting that the answer for some might be: maybe nobody. And yet... Inspired by the closing of his own favorite watering hole, Greggor Mattson embarked on a journey across and around the country to paint a much more complex picture of the cultural significance of these spaces. While they may no longer be the only places for LGBTQ patrons to openly socialize, he finds that their value has evolved--they are historical archives, safe spaces, community centers, and places of celebration, entertainment, and discovery. The question that frames this story is not asking whether these spaces are needed, but for whom, earnestly exploring the diversity of folks and purposes they serve today. Loosely informed by the Damron Guide, that Green Book of gay travel, Mattson logged 10,000 miles across 39 states, from the "big four" gay cities, to the flyover country where he lives, to all corners of the United States. Mattson finds one theme running through his journey: that of ambivalence. The story of gay bars is not unified or linear because they are as diverse as the country. Colorful characters, gripping experiences, and failing or thriving bars are featured in the chapters of these book and through them, the underlying spectrum of many different Americas is brought to life--POC, white, trans, cis, as well as past, present, and future"-- Provided by publisher