Cross-dressing was illegal at the time, and performers were expected to keep their Club 82 personae strictly inside the club.
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Even in comparatively tolerant New York City, gays and lesbians faced discrimination, and harassment from police was routine. That kind of entertainment might not seem particularly shocking today, but it was scandalous in the early 1950s. Visitors to the club were even given souvenir photographs of themselves inside. In spite of its somewhat shocking performances, the majority of Club 82's patrons were actually heterosexuals, many who came to the Village in search of an exotic good time. Most of the performers in the floor show were men dressed as women and the wait staff consisted of women dressed as dapper young men in tuxes.
CELEBRITY GAY BAR NYC SERIES
Once patrons of Club 82 descended a series of stairs to the club's entrance, they were greeted with an elegantly appointed venue that nonetheless promised risque entertainment. There were others, but they were often dingy, questionable establishments. Opened in 1938, Club 82 was one of a few gay-friendly clubs in the city at the time. Definitely worth checking out.Behind a gated, nondescript entrance on 4th Street was once of the most legendary clubs in the city. Rockbar is off a lot of the LGBTQ community’s radar, which makes it a little more interesting than most Village bars…you never quite know what you’ll find there. Way down Christopher Street, toward the river, is this remote but worthy hangout for drag shows, RuPaul’s Drag Race viewings, Musical Mondays, and bear parties. 114 Christopher Street (between Bedford and Bleecker Streets) Rockbar Even in bars, they’re generally looking at their phones!) One thing that hasn’t changed since the ’70s, though, is that you’ll rarely find a drag queen there, so Ty’s serves as a sort of fascinating palate cleanser between lip-synch extravaganzas elsewhere. (Few people go to bars to hook up anymore they simply go to their apps. Now it’s evolved into just a casual neighborhood bar without much of a sexual charge to it. This small, long-running lounge across the street from the Hangar was a big pickup place for leather queens and other macho types way back in the 1970s, when post-Stonewall sexual liberation kicked in big time. Photo courtesy of Cubbyhole Bar NYC/Facebook Ty’s 53 Christopher Street (between Seventh Avenue South and Waverly Place) Amid all the levity, a wonderful sense of history hangs in the air, as opposed to most other bars, where it's primarily air freshener. Yes, it’s still there! And it’s landmarked! The two-level place is a busy, buzzy, unpretentious hangout, with events like Monday’s Drag Bingo with Kenny Dash, Tuesday’s drag contest called Polish the Queen, and crowded Saturday night dance parties.
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As part of the festivities, here are 10 West Village bars to check out, each one a perfect place to party on this monumental occasion. This June 28 marks the 50 th anniversary of that day, and NYC will be filled with all manner of celebrations and activities throughout the month, especially on Pride Day, June 30.
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As a result, the community continued to organize, fight back, and grow in visibility through the years. At the Stonewall Inn in New York’s West Village, when the cops were conducting one of their customary abusive raids of a gay bar, the customers rebelled, leading to the legendary Stonewall riots-anti-oppression demonstrations that gave the queer community a valuable sense of unity and strength. On June 28, 1969, the LGBTQ community fought back and changed everything.