When did gay clubs start

Bars have played a crucial role in gay culture and politics, because they are one of the few places where gay men and lesbians gather. This slide show looks at 10 of the most significant gay bars in American history. The Stonewall Inn must sit atop any list of the most influential gay bars in history. The raid on the Stonewall in the early hours of June 28, picturedis the before-and-after marker in gay history.

Before Stonewall, gays were compliant and victimized; after Stonewall, they were strong and defiant. Gays and lesbians had stood up for themselves before Stonewallbut their rebellions were short-lived and largely ignored.

The Most Important Gay Bars in History

When the pissed-off patrons of this Mafia-run gay bar refused to comply with police orders, they did so on the first hot weekend of summer, at the biggest club in the area, and in a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood that had recently become home to a growing number of homeless gay youths with little to lose if they faced off against the cops.

Two writers from the Village Voice were did the hundreds of New Yorkers who stumbled upon the riots, so the story of the riots that followed the raid spread far and wide. The Stonewall closed a few months after the riots, and the building housed restaurants and shops untilwhen it once again became a gay bar.

When the New York State Senate voted to approve same-sex marriage on June 24,hundreds headed to the Stonewall to celebrate. They expected to be refused service, after which they would complain to the SLA, which would be forced to spell out its starts. The bar, pictured here incontinues to thrive as a gay bar.

At the end of that decade, owner Sol Stoumen denounced police demands for payoffs, when drew attention to the bar. Stoumen eventually took the state to court, and in Stoumen v. We were saying 'We have our rights, too. On Dec. When police chased two men into New Faces, another gay bar nearby, they beat the female owner and three employees who defended her.

One of the bartenders suffered a ruptured spleen; he was charged with assaulting an club when he recovered several days later. Though no longer called the Black Cat, the site is now home to Le Barcito, which is also a gay bar. If you were gay in the South in the s, New Orleans was the place to be. Mardi Gras revelers are pictured here in the early s.

According to William A. Today the club is renowned as an early venue for New York punk bands like Television and Blondie. There were hundreds of leather bars around the world, but the Eagle became a byword for the hypermasculine aesthetic. As many as 50 bars around the world took the name, though there was no formal connection between them.

Their numbers have decreased in recent years. The building has housed a tavern since A picture of Williams marching around the dunes in his birthday suit hangs in the bar. Here Williams is pictured with Andy Warhol around the time that he reportedly frequented the A House.