I’ll Drink to That

It's hard to underestimate just how important gay bars have been in building the gay world. For a lot of people and in a lot of places they are the main or only space you can just hang out and be yourself, no hiding, everyone knows the score. It's important to have that kind of space. We've used pubs, bars and clubs as our refuge for a long time, but that's changing a bit.

A lot of the time they can be a real source of community as well - you see the same people again and again, build up friendships and networks. And of course it was when the cops raided the Stonewall Bar in New York that the modern fight for gay rights became public.

In New Zealand in the bad old days the cops used to come through and raid gay bars and pubs too, they might go through the bar asking for ID, or get everyone to line up outside on the footpath, just to embarrass us in public. Times have changed, and thank god for that.

It can be so much fun, going out with mates, getting a bit trashed, dancing, talking, flirting, maybe even scoring, or falling in love. They can be great places for making new mates. The down side is that it can lead to too much drinking, and that can fuck up your health. We don't really have many spaces to meet up that aren't built around booze, and that's a shame.  

Of course, not everyone likes being in a bar. Not everyone drinks, not everyone likes the atmosphere, but they are far and away the most common way for us to all meet up.

If you travel though, it's usually fun finding the local places. Even the most unlikely cities and towns often have somewhere, and there is kind of an international code of friendship usually - if people know you're foreign they'll often make the effort to help you out about the local scene - finding a gay bar when you're on the road is a good idea.

Because they've been such important places for us to meet up, they're also used a lot for community building, things like safe-sex campaigns, and other political or community needs are often publicised in bars and clubs. They'll run raffles, organise people to do stuff etc. But they're businesses first, and they need to make a profit or they'll go under. It seems like the net has had a big effect on them, lots of guys are doing their socialising online now, and don't feel the same need to go out, so we're hearing stories of more and more bars shutting down as the customer numbers get smaller.

The downside with the net is it doesn't actually give us a place to go and hang out with others - it is much more individual, you and your keyboard - at least with bars you get to meet a wide variety of people, and that's probably why they'll never disappear completely. We like to meet up, hang out and have fun with other homos, and bars give us the chance to do that.