In only a matter of weeks, the campaign raised $165,000. He was on the brink of ending his lease, he said, when donations suddenly surged. Courtesy Alibi Loungeĭesperate for assistance, Minko reluctantly set up an online fundraising campaign for his bar. Owner Alexi Minko in his bar, Alibi Lounge, in Harlem. A former lawyer who had poured his life savings into his business, Minko frantically applied for emergency aid through the government’s overwhelmed Paycheck Protection Program application, whose website he said continuously crashed. In March, under city mandates, owner Alexi Minko was forced to temporarily shutter his bar and soon began to run out of money. Since it opened in 2015, Alibi Lounge has become a sanctuary for LGBTQ people of color. Club Langston in Brooklyn closed last year after nearly two decades in business. Of the city’s dozens of remaining gay bars, just two - Lambda Lounge and Alibi Lounge, both in Harlem - are known to be Black owned. Though the reasons are not entirely clear, experts suspect the overall decline in gay bars is related to decades of skyrocketing rents and gentrification, which have disproportionately impacted small, Black-owned businesses the emergence of online dating sites and apps and circuit parties that rotate among venues, which have become increasingly popular among younger crowds.Īccording to online listings, there are more than 60 LGBTQ bars across the five boroughs of New York City, one of the metropolitan areas hardest hit by the pandemic, and many of these spaces are struggling to stay open. The closures have had a disproportionate impact on bars catering to women and people of color: Between 20, LGBTQ bar listings dropped by an estimated 37 percent, and those serving people of color plummeted by almost 60 percent, according to the study. Throughout the 1980s, there were more than 1,500 such bars, a number that has declined steeply since the late ‘90s, with fewer than 1,000 existing today, according to a study published last year by Oberlin College and Conservatory professor Greggor Mattson. Historically, these spaces were where the LGBTQ community gathered to find romance, make long-lasting friendships and engage in community activism. Lemon Brandsįor more than two decades, gay bars, especially those owned by people of color, have been disappearing. Charles Hughes, left, and Richard Solomon, owners of Lambda Lounge, one of two Black-owned gay bars remaining in NYC. Long before anyone had heard of Covid-19, these LGBTQ social spaces were dwindling across the country. However, you will find that most of the gay scene is surrounded around two main beaches.But a global health crisis is not the only headwind their bar, Lambda Lounge, and the few remaining Black-owned gay bars in the United States are facing. Most gay owned and operated businesses are in and around what comprises Rehoboth Beach. Rehoboth Beach doesn’t actually have a stand-alone gay neighborhood. Make sure to check-in to one of the many gay friendly B&B’s and check out the gay beaches to get that tan! The Gay Scene in Rehoboth Beach The boardwalk is a great place to people watch at night and there are several nightlife options. There are hundreds of gay owned and operated businesses patronized by a population that swells in the summer months. Rehoboth Beach is located in Delaware, as popular for it tax shelter status as it is for its clean beaches and gay friendly status. Tax-free Shopping: Time to hit the outlets! Delaware is tax-free! The Beaches: Boasting two popular gay beaches and warm water and weather in the summers, Rehoboth Beach is an ideal east coast vacation destination.
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This sandy hamlet has one of the most bustling gay beach communities in the United States. With over 200 Gay owned and operated businesses, it’s no surprise that our gay travel guide for Rehoboth is so extensive. Close proximity to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore: Only a short drive from several cities that have large gay communities, it’s easy to see why Gay Rehoboth Beach has become such a popular spot for gays and lesbians on the east coast.