But for a lot of us, I suspect it's also left us wondering: what role did gay bars really play in our lives all that time anyway? For many of us living in places where we've been privileged enough to have gay bars be an integral - if complicated - part of our culture since we were brave enough or old enough to get in, the past year and counting has been a big departure from a routine in our social lives.
Queeries is a weekly column by CBC Arts producer Peter Knegt that queries LGBTQ art, culture and/or identity through a personal lens.īefore the pandemic, the last time I went this long without going to a gay bar was before I was legal drinking age. And I know I'm not alone. (Courtesy of ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, Los Angeles, and the estate of Pat Rocco) The night crowd at the re-opening of Studio One in Los Angeles, 1977.
