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True, gay bars were never all things to all LGBT+ people. These are the people not on the payroll who provide the sparkle to LGBT+ nightlife: the DJs, drag queens, dancers and security guards. The extent to which the stimulus package will help gay bars remains to be seen – all small businesses are in a state of limbo as they await relief funds.īut the pathways for financial support for independent contractors and gig workers are even more cumbersome and convoluted in many states. Another New York gay bar closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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These owners sometimes commingle personal finances with the professional, and lack the lines of credit to bounce back quickly. Savvy business owners may be able to declare bankruptcy and eventually reopen, but nearly all gay bars in America’s interior are mom-and-mom and pop-and-pop shops. Investors are required to open a bar in expensive, gentrified coastal cities. If these temporary closure orders become permanent business failures, bars are unlikely to reopen quickly. Because these bars in smaller cities are often the only LGBT+ address for multi-county regions, their temporary closure leaves already-isolated LGBT+ people even more isolated than ever.Īs one gay bar owner told The Daily Beast, “The vast majority of bars don’t operate with margins to be able to sustain themselves for two weeks, four weeks or eight weeks without cash flow.” Gay bars living in limbo. Bars like Milwaukee’s This is It! have taken to GoFundMe to plead for donations.īut shuttered gay bars outside of big cities don’t have the resources – nor the national reach – to move content online or raise money. In bigger cities, supporters have established relief funds for the LGBT+ nightlife workers sidelined by COVID-19 closures. Some states, like New York and Ohio, have relaxed rules to allow carryout liquor sales, giving some bars a revenue stream. Partial relief comes in other forms, too. Still, it’s something, and for LGBT+ people with disabilities, these online offerings are often more accessible than the physical places. These shows, however, represent a mere fraction of the bars’ regular weekly schedules, and virtual tip jars don’t bring in the same cash as the regular live shows did. The Stonewall Inn in New York closed due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 30, 2020. And in greater Los Angeles, Latino nightclubs Club Cobra and Club Chico began broadcasting go-go dancers and drag queens on OnlyFans. San Francisco’s Stud moved its weekly “Drag Alive!” to the live-streaming network Twitch.
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Chicago’s Sidetrack rushed to produce new episodes of its drag talk show, “ IMHO Show,” for YouTube. New York City’s Marie’s Crisis began broadcasting show tune sing-alongs on Facebook. Some well-known establishments from big cities have responded to the coronavirus closures by moving their programming online. When one of them closes, whether it’s due to the coronavirus or an owner’s retirement, entire regions are left without an LGBT+ community hub. In many smaller municipalities – from McAlester, Oklahoma, to Lima, Ohio, to Dothan, Alabama – the local gay bar is the only public place that caters to an LGBT+ crowd. They’re also fundraising powerhouses and regularly host events for queer cancer survivors, gender affirmation surgeries or burial fees.īig cities have many gay bars and LGBT+ organisations, but most places only have one or two gay bars. They’re the training ground of America’s next drag superstars, and the place some parents call for advice about their child’s coming out. Going to a gay bar is still a rite of passage for every LGBT+ person’s coming out.Ī wellspring of modern LGBT+ politics and social life, they’re still hubs for political organising. Today, they are often the only place where they regularly do. They were once the only places where LGBT+ people could gather in public.