It turned out to be a fantastic scene, crossing generations and various representations of gender non-conformity, including working-class Butch lesbians, who I wouldn't have ever seen, let alone meet, otherwise.
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Even though I'd been out of the closet for a year or two, at that point, I didn't know what was behind that windowless door. I went to my first lesbian bar in the late '70s, a place with no windows on Portland's Skid Row. Nancy: Thanks to Amber and all our listeners who reached out on this. These are very special, incredible places, and I really hate to see so many closed their doors. I actually met the woman who I would later marry at Ginger's in Brooklyn. It was so heart-wrenching to hear the owners come up and say, "Thank you for your support," to see the people who've been going there for decades.Īmber: Hi, this is Amber Hall, senior producer at The Takeaway. I'm calling from Los Angeles the first and last time I ever went to the iconic Lexington club in San Francisco was their last weekend open.
GAY BARS IN CHICAGO THAT HAVE CLOSED PERMANENTLY MOD
I'm so sad that my favorite lesbian bars on the West coast, all of them, Mod and Amelia's in San Francisco, the Primary Domain and the 927 in Portland, Oregon, and the East Lake East in Seattle have all closed.Įmily: My name is Emily. Here's what you told us about your favorite lesbian bars. The closures are a tough pill to swallow, particularly as there are so few spaces dedicated to this community, and losing them means losing their history. There are plenty of bars where both lesbians and gay men frequent, but today we're talking about the bars that catered exclusively to lesbians.
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The decline has been exacerbated by the pandemic. LGBTQ bars as a whole have declined in number. There are only about 15 lesbian bars left in existence in the US today. They provided a dedicated place for lesbians to meet and build a sense of community, particularly as discrimination against the LGBTQ community was widespread. In the 1980s, there were around 200 lesbian bars across the US. Nancy Solomon: It's The Takeaway I'm Nancy Solomon in for Tanzina Vega.