To separate molly houses from gay bars, we have to kind of look at the history of bars themselves. They’re a place for gathering socially with similar “deviants” and “sodomites,” to feel safe among those who have a shared lived experience. Gay bars were not, at least initially, all that different from molly houses and, in terms of their purpose, still aren’t. We have previously talked a little about molly houses before - specifically Mother Clap’s and the White Swan, which were both pretty historically significant.
A lot of these places will hopefully get posts of their own further down the line. But I’m not here to weigh the pros and cons of gay bars - we can all do that on Twitter (and we do) - I just want to talk briefly about the history of gay bars, talk a teeny bit about some of the first ones to exist, and some of the oldest ones that we still have today. It’s true that bars being basically the central gathering place for our community isn’t without drawbacks - although, personally, I love them. I’m not saying you’re doing queerness wrong if you haven’t been to a gay bar, I’m just saying it’s a pretty common shared experience. Even if you’re just someone who loves an LGBTQIA+ person, there’s still a good chance you’ve been to a gay bar.
So….we’re back with even more queer history!Ĭhances are pretty good, if you’re an LGBTQIA+ person you’ve been to a gay bar. May not ever calm down but I’m handling the craziness better now that I’m kind of getting used to it. I know it’s been like a really long time - sorry about that! My real life job got absolutely crazy and hasn’t calmed down at all.