On Friday, New York City and the world is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. In the decades since the riots, the gay-rights movement has made huge strides in the US, from the legalization of same-sex marriage to openly gay candidates being elected to public office.
But, ironically, as the city remembers the 1969 riots that are credited with catalyzing the strides made toward equality, its home to fewer gay and lesbian bars than it has been in decades.
In 1991, OutWeek, the lesbian and gay news magazine, listed 64 gay bars across the five boroughs. By 2018, Pride guide Metrosource could find only 49 to round up. This 23 percent drop hit one segment of the community the hardest: There are only three self-identifying lesbian bars left in NYC.
The reasons behind the closures are myriad and not entirely negative from a growing acceptance of LGBTQ people and changing attitudes about alcohol consumption to the rise of dating apps.
Were finding that with the younger generation of LGBTQ clients, their attention span is shorter, Mark Nayden, co-owner of Park Slope gay bar Excelsior, tells The Post. After 20 years in the neighborhood, Excelsior will shutter at the end of June, and Nayden blames the ephemeral pop-up venue trend. Theres a lot of that in Bushwick, or Williamsburg even, he says of the limited-time ventures. That has changed the climate.
Apps are the new hookup spot
Hookup apps such as the gay-specific Grindr and Scruff not to mention the omnisexual Tinder, Bumble and OkCupid are also changing the way queer folk meet and party.
It used to be that bars were the only place you could go to meet people, says Lisa Menichino, 53, the owner of Cubbyhole in the West Village. Now with all these apps, you dont have to do that anymore.
Apps that make hooking up easy arent the only thing to blame knitting hooks may also be an issue.
The larger culture is increasingly wellness obsessed, with millennials drinking less. LGBTQ people are following suit, turning to wholesome activities such as knitting circles to meet people.
Millennials, no matter their sexuality, also show a preference for more fleeting, social-media-feed-friendly experiences, such as intimate pop-ups, over brick-and-mortar institutions. Younger people want experiences they can document, something they can share on their Instagram, says Anita Dolce Vita, 43, who has run queer style brand dapperQ since 1999. Its really hard to do that when youre yelling over a DJ at a nightclub.
The growing cost of doing business in the city has also made pop-up events more practical.
There are more monthly parties due to rising rent and gentrification in NYC, says Crown Heights resident and artist Gwen Shockey, 31, whose Addresses Project has mapped more than 200 venues important to NYC queer history. It is much harder to open a seven-days-a-week space, and easier to host a queer night at a preexisting space.
The gay megaclub scene of the 1980s and 90s and its iconic institutions have virtually vanished from NYC.
Notorious nightclub the Limelight suffered a slow death, reopening as the Avalon in 2003 following a series of police shutdowns before closing as a club in 2007.
Splash closed in 2013 due to a dwindling crowd as the gay scene moved away from Chelsea.
Its not packed I just dont want to do it anymore, Splash owner and founder Brian Landeche told the New York Times shortly before it shuttered.
With NYC rents and regulations making it difficult for all businesses to survive, large-scale LGBTQ establishments just arent sustainable.
I think probably the square footage alone, and also community complaints, [ended them], says Lisa Cannistraci, the owner of Greenwich Village lesbian bar Henrietta Hudson, one of the iconic but massive spaces of a bygone era thats difficult to financially maintain.
With acceptance comes change
The growing acceptance of LGBTQ people and mainstreaming of gay culture has also made gay bars less necessary to the younger LGBTQ folk, especially in larger cities.
Inclusive venues like House of Yes in Brooklyn and Times Square now offer the kind of clubby hookup culture and accepting atmosphere that used to be exclusive to gay bars, while gay bars are often overrun with bachelorette parties for straight cisgender women.
Theres this sense that now we can go to straight bars, and people dont relish gay bars like they used to, artist Macon Reed, 37, tells The Post.
Reeds installation Eulogy for the D*** Bar, first shown in Brooklyn in 2017, looks at the mass closing of lesbian bars in cities. Towns that are more homophobic are sometimes the ones that still have an active d*** bar, she says.
In some ways, the advancement of gay civil rights has served to diminish the stature of what were once safe havens for a marginalized community.
The whole time Im advocating for marriage equality, Im thinking, This is really going to hurt my business, Henrietta Hudsons Cannistraci tells The Post. Back before Stonewall, you could only actually be gay and act like a gay person in a bar . . . These kids can walk the streets now and be gay and not get arrested.
Owners of the remaining gay drinking institutions say the secret to longevity has been creating a safe space for the LGBTQ community that has wider appeal. We survive by being open and friendly to everyone, Cubbyholes Menichino says.
Sheila Frayne, the owner of Gingers Bar, who hails from Ireland, agrees.
Im the youngest of seven kids, she says. What am I going to say when [my straight siblings] come here You cant come in? We dont discriminate.
while gay bars are often overrun with bachelorette parties for straight cisgender women.
Am I sexist if this pisses me off and I don't see much of a difference between this and dudebros oogling lesbians?
They aren't oogling gay men. They are trying to get away from constant harrassment they face. My ex used to go to gay bars with her friends because they would less likely to get messed with by what they called "hawks" ---
The night brims with defiled scum,and is permeated by their rotten stench. Just think. Now you're all set to hunt and kill to your heart's content.
while gay bars are often overrun with bachelorette parties for straight cisgender women.
Am I sexist if this pisses me off and I don't see much of a difference between this and dudebros oogling lesbians?
They aren't oogling gay men. They are trying to get away from constant harrassment they face. My ex used to go to gay bars with her friends because they would less likely to get messed with by what they called "hawks"
I remember hearing about some cishet women going to gay bars to oogle the guys there but I could be wrong and if they're there to get away from pervy straight guys then I have no problem with it. ---
while gay bars are often overrun with bachelorette parties for straight cisgender women.
Am I sexist if this pisses me off and I don't see much of a difference between this and dudebros oogling lesbians?
They aren't oogling gay men. They are trying to get away from constant harrassment they face. My ex used to go to gay bars with her friends because they would less likely to get messed with by what they called "hawks"
Might not go so far as ogling, but they do generally view gay guys as safe guys to talk to/interact with. Thing is, gay guys dont go to gay bars to chat it up with straight women :/ ---
