"There has often been a misogynistic attitude that I've felt from male-dominated queer spaces," Becky said. Becky*, another 23-year-old New Yorker who identifies as queer, said she's experienced blatant misogyny in gay spaces that were advertised as a place where she might find a community and a safe, comfortable space.
"I think in queer culture, just like in straight culture, masculinity is valued over femininity in both male and female spaces," Olivia said. So at least part of the issue is simple economics - lesbian bars as a business model are risky.īut another part of the problem is cultural. Stein also explained that gay men tend to live in neighborhoods where gay bars are, and lesbians have been "gentrified" out of those same neighborhoods. In the Last Lesbian Bars, Arlene Stein, a sociologist at Rutgers, explains that "gay men have many more bars than lesbians do, in part, because they have access to more economic capital as a whole" (or, in other words, the wage gap is still real and still unfairly benefits men). Even in female-centric spaces, there are always men." There are bars that have 'girl' or 'lesbian' night, but very few spaces that are for women, all the time. There are almost no spaces that are for only women, every day. "There are objectively more options for men. "I'm not exactly sure why, but there must be a reason that there are only three lesbian bars in NYC and so many spaces for men," Olivia said. A list of only the absolute best gay bars in New York City has six locations on it, none of which are lesbian bars, and when you search "gay bar" in Yelp, you have to further narrow your search by specific neighborhood - there are that many. Or at least they aren't closing at the same rate. But as places that cater to women close, gay bars are seemingly thriving. In New York City - a place often described as an " epicenter" of LGBTQ culture - there are only three or four true lesbian bars left: Henrietta Hudson's, the Cubbyhole, Bum-Bum Bar, and Ginger's Bar in Brooklyn (although Olivia feels Ginger's is more of a gay bar, not a lesbian bar, lately). "I also feel like most LGBT spaces are dominated by gay men." "I think it's hard for femme-presenting women to find an LGBT space where they feel legitimate - I often feel like people don't believe that I'm queer," she said. Olivia*, a 23-year-old woman in New York City who identifies as gay, told she absolutely struggles finding places that feel comfortable for her. There must be a reason that there are only three lesbian bars in NYC and so many spaces for men. When asked to explain why, survey respondents said things like, "I feel things are more catered to gay men," and, "From my understanding, they're mostly organized by men, with not a lot of lesbian influence." Or, in other words, queer women are being shut out of their own community by very familiar forces - misogyny - and an erasure of female voices that are necessary when it comes to building spaces that feel safe and welcoming to everyone. What they found is that many LGBTQ women, especially queer and bisexual women, felt unwelcome at Pride events that are supposed to serve as places of community and solidarity for the entire LGBTQ community. Earlier this year, a team at HER - a dating app for queer, gay, and lesbian women - polled just over 3,000 of the app's users to see how they felt specifically at events during Pride month in June. For women who identify as gay, queer, or lesbian, places to find a sense of community and other like-minded people are disappearing.Īs bars that serve as gathering places to meet other people like you go away, many identifying women are finding themselves without a feeling of community. "Even back in the '50s and '60s, which some people consider to be a golden age of lesbian bars, it was often community formation as much as it was hooking up," said Jack Halberstam, a professor of gender studies at the University of Southern California, in the Last Lesbian Bars, a Broadly documentary released last year. The loss of a lesbian bar is more than a loss of a place for meeting and hooking up - it's the loss of a place to find a community or a place that makes you feel comfortable. Gay bars and bars that have ladies nights (nights for women who like women, not nights where girls get cheap booze) are still around, but the bars that cater specifically to queer women are shuttering their doors and stacking up their chairs for the last time.
Last year, a flurry of articles and documentaries revealed what's been a long, slow phenomenon - lesbian bars are disappearing around the United States.