Are gay bars disappearing?

[TotallyOz]

My first gay bar (as an adult) was The Monster in NYC.  Quickly followed by Two Potato.  Over the years I have probably been to at least 500 gay bars and loved them all. They were places of fun and meeting and talking and chatting and cruising.  However, many of them are now gone.  Are more of them closing?  Will be loose them the same as we lost the strip clubs?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-gay-bars-indianapolis-20161222-story.html

[BiBottomBoy]

I think it depends where you are and what you are looking for.

What I've noticed is that just general gay bars seem to be having trouble.

But in the small city I'm in four bars  with backgrooms, dungeons, etc... have opened for t hat clientele.

That said the gay bar with no backgroom or area for men to play with each other closed last month.

[boiworship]

definitely a dying breed.

[BiBottomBoy]

No. They are changing not disappearing

[AdamSmith]

2 hours ago, BiBottomBoy said:

No. They are changing not disappearing

Agree. Here in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, the numerous gay bars are today some of the most vibrant nighttime hangouts in town.

[floridarob]

There was an article that I read about 10 years ago that was about 10 things that won't be around in 10 yrs. On that list (that I remember), Pay phones, book stores, gay bars...it said: Gay bars: As The Orlando Sentinel noted in a recent article, around the country gay bars have been going out of business as gay men and women have been gaining greater acceptance in society. What used to be a hangout for people who felt unwelcome elsewhere is becoming less necessary.
Odds of survival in 10 years: As with many industries, the very best of them will endure; the rest won't.

Also on that list were, camera film, newspapers in print version...

[tassojunior]

They're for cruising and cruising online has replaced bar cruising. Just like hustler bars.

Wilton Manors does now have 3 full-fledged strip/lapdance clubs though. Some things are better in the flesh.

[BiBottomBoy]

Still it's fun to not be around straight people.

Like I said before - the ones that were no sex and straight people friendly have died.

The ones with sex are opening up like crazy  here at the moment.

[AdamSmith]

Plenty of cruising and back-room shenanigans in all the hot spots hereabouts.

[BiBottomBoy]

Adam same here.

What does seem to be disappearing are the bars that allowed women in.

Nobody wants to go there anymore.

But bars with sex and a no woman policy are doing fine.

[AdamSmith]

15 hours ago, tassojunior said:

Wilton Manors does now have 3 full-fledged strip/lapdance clubs though. Some things are better in the flesh.

Agree more and more guys seem to be getting fed up with the online contredanses on grindr etc that seldom seem to lead anywhere, and are going back to in-person hookups.

I just the other day made the most delightful acquaintance with this very cute early-30s Uber driver! (I am 58.) A marvelous affair-in-the-making. 

[torogen]

Many gay bars have been forced out by gentrification and rising rents, especially in the formerly vibrant gay neighborhoods in many cities. But bars simply open elsewhere. One big exception is Chicago, where the bar owners had the foresight to purchase the buildings where they were located, so the bars in Boystown have been doing very well, with no signs of stopping or slowing.

[BiBottomBoy]

I may have to check out Chicago

[Lucky]

My first gay bar was Dugan's Bistro in Chicago. It was such an eye opener for me as I finally realized that there were masculine, handsome gay men. I had only seen what was the obvious, the feminine guy with a swish. Dugan's had a very hot go-go boy dancing on a podium wearing nothing but a jock strap. My fascination with go-go boys began then. How could a guy get up on a stage and be openly proud of his sexuality? It was new to me.

We followed the first visit there with a first visit to a bathhouse. I am still a lifetime member of Man's Country, if it exists anymore. I was so shocked at the open sexual activity. People were having sex everywhere, and I was fascinated.

So, if places like these close, how does a young guy enter the gay world? Does he start with Grindr? Yuck.

[BiBottomBoy]

There will always be saunas

[MsAnn]

 Not in FTL...Bars close, but mostly because of poor management, not lack of interest. There are more bars here now, and they are far busier than when I moved here 4 years ago.

[BiBottomBoy]

More bars in my little french city too.

I honestly think women ruined the old school gay bars so they had to reopen with a female unfriendly atmosphere.

The bottom line is we deserve a safe space without straight people around