Gay+Bars

Paige Kulie

Gay Bars ** Definition ** Gay bars are businesses that provide alcohol and a place to socialize for not only those who identify as gay, but the entire LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. They are generally predominantly utilized by LGBT, but can also be visited by heterosexuals, though some may ban the entrance of heterosexuals (Associated Press, 2007). A gay bar in Melbourne, Australia was one of the more recent bars to do such when the Australian courts allowed the Peel Hotel to ban heterosexuals from the bar to prevent insults and violence aimed at homosexuals (Associated Press, 2007). Gay bars can cater to different subcultures of homosexuals, have different themes, and vary greatly in size. They are located in cities and towns all over the world, with more notable ones located in larger cities such as London, San Francisco, New York City, and Prague (“The 60 Greatest Gay Bars in the World”, n.d.). ** Gay Bars and Communication ** Gay bars play an important part in communication for members of the LGBT community. While being gay is more accepted today, homosexuality has had a historically negative connotation, and those who were out as homosexuals carried generally negative social stigmas in the past and even today in some locations. Therefore, gay bars have been a refuge for the LGBT population since the late 19th century (Murphy, 2000). Gay bars provide a safe haven for gays to be able to congregate and interact away from the generally heterosexual society, without fear of persecution or judgment (Murphy, 2000). They also serve as a means to assemble different subcultures of the gay population (Murphy, 2000) that would not normally have the chance to interact and communicate. Before the AIDS epidemic began in the 1980s, gay bars were also a place where gays could assemble to participate in sex and sexual acts with seemingly no consequences, and experiment with group sex and voyeurism (Murphy, 2000). Gay bars could also be the catalyst that causes someone to come out (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel, 2009), for they can show the person that there is a place where he can feel safe and comfortable. While gay bars used to be one of the only places where gays could assemble to communicate, with the advances in modern technology, most notably, online social networking, and a greater acceptance of the gay community in society, gay bars hold less importance than they used to in terms of assembling the gay community (Williams, 2007). ** Stonewall ** Stonewall Inn, the most popular gay bar in Greenwich Village in the 1960s, was the location where the gay rights movement all began (Chan, 2009). Police raided the Stonewall Inn on the night of June 28, 1969 because they claimed the bar was operating without a liquor license (Carter, 2009a). Once inside, they arrested employees of the bar and forced all patrons to leave (Carter, 2009a). They were met with much resistance, however, and a power struggle between police and the gay community ensued over the next 6 days for control of the streets around the Stonewall Inn (Carter, 2009a). These riots caused more organization within the gay community to work towards equality, forming groups such as the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance (Carter, 2009a). While there had been raids of gay bars going on in cities across the nation for many years, Stonewall was different because of the massive media attention it received and the organization within the gaycommunity that resulted becauseof it (Carter, 2009b).  ** Gay Bars and Research ** Gay bars are a tool that many investigators use to recruit participants for research studies, as they are a centralized location where the LGBT community gathers. Rubin & Babbie (2010) writesthat when targeting a population at risk for HIV/AIDS to provide interventions, gay bars are a common place for researchers to look for study participants. While HIV/AIDS is not a disease solely limited to the gay population, it is more prevalent in this population as compared to the general United States population, so gay bars are a good place to go to look for participants that are at higher risk for contracting HIV/AIDS. A study conducted by Fisher, Ryan, Esacove, Bishofsky, Wallis & Roffman (1996) used various methods to try to reach participants for HIV prevention counseling. They put up fliers in gay bars and bathhouses and the gay press, in addition to putting an ad in the mainstream press (Fisher et al., 1996). They found that they received the greatest response rate from fliers posted in gay bars, and very little response from ads put in the mainstream media (Fisher et al., 1996). Fisher et al. (1996) also said that they had the greatest rate of people decide to participate in the study from those who called after they saw the ad in a gay bar as well. This shows how important gay bars are for research, as they are a main source of participants for investigators. ** Gay Bars Today ** While society has become more liberal and more accepting of the LGBT community than it was in the past, in some locations, gays are still not accepted and gay bars are not acceptable establishments. Even in the year 2011, gay bars are still somewhat taboo in some places, and those inside them are looked down upon in society. On the morning of April 3, 2011, police in Shanghai, China raided a gay bar called Q Bar and arrested more than 60 patrons and employees (Jacobs, 2011). The raid was performed because police had heard rumors that dancers at the bar were performing dances that were pornographic in nature (Jacobs, 2011). Even though homosexuality was decriminalized in 1997 and taken off of the list of mental illnesses in 2001 in Shanghai, it still carries a negative social stigma in the city, which is something the gay population is trying to counteract (Jacobs, 2011). Until people all over the world come to accept the LGBT community into society, however, gays will continue to face the same persecution that African-Americans faced before the civil rights movement and women faced before the women’s rights movement. ** References ** Associated Press. (2007, May 29). Australian Gay Bar Allowed to Ban Heterosexuals. // MSNBC. // Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18927252/ns/world_news-weird_news/ Carter, D. (2009a). Stonewall Stories. // Advocate, // (1027/1028), 94-99. Retrieved from EBSCO// host //. Carter, D. (2009b). What Made Stonewall Different. // Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide // (pp. 11-   13). Retrieved from EBSCO// host //. Chan, S. (2009, June 22). Police Records Document Start of Stonewall Uprising. // New York // // Times. // Retrieved from http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/police-records-document-the-stonewall-uprising/?hp = Fisher, D. S., Ryan, R., Esacove, A.W., Bishofsky, F., Wallis, J. M., & Roffman, R. A. (1996). = = The social marketing of project ARIES: overcoming challenges in recruiting gay and bisexual males for HIV prevention counseling. // Journal of Homosexuality, 31 //(1-2), 177-202. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8827499 = Jacobs, A. (2011, April 4). Police Raid Shanghai Gay Bar and Detain More than 60. // New York // // Times. // Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/world/asia/05shanghai.html?src=me Murphy, T. F. (2000). // Reader’s Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies. // Chicago, IL: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Rubin, A. & Babbie, E. R. (2010). // Essential Research Methods for Social Work. // Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E., & McDaniel, E. R. (2009). // Intercultural Communication: A // // Reader. // Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. The 60 Greatest Gay Bars in the World. (n.d.). // Out Magazine. //Retrieved from http://www.out.com/exclusives.asp?id=25688 (1969). // Stonewall Inn 1969 //[Photograph]. Retrieved from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Stonewall_Inn_1969.jpg