Two of these have survived previous social upheaval and public health crises. All have been mainstays of the LGBTQ+ community for over twenty years (one for significantly longer than that). To learn more about the impact of the shutdown on local LGBTQ+ venues, I took a closer look at three of Boston’s longest-running and most-loved queer institutions. While the shutdown affects all businesses, the dwindling number of LGBTQ+ establishments makes them particularly vulnerable. Now, what stalwarts of the LGBTQ+ community remain are facing another obstacle: the coronavirus shutdown. At around the same time the LGBTQ+ rights’ movement was gaining steam in the 2000s, many of the city’s gay bars either closed completely or morphed into non-queer specific establishments.
People of all sexualities tend to congregate freely in shared space. In my adopted hometown, Boston, the distinction between “gay” and “straight” social gathering venues is slippery. But the gradual induction of LGBTQ+ rights and the social acceptance queer folk have gained have subsequently diminished the need for the traditional “gay” social space. On one hand, LGBTQ+ bars, clubs, and venues have provided a vital safe space for marginalized groups to congregate and affirm their existence on both a personal and political level. In recent years, the purpose of queer-specific establishments has been juxtaposed between the historic need for such spaces and the push to integrate.