LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
PAST Out |
by David Bianco |
Because of two nights of rioting in June, 1969, the Stonewall Inn is the most famous gay bar in the world. But bars played an important role in gay male life and communitybuilding throughout much of the 20th century. In the early 1900s, a major migration of Americans from the country to the city occurred. Most of these migrants were looking for economic opportunity. But some who were conscious of their samesex desires were also seeking freedom from family scrutiny. For these young queers, urban watering holes provided a public venue in which they could find potential lovers and friends and ease their feelings of isolation. Many of the earliest bars catering to a gay clientele emerged out of prohibitionera speakeasies with large queer followings. In San Francisco, Finocchio's first opened in 1929 as a speak easy, became legal in 1933 with the lifting of prohibition, and soon evolved into a drag bar that came to epitomize gay social life in that city. Finocchio's, which closed in late 1999, was one of many bars that helped gay and lesbian people develop a sense of belonging to an underground culture and community. World War II was a pivotal moment in the development of gay bars. Large numbers of randy soldiers and sailors on leave descended on cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco looking for places to have a gay old time. As a result, gay bars flourished, even though military leaders tried to crack down on service members to keep them out of clubs like Finocchio's. After the war, many gay men chose to remain in these port towns and created enclaves in which bars served as community centers. Because bars were the hubs of gay social life, Harry Hay and his compatriots went to Los Angeles clubs in 1950 to recruit members for their new gay rights group, the Mattachine Society. Still, some "homophile" activists frowned on bar culture. Jaye Bell, an early president of the Daughters of Bilitis, thought bars merely fostered despair. "Only the people with real strength can fight their way out," she wrote in The Ladder. But, in fact, gay political activism germinated in many postwar bars. Some state liquor authorities prevented the sale of alcoholic beverages to "sexual deviants," a policy that resulted in organized crime members operating numerous gay bars while bribing police to look the other way. Police raided bars that didn't pay up, and newspapers printed the names of arrested patrons. Persistent police harassment of gay bars led to an increased political sense among many bar owners and customers that gays were an oppressed minority. In 1951, for example, Sol Stoumen, owner of the Black Cat in San Francisco, refused to pay bribes to the police and risked losing his liquor license. Instead of caving in, however, Stoumen repeatedly took his case to the courts, amassing legal fees of more than $38,000. Stoumen wasn't alone in his acts of defiance. One of his employees, Jose Sarria, entertained at the Black Cat in drag and at the end of his set would lead patrons in the song "God Bless Us Nelly Queens." Sarria's action was revolutionary, one patron averred, because "the vice squad was there. They used to come in and stand around and just generally intimidate people. We were really not saying 'God Save Us Nelly Queens.' We were saying 'We have our rights, too.'" In 1962, owners and employees of several gay bars in San Francisco formed the Tavern Guild, an alliance to combat harassment of bars and their clients. The Tavern Guild printed and circulated a booklet called the "Pocket Lawyer," which advised gay men what to do if arrested. The Guild's activism inspired the founding of another early gay rights organization in that city, the Society for Individual Rights (SIR). In New York City, authorities repeatedly closed down gay bars, ostensibly for violating state regulations against serving customers who engaged in disorderly or indecent behavior. In one highly publicized protest, three members of the local Mattachine Society staged a "sip-in" in April 1966 to challenge the state law, which unfairly targeted homosexuals. Trailed by reporters and photographers, the trio (one of whom, Craig Rodwell, founded the world's first gay bookstore the following year) made the rounds of bars in Greenwich Village, reading aloud a prepared statement. "We the undersigned are homosexuals," they stated. "We believe that a place of public accommodation has an obligation to serve an orderly person." If refused service, the men vowed to report the bar to the State Liquor Authority. Most bars brought the drinks the men ordered. But at Julius, one of the oldest gay bars in the city, the bartender turned them down. The activists took their case to the city's human rights commission and eventually to the courts. The following year, a state appellate court overturned the discriminatory liquor law. The harassment abated but didn't stop just two years after the court decision, the Stonewall Inn exploded in violence following a police raid that proved to be one raid too many. With the rise of AIDS and the recovery movement in the 1980s, community centers in many cities began to rival bars as gay social centers. But in smaller towns, bars continue their hegemony among gay gathering places that they have enjoyed since the early 1900s. For further reading:
David Bianco is the author of Gay Essentials ( www.alyson.com ), a collection of his history columns. He can be reached at DaveBianco@aol.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 3, Apr. 7, 2000. |