Gay bar

A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters exclusively or primarily to a gay and/or lesbian clientele. Other names include gay club or gay pub, queer bar, lesbian bar, dyke bar, or boy bar.

Gay bars range in size from the tiny, five-seat bars of Tokyo to large, multi-story "super-clubs" with several distinct areas and more than one dance floor. A large venue may be referred to as a nightclub, club, or bar, while smaller venues are typically called bars and sometimes pubs. The only defining characteristic of a gay bar is the nature of its clientele. While many gay bars target the gay and /or lesbian communities, some (usually older and firmly established) gay bars have become gay, as it were, through custom, over a long period of time.

The serving of alcohol is the primary business of gay bars and pubs. Like non-gay establishments they serve as a meeting place and community focal point, in which conversation and relaxation is the primary focus of the clientele. Like other clubs, gay clubs are often advertised by handing out eye-catching flyers on the street, in gay or gay-friendly shops and venues, and at other clubs and events. These flyers frequently feature provocative images.

Music

Music, either live or, more commonly, mixed by a DJ or DJs, is often a prominent feature of gay bars. Music in gay bars, as in other bars, ranges in style from jazz and blues to disco, pop, drum and bass, punk, house, trance, and techno.

In the 1980s and early 1990s a particular genre of music distinct from the music being played by DJs in the mainstream or straight clubs at the same time, known as Hi-NRG or Eurobeat, became popular in gay bars and clubs. Some London, England clubs still distinguish themselves as gay clubs by the music they play, including the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in Vauxhall and Bromptons in Earls Court.

Characteristics and amenities

Dance venues often feature elaborate lighting design and video projection, fog machines and raised dancing platforms. Hired dancers (called go-go girls or go-go boys) may also feature in decorative "cages" or on podiums.

Clientele are sometimes indiscriminate as to which restroom (men's or women's) they use, and this is widely tolerated in gay bars, though it may be illegal in some jurisdictions; unisex toilets are also common.

Some gay bars and clubs have backrooms, dimly lit rooms or corridors in which sexual activity takes place. This feature, once common, is now more unusual.

Gay bars and nightclubs are sometimes segregated by sex. In some establishments, people who are perceived to be of the "wrong" sex (for example, a man attempting to enter a women's club) may be unwelcome or even barred from entry. This may be more common in specialty bars, such as gay male leather fetish or BDSM bars, or bars or clubs which have a strict dress code. It is also common in bars and clubs where sex on the premises is a primary focus of the establishment. On the other hand, gay bars are often welcoming of transgender and cross-dressed people, and drag shows are a common feature in many gay bars, even men-only spaces.

In the past lesbian-only bars were comparatively uncommon and tended to be concentrated in major urban conurbations. However they have experienced a resurgence in popularity. Some gay bars and clubs which have a predominantly male clientele, as well as some gay bathhouses and other sex clubs, may offer occasional women-only nights.

Some gay bars attempt to restrict entry only to gay or lesbian people, but in practice this is difficult to enforce. Most famously, Melbourne's Peel Hotel was granted an exemption from Australia's Equal Opportunities Act by a State tribunal, on the grounds that the exemption was needed to prevent "sexually-based insults and violence" aimed at the pub's patrons. As a result of the decision, the pub is legally able to advertise as a "gay only" establishment, and door staff can ask people whether they are gay before allowing them inside, and can turn away non-gay people [1]. The decision made world headlines and was widely decried.

History

The Stonewall Inn in New York City (January 2003), where a police raid in 1969 led to the Stonewall Rebellion, the beginning of the modern gay rights movement in America.

One of the oldest gay bars was the White Swan, on Vere Street, in London, England, which was raided in 1810 during the so-called Vere Street Coterie, leading to two executions - of Chandler Depenbrock and Keith Mangum -for the then crime of sodomy. The site was frequently the scene of gay marriages carried out by the Reverend John Church [2].

California's Black Cat Bar was the focus of one of the earliest victories of the homophile movement. In 1951 the California Supreme Court affirmed the right of homosexuals to assemble in a case brought by the heterosexual owner of the bar.

File:Stonewallchrisholdensm.jpg

The Stonewall Inn reopened, April 2007

Stonewall Inn, located in Greenwich Village, New York City was the location of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, considered to be a major turning point of the modern gay rights movement in America. Prior to the the riots, it was illegal in New York for a place serving alcoholic beverages to allow homosexuals to gather. The place could lose its liquor licence as a result. However, gay bars would often be tolerated--with strategic bribes given to the police.

Notable gay nightclubs

Australia

• arq Nightclub, Sydney
• DIVA, Melbourne
• The Columbian Hotel, Sydney
• The Family Brisbane
• The Imperial, Erskineville
• The Market, Brisbane
• The Midnight Shift, Sydney
• The Oxford Tavern, Sydney
• Palms, Sydney
• The Peel Melbourne
• Slide, Sydney
• Stonewall Hotel, Sydney

Canada

• Woody's, Toronto
• Celebrities (Vancouver), Vancouver
• The Odyssey (Vancouver), Vancouver
• Diva's, Saskatoon

Costa Rica

• Club Oh!
• Bochinche

Denmark

• Pan Club Copenhagen (often just referred to as Pan) is the biggest gay club in Denmark.

Germany

• Berghain in Berlin, Germany

Hong Kong

• Volume New (opened November 2006) but hugely popular 'dancing bar'. Best known for it's music and international crowd. Their resident DJ Stonedog [3] packs them in during his 'Hyper Handbag' Saturday night sets. Wednesdays they host a weekly 'New Arrivals' party where the locals welcome in flight crews, tourists and business travellers passing through the city each week.

Ireland

• The George in Dublin

Japan

• Advocates, Tokyo. A small bar with seating for fewer than five customers inside, customers at tables outside and spill out into Center Street. Known for its international customer base.

Philippines

• Adonis, Timog Ave. Quezon City, Philippines

Singapore

• Happy (Singapore)

United Kingdom

• Fire (nightclub), London.
• Heaven, London. Billing itself as "the world's most famous gay nightclub," has been open since 1979 and is underneath Charing Cross mainline train station
• G-A-Y, London. Based at the Astoria on Charing Cross Road. Claims to be the largest gay nightclub in Europe. It has two sister bars called G-A-Y Bar and G-A-Y Late which, together with G-A-Y, form a triangle in Soho.
• Black Cap, London. Long-established gay pub in Camden Town.
• Coleherne pub, Earls Court, London. Infamous haunt of serial killers Dennis Nilsen, Michael Lupo and Colin Ireland. Mentioned in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City book Babycakes.
• Bromptons, London. Long-running gay venue on two floors with a dance floor and bar on the ground floor and a quieter cocktail bar on the upper floor.
• Profile, London. Owned and run by gay dating website Gaydar.

United States

• Black Cat Bar, San Francisco, California (now closed).
• Stonewall Inn a gay bar in New York, New York the site of the Stonewall Riots in June 1969 that start of the gay rights movement in the USA.

Fictional gay bars

• Blue Oyster Bar

Notable gay DJs (past and present)

• Barry Robinson
• Boy George
• Bob Mould
• Danny Tenaglia
• DJ Dan
• Frankie Knuckles
• Ian Levine
• Johnny Dynell
• Junior Vasquez
• Lady Bunny
• Larry Levan
• Nicky Siano
• Patrick Cowley
• Richard Morel
• Ron Hardy
• Sharon White
• Shep Pettibone
• Tee Scott
• Tom Stephan
• Tony De Vit
• Walter Gibbons
• [[Justin Murfield]

See also

• Nightclub