Disparity of Lesbian and Gay Bars

https://www.tiktok.com/@elizahhh/video/7003767144282328326?_r=1&_t=8hh4KAJLTQc

 

    I found this video on TikTok. It analyses the major discretion in the number of gay and lesbian bars as opposed to straight bars. This video also helps to explain the importance of having gay bars in America that are accessible and welcoming to the queer community. It does not go into the topic of whether or not straight people should be allowed and go to gay bars; instead the video reasons that a large part of being a true ally of the LGBTQIA+ community is listening to the queer community and what it has to say.

    I think that this video is very educational, especially for the younger audience who does not have this experience. I do not go to gay and lesbian bars, so before I came across this video, I did not know how problematic nor prevalent this situation was.

   This video demonstrates the disparity in LGBTQIA+ rights. Considering how lesbian and gay bars are commonly treated as a safe space for queer people to be themselves, the queer community is therefore at a disadvantage when it comes to recieving full equality in the United States. Straight community members are accepted everywhere and almost never discriminated against or taken advantage of because of their sexuality. It is not the same for LGBTQIA+ community members, and this can be shown through the availability of queer bars. The decline is also important as it shows the number of gay and lesbian bars that have gone out of business in the past years. I would be interested to see the individual causes for their going out of business to look for a trend in heterosexual attendance. According to this video, a large portion of them have been taken over by straight people and therefore gone out of business.

   This video relates to the subject of LGBTQIA+ equality in America. Similar to gay bathhouses in the 1980's, gay bars are a symbol of freedom and liberation for the queer community. They are a space where queer individuals can go and not be afraid to be themselves. The fact that there are so little gay bars in comparison to the amount of straight bars is a concrete example of the discrimination that LGBTQIA+ community members feel today.

Sources:

https://www.tiktok.com/@elizahhh/video/7003767144282328326?_r=1&_t=8hh4KAJLTQc

Miller, Neil. "The 1980s: The Age of AIDS." Out Of The Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present, Vintage Books, 1995, 439-462.