The Eagle sits adjacent from the Soori High Line and 520 W. The popular gay bar chain, which was converted into a leather club in 1970, is a perfect symbol of gentrification in Chelsea, surrounded by the luxury condos and high-rises that have pushed out other similar bars. The Eagle is the only leather bar remaining in the neighborhood after others were forced out by rising rents, including bars like Rawhide, The Lure and The Spike. “There are several schools in the neighborhood - every day we’re walking past these stores 10 times.” “I’m pretty liberal, but I’m conservative when it comes to raising children,” said resident Scott McCormick. Same-sex parents, however, complained to The New York Times in 2014 about the “example” that gay storefronts along Eighth Avenue, laden with the naked torsos of chiseled mannequins and advertisements for peep shows, are sending to youth. Chelsea is one of the most densely populated gay enclaves in the country, home to a rowdy nightlife with bars like Boxers and Gym. In Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, its disappearing gay culture is largely a product of the neighborhood’s former bar patrons aging out of the club scene and settling down. That figure is larger than the entire population of Cincinnati.
This is despite the fact that the city’s population continues to skyrocket, having added 375,000 residents over the past five years. Lex, the city’s last remaining lesbian bar, closed in 2014.Īlthough Slate ’s June Thomas estimates that 86 active gay bars operated during the height of the club scene in 1970s New York, today there are about 40. As the Bay Area became a playground for wealthy Silicon Valley employees who have flocked to the city following the recent tech boom, clubs like the Deco Lounge, Club 8, Marlena’s and Esta Noche went under. Since San Francisco became an LGBT mecca in 1960s, over 160 gay bars have shuttered in the city, including the businesses that once lined the Castro district. Many of America’s most historically gay neighborhoods don’t seem all that queer anymore. Flex is just one of many examples of gay culture being driven out by an active culture clash, which threatens not only homes but lives.
Gentrification is often viewed as passive, just the free hand of the market exercising its right to shift the demographics of a city, but the truth is far more pernicious. Instead, bars like Fifteen continue to be threatened by the seemingly mundane forces of gentrification, which continue to force gay populations out of neighborhoods they’ve called home for decades. In June, a lesbian chef was attacked on her way home from work by a group of teenagers, while numerous trans people have been assaulted just for using the bathroom.ĭespite the rise in anti-gay hate in North Carolina, the culprit likely isn’t the far-right uprising that has given people like Donald Trump a national platform. Since the bill’s passage, reports of hate crimes have been on the rise in the Tar Heel State. The state’s governor, Pat McCrory, continues to defend the law in the face of widespread boycotts against it. In addition, HB 2 prevents local legislatures from enacting their own nondiscrimination protections to shield LGBT residents from harm.
The law, which was introduced, debated and signed into law in a single day, mandated that transgender residents use the public restroom that most closely corresponds with their gender identity. Wellons is referencing House Bill 2, the anti-LGBT bill that was swiftly pushed through the North Carolina legislature in March. “I would not be surprised if that’s involved.” “With the election year, HB 2, and all of that, people are really showing their ass this year,” he told the Raleigh Agenda. Jay Wellons, the bar’s owner, believes that the condo’s actions were politically motivated. Fifteen scrapped its DJ program to appease its neighbors, even lowering the club’s music to the minimum possible level. Residents of the complex flooded the 2-year-old establishment with citations for noise and littering, making it difficult for the bar to stay open. The club’s sudden closure leaves just two full-time gay bars in the North Carolina capital: Legends Nightclub and Flex Nightclub.įifteen, which opened in 2014, had become the target of a slew of complaints in recent months from The Dawson, a condo across the street. 28, the nightspot announced on Facebook that it would be closing, effective immediately. But Fifteen, one of Raleigh’s most popular gay bars, celebrated All Hallow’s Eve in much spookier fashion: On Oct.
Halloween weekend is one of the biggest days of the year for gay nightlife - with holiday revelers swarming crowded bars in search of pumpkin-themed drink specials, the perfect dance mix and a tanned hunk in a barely there “Sexy Mummy” costume.