Long live queer nightlife: How the closing of gay bars sparked a revolution
LGBTQ+ bars have undergone a startling decline globally over the past 20 years. More than half of London’s LGBTQ+ venues closed between 2006 and 2016, and the U.S.
has seen a similar trend, where an average of 15 gay bars have closed every year from 2008 to 2021.“Save your tears, because queer nightlife is alive and well,” writes the New York Times in its review of Amin Ghaziani‘s buzzy new book, Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution. “In fact, it’s even better than ever, having evolved into a more progressive, sophisticated form.”The following is an excerpt from Long Live Queer Nightlife, available now from Princeton University Press.A post shared by Amin Ghaziani (@amin_ghaziani)Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.When we go out, whether to a gay bar that has survived or a club night, we connect with our history, who we are, where we were, where we want to be. “It’s nice to think of a party or a space as a way of organizing people’s engagement with the past,” Brooke shares with me.
We like this feeling, Simon, the producer of Duckie, says: “People like history. They like heritage. They like having a past, and hopefully a future.”Nightlife is important because it proves we exist. “We’re all walking vessels of history,” Damien, an education officer at Parliament, adds, “but sometimes we don’t realize it unless we meet others, and we talk about it.” We need to see ourselves through the lens of people and places. “And then you get ripples,” Damien continues. “It’s like a pond.
Someone chucks in a stone, and you get all these ripples of memory and history, and you’re swimming in that pool together.”London’s institutional offerings, what it does and especially does not have, make nightlife feel extra special. “London’s really shoddy for queer institutions,” Ben Walters quips.
