Gay Only Bars?
This debate has surfaced again.
Familiar arguments about "equality" and "discrimination" have been aired.
I ran a couple "Lesbian and Gay Clubs" as they were then called, in South East London in the mid 1980s. My door policy- and I often worked the doors myself, was to allow straight people as guests of LGBT patrons -only. It was a rough neighbourhood and my priority was the safety of the patrons inside and near the building.
"Safety" means more than JUST not encountering violence... Imagine a young LGBT person who is not "out", and slips away into a LGBT club or bar, where they are seen by straight acquaintances out for a laugh at the queers. That must be a really bad way to be outed.
My personal bug-bear are the "Stag" and "Hen" parties who descend on gay bars for a giggle and a bit of a flirt if they get drunk enough- and a bit of a fight if any gay man responds to them. The pissed women who waddle over and demand "Are YOU gay!!? REEELEH!!? Ya sure ya jus not met the reet lass yet pet? They're rarely aware of the danger they're in at that precise moment.
Is it so WRONG to want a space where we don't have to be aware of being scrutinised, whether its in interest or disgust or lust or whatever... LOL -because gay men NEVER leer at each other across bars!!! - But that really IS different; another gay man is lot less likely to storm over and lamp you for looking at him. Most of us get the hint pretty quickly if the chosen quarry is unreceptive. Ignoring the possible extreme for a moment: what's wrong with just hanging out with people like you, to whom you don't have to explain anything or make allowances to etc. What's wrong with having a couple of hours off from living in a straight majority world where we are encouraged to feel inferior or at best "tolerated" by most?
Remember: gay bars started because it was unsafe for us to go to straight bars. They were usually in the dead and dying parts of the city, where no one else would go. More often than not, they heralded bohemian renaissances in post industrial cities, accommodation developed, property values rose and areas were suddenly less safe for lgbt people again. I live in a city with 115 bars in the city centre, less than 10 are lgbt: Its not as if straight punters are pushed for choice and its not as if lgbt people would be welcome in all of the remaining 105. So for me: if straight people go to lgbt spaces accepting they're there as GUESTS, I have few problems with them, but when you get situations where bouncers in lgbt clubs stop same sex smooching lest it upset straight patrons, it's obvious something has obviously gone very wrong.
Familiar arguments about "equality" and "discrimination" have been aired.
I ran a couple "Lesbian and Gay Clubs" as they were then called, in South East London in the mid 1980s. My door policy- and I often worked the doors myself, was to allow straight people as guests of LGBT patrons -only. It was a rough neighbourhood and my priority was the safety of the patrons inside and near the building.
"Safety" means more than JUST not encountering violence... Imagine a young LGBT person who is not "out", and slips away into a LGBT club or bar, where they are seen by straight acquaintances out for a laugh at the queers. That must be a really bad way to be outed.
My personal bug-bear are the "Stag" and "Hen" parties who descend on gay bars for a giggle and a bit of a flirt if they get drunk enough- and a bit of a fight if any gay man responds to them. The pissed women who waddle over and demand "Are YOU gay!!? REEELEH!!? Ya sure ya jus not met the reet lass yet pet? They're rarely aware of the danger they're in at that precise moment.
Is it so WRONG to want a space where we don't have to be aware of being scrutinised, whether its in interest or disgust or lust or whatever... LOL -because gay men NEVER leer at each other across bars!!! - But that really IS different; another gay man is lot less likely to storm over and lamp you for looking at him. Most of us get the hint pretty quickly if the chosen quarry is unreceptive. Ignoring the possible extreme for a moment: what's wrong with just hanging out with people like you, to whom you don't have to explain anything or make allowances to etc. What's wrong with having a couple of hours off from living in a straight majority world where we are encouraged to feel inferior or at best "tolerated" by most?
Remember: gay bars started because it was unsafe for us to go to straight bars. They were usually in the dead and dying parts of the city, where no one else would go. More often than not, they heralded bohemian renaissances in post industrial cities, accommodation developed, property values rose and areas were suddenly less safe for lgbt people again. I live in a city with 115 bars in the city centre, less than 10 are lgbt: Its not as if straight punters are pushed for choice and its not as if lgbt people would be welcome in all of the remaining 105. So for me: if straight people go to lgbt spaces accepting they're there as GUESTS, I have few problems with them, but when you get situations where bouncers in lgbt clubs stop same sex smooching lest it upset straight patrons, it's obvious something has obviously gone very wrong.
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