rob@denelcor.UUCP (Rob Wahl) (01/21/84)
I'm not sure if I agree or disagree with separatism in gay bars. I enjoy
seeing a wide variety of people in the bars I frequent, and it makes me
particularly angry to see women refused admission to gay bars. God knows
there are few enough places where gays and lesbians interact, and the gay
community tends to be insular. I also feel that the bars thrive on the
stereotypes many of us are trying to transcend.
On the other hand, I resent it when straight couples start frequenting gay
bars. Rarely do they mix; they stand safely in their pairs or clusters and
observe from a distance, as it were. Often they throw disapproving looks
to the overtly gay (we didn't come here to watch guys neck, we came because
we heard it was a great place to dance). And once enough of them start
coming, cruising becomes difficult. Consequently the gays leave to find a
more hospitable place, and the bar dies. I have seen too many great bars
bite the dust because of straight invasion. Perhaps I wouldn't mind so
much if they made me feel welcome in *their* bars.
Robert Wahl
{hao,allegra,brl-bmd}!denelcor!robmsimpson@bbncca.ARPA (Mike Simpson) (01/25/84)
***
01/25/84
Robert Wahl (denelcor!rob) brings up a good point when he
talks about separatism in gay bars. I find that much of the
insularity that gay people complain about in a straight world
manages to crop up here. I am sure that many gay people have
experienced feeling 'left out' of a situation due to their sex,
color, dress, age, etc.
I respect the desire of lesbians to associate with other
lesbians, and for other sub-groups of the homosexual community to
do the same. But we must also toe the fine line between 'lumping
everyone together' solely on the basis of one's sexual perference
and becoming so fragmented (I hate to say 'sub-specialized', but
that is the first thing that comes to mind) that our various
sub-groups have no association with each other. Like many of the
other topics on this newsgroup, a 'consensus' can only be reached
through open discussion, so let's go to it.
-- Mike Simpson, BBN
--
-- cheers,
Mike Simpson, BBN
msimpson@bbn-unix (ARPA)
{decvax,linus,wjh12}!bbncca!msimpson (Usenet)
617-497-2819 (Ma Bell)