Despite recent articles about the supposed demise of gay bars, lounge nightspots like D.C.’s Halo appear to be a successful trend in cities. (Blade file photo by Henry Linser)
|
ZACK ROSEN
Friday, October 12, 2007
Whisperings
about
the
death
of
gay
bars
began
with
the
advent
of
gay
personal
sites
like
Gay.com
and
Manhunt,
and
as
gay
life
becomes
increasingly
less
compartmentalized,
that
buzz
has
grown
into
a
roar.
Several
recent
articles
on
the
subject
have
raised
the
question:
Is
the
gay
bar
obsolete?
“Gay
bars
and
clubs
are
not
likely
to
be
become
extinct
anytime
soon,
but
they
are
definitely
on
the
endangered
list,”
says
D.C.
nightlife
entrepreneur
Mark
Lee.
“Our
nightlife
ventures
are
first
and
foremost
independent
small
businesses,
serving
a
niche
demographic.
Because
of
both
these
factors
they
are
economically
hypersensitive
to
both
internal
market
forces
and
external
political
and
regulatory
forces.”
Small
business
resource
site
Entreprenuer.com
posted
an
article
in
September,
later
reprinted
on
AOL’s
small
business
web
site,
listing
10
current
businesses
that
could
become
extinct
in
the
next
10
years.
Alongside
obvious
entries
like
payphones
and
CD
stores,
the
article
listed
gay
bars.
As
gays
are
becoming
more
accepted
in
mainstream
society,
the
article
asserts
that
socializing
will
move
into
mixed
spaces
and
only
the
best
bars
will
survive.
A
night
out
at
the
Black
Cat
or
the
Wonderland
Ballroom
certainly
adds
weight
to
that
theory.
It’s
just
as
easy
to
find
gay
men
there
as
it
is
at
Dupont
Italian
Kitchen,
although
at
the
traditional
17th
Street
establishments
you
don’t
have
to
play
the
“is
he
gay
or
just
friendly?”
guessing
game.
Richard
Rothstein,
a
New
York-based
blogger
for
Queersighted.com,
wrote
a
response
piece
to
a
Sept.
16
article
in
the
Orlando
Sentinel
that
also
predicted
the
end
of
gay
bars.
Though
he
believes
that
gay
bars
will
never
be
completely
gone,
he
acknowledges
that
they’re
not
the
community
centers
they
once
were.
“Here
in
Manhattan,
you
can
be
out
and
gay
in
restaurants
and
stores
and
parks
and
dog
runs,”
Rothstein
says.
“It’s
happening
more
and
more
to
hang
out
in
bars
that
are
neither
gay
nor
straight
—
that
are
just
bars.
If
I
want
to
hang
out
with
a
bunch
of
gay
men,
I
don’t
need
to
necessarily
go
to
a
place
that’s
self
identified
as
gay.”
THE
SAME
PRINCIPLE
working
against
gay
bars
in
big
cities
could
prove
a
boon
for
them
in
rural
America.
Small
town
America
tends
to
be
several
steps
behind
its
cities
in
tolerance
for
gays.
As
the
metropolises
increasingly
allow
gays
to
be
out
everywhere,
the
small
towns
may
start
to
grant
their
gay
residents
at
least
one
space
that’s
completely
their
own.
“As
it
gets
more
accepting,
people
won’t
be
as
critical
of
opening
bars
in
West
Virginia
or
small
towns,”
says
Dave
Perruzza,
manager
of
Cobalt
and
JR.’s.
“Those
people
have
no
place
to
go.
Right
now
no
one
is
going
out
[to
gay
bars
in
rural
areas]
because
they’re
afraid
they’ll
get
their
asses
kicked.”
Another
factor
in
the
feared
demise
of
gay
bars
is
the
rise
of
the
Internet
as
the
main
spot
where
gay
men
meet
each
other
for
sex.
Whereas
the
best
place
to
meet
men
used
to
be
in
bars
on
a
Saturday
night,
a
number
of
web
sites
have
sprung
up
to
satisfy
that
need
more
efficiently.
“The
idea
of
[meeting]
someone
at
the
gay
bar
for
sex
just
isn’t
on
my
radar
anymore,”
Rothstein
says.
“It
may
be
for
some,
although
the
kinds
of
bars
that
may
be
conducive
to
that
are
just
diminishing.
You
walk
into
these
lounges
and
it’s
like
someone’s
living
room
—
a
bunch
of
guys
of
various
ages
hanging
out
with
their
friends.”
Whether
or
not
they’re
moving
toward
obsolescence,
there’s
a
general
agreement
that
gay
bars
will
continue
to
evolve.
As
Rothstein
notes,
the
spaces
where
gay
men
socialize
have
changed
radically
since
the
days
of
Stonewall.
The
cruising
parks
of
the
early
20th
century
gave
way
to
underground
clubs
that
were
frequently
raided
by
the
police.
Now,
the
model
of
a
modern
gay
bar
is
more
of
a
lounge,
like
Bebar,
a
bright
clean
space
to
chat,
drink
or
dance.
A
major
proponent
of
that
type
of
bar
is
Ed
Bailey,
one-time
owner
of
the
legendary
dance
club
Tracks
and
14th
Street’s
popular
and
trendy
Halo.
Bailey
is
also
in
the
process
of
opening
Town,
a
“very
contemporary,
shiny,
high-end”
dance
club
in
the
Shaw
neighborhood.
Investing
time
and
money
in
the
nightspot,
Bailey
believes
that
gay
bars
are
not
going
anywhere
any
time
soon.
“If
someone
were
to
predict
that
there
wasn’t
going
to
be
a
need
for
viable,
human
interaction
I
would
be
shocked,”
Bailey
says.
“A
lot
of
people
over
the
past
three
years
try
to
attribute
their
lack
of
business
to
the
onset
of
the
Internet.
Clearly
that
is
a
way
[gays]
can
interact
with
each
other,
and
for
some
people
it’s
a
more
comfortable
way
to
interact,
but
more
often
than
not
people
want
human
interaction.
They
want
a
personal
relationship
with
another
human
being,
and
I
can’t
imagine
that
ever
being
something
that
would
go
away.”
D.C.’S
LESBIAN
POPULATION
provides
an
interesting
look
into
the
possibility
of
life
without
gay
bars.
A
number
of
factors
have
left
Phase
1
as
the
city’s
only
...
|
 |
