LONG LIVE QUEER NIGHTLIFE: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution, by Amin Ghaziani The sociologist Amin Ghaziani wants to turn a funeral into a party.
The dearly departed? The gay bar, a longstanding pillar of queer history that has, in recent years, faced a closure epidemic.
Though the trend predates shelter-in-place orders in 2020, the financial strain of the Covid-19 lockdowns was seen as a nail in the glittery coffin of a flagging institution.
But in “Long Live Queer Nightlife,” Ghaziani makes the case that, though the shuttering of gay bars is sad, it prompted a renaissance for club nights, alternative dance spaces championed by people of color and gender-nonconforming people.