closeted status of many patrons precluded nearly all photography inside
June 2, 2022 10:04 AM Subscribe
San Diego's Gay Bar History from post-WWII to the present (full documentary on Vimeo and on the PBS SoCal website).
I will watch if I can, but for people interested in something similar, I recently read the book Tinderbox, by Robert Fiseler, about the 1973 Upstairs Lounge fire that killed 32 people in a gay bar in New Orleans. It was very good, and what I appreciated about it most was how much information the author was able to get about the people who were regulars there, their lives, their friendships, their sexual and romantic relationships, their marriages and children. It was like reading a really good ethnography of a working-class gay community, as well as talking about the tensions between the emerging gay rights movement and established communities, such as existed in New Orleans, of successful closeted men who were wary of losing what seemed to them a good thing.
Highly recommended.
posted by Well I never at 3:10 PM on June 2, 2022 [5 favorites]
Highly recommended.
posted by Well I never at 3:10 PM on June 2, 2022 [5 favorites]
I had my 21st birthday in 1981 at the WCPC (West Coast Production Company or Wussy P*ssy as it was nicknamed) on Hancock Street. It was a safe haven for me (a young, cis woman who was harassed in the straight bars which were a nightmare of entitled, white frat bros and military jerks) who just wanted to dance and have fun. I had a bunch of gay male friends and my best friend who at the time used the term "fag hag" which is problematic on so many levels, but she was my intro to this enchanted world.
We ended up going there as a group every Friday and Saturday night for years--dancing and joking and doing poppers while drinking soda water. Our gang would hang out at someone's apartment until 11pm which was designated "magic bar time" when there would be a crowd. My female buddy and I were certainly in the minority, but once we were known and followed the rules (no open-toed shoes, is the one I remember) that were designed to keep out straight women who didn't know any better we were welcomed with sweaty arms by the regulars. After closing a group of us would head to the 24-hour Roberto's taco stand. Oh, for youthful stamina!
The music was loud and kept us hopping--everyone was really nice. The women's bathroom was used by drag queens and guys who didn't want to participate in the sex going on in the Men's room. It was only startling the first time I used it. The disco "ball" over the dance floor was a recumbent, mirrored, naked man with a construction hat. We were big John Waters fans and were there when Divine made a live appearance.
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:36 AM on June 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
We ended up going there as a group every Friday and Saturday night for years--dancing and joking and doing poppers while drinking soda water. Our gang would hang out at someone's apartment until 11pm which was designated "magic bar time" when there would be a crowd. My female buddy and I were certainly in the minority, but once we were known and followed the rules (no open-toed shoes, is the one I remember) that were designed to keep out straight women who didn't know any better we were welcomed with sweaty arms by the regulars. After closing a group of us would head to the 24-hour Roberto's taco stand. Oh, for youthful stamina!
The music was loud and kept us hopping--everyone was really nice. The women's bathroom was used by drag queens and guys who didn't want to participate in the sex going on in the Men's room. It was only startling the first time I used it. The disco "ball" over the dance floor was a recumbent, mirrored, naked man with a construction hat. We were big John Waters fans and were there when Divine made a live appearance.
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:36 AM on June 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
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