Washington dc gay bars in the 1970s
Application to the City of Atlanta made for the consumption of spirituous liquor, etc., at Bachelors’ III. “Chuck’s.” Letter to editor, signed “an ex-patron of Chuck’s.” The Great Speckled Bird: p. Advertisement for Chuck’s Rathskeller, David. 10 It shows the outside of the building and the porte cochere, which has since been removed.ĭo you have information about or photos of Chuck’s Rathskeller? Please contact us to share! REFERENCESġ. Here’s a photo from The Great Speckled Bird about that closing. 8įrom there, a live-music venue, called Richards’, opened in 1973 9 and closed by 1975.
#WASHINGTON DC GAY BARS IN THE 1970S LICENSE#
By March of 1972, a liquor license application was filed for a club called Bachelor’s III 6 and just a few months later, in June of 1972, another liquor license application had been filed for yet another club called Major’s American Scene, 7 which reportedly operated illegally before officials shut it down. Less than a year after this letter published, Chuck’s Rathskeller closed at 931 Monroe. Equally obnoxious to short hairs as well as freaks, these thugs successfully made the front door seem like a prison entrance, or maybe a prison entrance to some well-guarded Mafia boss.”
If you stepped outside for air, you had to pay to get back in. They yelled and cursed out customers at the door, chased people from the lobby and off the front steps. “Four goons who looked as if the Gayest thing they ever did was beat up queers in the park, guarded the door, like the sharp-toothed hounds of Hades. The letter also suggests questionable elements were involved in the ownership of Chuck’s – during a time when the mafia had connections to gay bars across the country. That same letter also says Chuck’s management had already changed by summer of 1971. To see two thousand people dancing and touching on weekends sent liberating thrills of Gay Pride through our souls.” It wasn’t perfect, of course, but compared to the usual tiny ghetto world of Gay bars and the usual uptight boredom of straight bars it was paradise. “Run by Gays for Gays, (Chuck’s Rathskeller) was the only place I’ve ever seen where Blacks, Whites, Women, Men, Young, Old, Straight and Gays mixed freely and affectionately. That same sentiment was echoed in a letter that published in 1971: 5 Hayward says Chuck’s was racially integrated and attracted all walks of LGBTQ+ Atlanta, including African Americans, lesbians and straight people – which was not extremely common for the time.
may have worked for the federal government, and therefore may have felt the need to be more restrained in their out-ness. He theorizes that many members of the LGBTQ+ community in D.C. 4 Note the porte cochere that was on the front.Ĭompared to D.C., “Atlanta was a lot more unashamed and un-embarrassed out. Here’s an aerial of the property from 1972.
#WASHINGTON DC GAY BARS IN THE 1970S FULL#
Yet here, in the middle of a Southern city, was a large, lit building surrounded by a full parking lot and filled with a boisterous crowd that was unapologetically gay – all illuminated by a bright neon sign on Monroe Drive that blatantly advertised Chuck’s Rathskeller. Hayward had moved to Atlanta from Washington, D.C., where he knew gay bars as dark, inconspicuous structures that lacked front doors, signage, or any hint of what was happening between their walls. When longtime Atlanta activist Dave Hayward arrived in Atlanta in 1971, he was astounded at the boldness of Chuck’s Rathskeller.