Denton’s only gay bar, Mable Peabody’s Beauty Parlor and Chainsaw Repair, closed in 2017.
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North Texas has seen its own share of closures. A 2020 report out of Oberlin College found as many as 37% of gay and lesbian bars in the U.S.
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That could spell trouble for establishments built for a bygone era. With dating moving online and bargoers feeling more comfortable outside of queer spaces, gay bars are facing stiffer competition. It really opened my eyes and made me feel relief and excited for my future.”Ĭultural mores are evolving though. I had grown up thinking I was the only one who felt this way.
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“I felt free and excited to be around so many people that were all just like me. “It was amazing,” said Darin Holland in the survey. The survey was shared via social media and 94% of respondents said they are part of the LGBTQ community. Nearly every respondent said their first time visiting a gay bar was an important milestone. More than 140 people responded to an informal online survey conducted by KERA and The Dallas Morning News about what these establishments have meant to them. The Stonewall Inn in 1969 famously helped usher in the gay liberation movement in the United States, but gay and lesbian bars closer to home have also served as the backdrop to the personal histories of queer North Texans. Watering holes like the 1851 Club have long been precious mainstays of queer life. “There was no question in my mind,” he said. Haynes, once a longtime customer, said he bought the Arlington bar in memory of her. (Okay, for the love of God, don’t do that.) Try to find me a bi person who wouldn’t be interested in that.1851 Club owner Dalton Haynes next to the plaque honoring his grandmother. They can play *NSYNC's Bye Bye Bye on repeat. And if not an entire club because the demand simply isn’t that high, why not a night once a week? Bi night. I know I just want a place like this because I’m newly single, but I honestly don’t see why this doesn’t exist. A safe space where men and women don’t feel judged for being attracted to more than one gender. I mean a place where people interested either romantically and/or sexually in men and women can go. Those already exist and are not for meeting people. I don’t mean sex parties or anything like that. Instead I offer another solution: bisexual/pansexual clubs. So I’m not going to shame gay men for giving me and my girlfriend looks because I understand where they’re coming from. They get hammered and treat the men at the club like circus animals, there for their amusement. I’ve also been at gay clubs when a horde of straight women gallivants in for a bachelorette party, acting like they own the joint. Free to openly express themselves without judgment (well, God knows the gays will judge-but you know what I mean) and briefly escape from the oppressive heteronormativity they experience daily. One night a week, gay men want to be at a place with other men like them. We live in a heteronormative society, surrounded by straight men and women all day.
Now I’m not going to launch into a tirade about how gay men need to be more accepting of bisexual men and women because I understand their frustration. We’d either get nasty looks for being that “straight” couple who comes to a gay safe space to flaunt their straightness, or confused looks, because they assumed I was gay. We’d all dance and have fun, and by the end of the night, I’d be dancing with my girlfriend. Besides, we always went out with our crew of gay friends. We liked the music, the atmosphere, and the people at gay clubs more. Both my ex-girlfriend (who is also bi) and I preferred going to gay clubs more than straight ones. Not queer clubs, not bi clubs, not pan clubs, not transgender clubs - gay clubs, more often than not for men (unless there’s a specific lesbian night).