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We do not have a Black press, the gay press in is dominated by the white community.” to hear the latest gossip: who around is doing what, who just got a new job, who’s in their old relationships. Black bars were, as one patron called them in 1994, “a meeting ground. This was especially important at the outbreak of AIDS, when channels of communication across communities proved vital in efforts to curtail the crisis. By the 1980s, black gay men saw predominantly black bars as more communal than typical white gay nightlife that is, while social clubs served as places of leisure and enjoyment (places to grab a drink or dance), they also served as formal community centers, fundraising operations, and educational support groups. Black gays and lesbians utilized their bars beyond simple social sites. I’m sick of both.”īlack bars were also used in different ways. Black gays are limited to a cruise bar or a disco bar. We, on the other hand, have limited opportunities to express ourselves. One African American club goer told the Washington Post in 1981 “ have good restaurants, happy hours at their bars and places to congregate and talk. What attracted African Americans to new clubs that catered to their interests? For one, black bars allowed for greater expression that black LGBT folks claimed they couldn’t find at white bars. In LA, the Jewel’s Catch One outlasted all gay black clubs. In Philly, it was Smart Place, the Ritz and Allegro II. In DC, African Americans frequented the Rail and La Zambra. They instead formed communities and socialized on the streets or at majority black gay house parties.ĭespite these non commercial alternative sites, black gay bars were formed across the US, fully embracing a community neglected by the wider gay community. Other African American lesbians and gays had no interest, though, in trying to integrate into a place they felt unwanted. In Philadelphia for example, anti racist activists formed the Coalition on Lesbian-Gay Bar Policies in the 1980s to combat this kind of discrimination. Some African Americans chose to fight this discrimination in the press or the courts. This happened all over the country, from New York to San Francisco, to Houston and Indianapolis.
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Some bars raised the price of drinks to dissuade certain minorities from patronizing, while others refused to play kinds of music popular with black communities.
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They were refused entry at the door and forced to show multiple forms of ID, while white gays and lesbians simply walked right on inside. But what of LGBT African Americans? Thanks to the generous support of Point Foundation, I’ve been researching and writing a chapter this spring for my dissertation on, amongst other things, resistance to racial discrimination at gay nightlife spots in the 1970s through 1990s.įor decades, black gays and lesbians faced discrimination at gay bars. When I think of spaces at the center of the black experiences, sites like the barbershop and the church easily come to mind.
But beyond thinking about black history as simply the retelling of a person’s accomplishments, I hope we as a society can start thinking about how African Americans have shaped our cultural spaces, the sites we walk past on our way to work in the morning, or the places we relax at on the weekends. After all, history is about actual people, so it makes sense that biography can be an effective way to analyze the past. There’s nothing wrong with this kind of remembrance of the past. Granted, we ought not keep our study of black history to twenty eight days, but Black History Month is a nice reminder of the incredible legacies made by people like Claudette Colvin, Ida Wells, Harriet Tubman, Marian Anderson, and Shirley Chisolm, not to mention black LGBT Americans like Barbara Jordan, Laverne Cox, and Marsha P Johnson. We’ll hopefully read plenty of inspiring tales this February of African American heroes, both familiar and unfamiliar. Black History Month exists just because we were told in school that our past was important, right? Part of this is because many understandably don’t see history as integral to our daily lives. However, I’m going to assume that not everyone reading this (or even the majority) are going to share my passion (obsession?) with history. I’m a historian, so it’s not going to shock you that I want you to love history like I do. Semifinalist & Finalist Info Menu Toggle.ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & FAQS Menu Toggle.Community College Scholarship Menu Toggle.