Gay bars in puerto rico in the 1980s

Find out how he and the bar El Purgatorio are bringing bears back to the forefront of the San Juan nightlife scene. Prior to the rebranding of El Purgatorio as a bear bar, the community had been without a home in San Juan since the closing of The Bear Tavern which became an unfortunate victim of the pandemic.

Through The Bear Tavern the Puerto Rican bears had found a place that welcomed them with open arms, something we all know the value of considering how we are not always made to feel welcome in other spaces. Its closure was devastating and it was a loss deeply felt throughout the community. We knew the bears were in good hands.

To find out more we sat down with Miguel to get a bit more information about him, his work and El Purgatorio. The idea came from a desire to have bear representation at the different gay bars around the island. At that time the gay bars did not have special events or themed nights that were geared towards the bear community in Puerto Rico.

We wanted to bring a different perspective to the bars, in the hope to eventually have a bar that could be used as a hub for the bear community. These range from leather, puppy, underwear, shirtless, and more. We also have bon voyage and welcome back parties for cruises. Outside of the bar we also have beach parties, camping, gatherings at Cabo Rojo Pride, and bear pool parties.

Where is it? What are the hours? Is it exclusively a bear bar or does it just have bear nights?

Puerto Rican Bears Find a New Home at El Purgatorio with PR Bear Events

It was reconceptualized and opened as an exclusively Bear bar in December of Currently El Purgatorio is only open on Fridays, Saturdays, and on limited special occasions. However, there are plans to add Sundays and possibly some weekdays to the current schedule. MM: The bear and leather community have shown great appreciation to having a place that caters to them again, in El Purgatorio.

MM: We found the bear community in PR in I like the bear community because when my husband and I first discovered the bear community, it gave us a place to fit in. It gave us a sense of comfort and pride in ourselves and has shown us the beauty in our community outside of a stereotype. The bear community gave me a place to join in giving back, with the focus the community already had and still has on community service and awareness.

It has also brought me life-long friends, many of which are now family. Follow El Purgatorio on Facebook and Instagram. In addition to bear culture, he specializes in entertainment writing with a special focus on horror and genre films. He resides in New York City with his husband.

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