The rainbow flag was popularized as a symbol of the gay community by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. The parade eventually stretched 15 city blocks and encompassed thousands of supporters.Īctivists in other cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago, organized Pride celebrations that same year, celebrations that would continue through today. Several hundred people started marching up 6th Avenue, toward Central Park. Gay activists in New York organized the Christopher Street Liberation March to cap off the city’s first Pride Week. On June 28, 1970, on the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the first Pride parade set off from Stonewall. We’re going to create a community where you wouldn’t allow us to have community,’” Segal said. “And it was that night that we said to the police, ‘We are taking our street back. And the New York City Police Department that night, when they violently came into Stonewall and beat people up against the wall and extorted money from people, got us angry,” Segal continued. “We were enraged because, in a sense, 2,000 years of repression built up in us. “That night in June of 1969, we felt rage at the police,” Segal told ET’s Denny Directo, as Pride has become a stark reminder that these modern-day celebrations once started as a protest. Johnson picked up the first brick thrown in rage, kicking off the modern LGBTQ rights movement.
Vernon neighborhood for what exactly could populate the renovated, mixed-use building.Mark Segal was one of the many LGBTQ people outside Stonewall Inn, where a stand was being taken against the latest police raid of one of the community’s few safe spaces to gather in New York City. And, for their part, the new owners of Grand Central are taking feedback from the Mt. Long known to many as a strictly leather bar, the Eagle is aiming for more inclusivity in its newest iteration, with a more diverse staff and event offerings. “When there are preconceived notions, certain segments don’t feel welcome.” “We need to make sure our spaces are not only safe, but also progressive,” adds Jennings. “It’s a different kind of feeling when you go into a space and can vogue down the hallway and not be looked at like you’re crazy,” Greene explains. “I’m not saying there’s no more gay-bashing, but certainly people are more decent now than they were.”Įven so, having a place that is 100-percent accepting is a priority for the community. “It’s taken a lot of years to feel more comfortable,” Davis says. “We now need investors who are also interested in supporting the black and brown LGBTQ community.”Īnother theory for the closings is that bars in general have arguably become more accepting. “Most of the owners of these businesses were older, white gay men that entered into their golden years,” says Shelese Greene of the Pride Center of Maryland. Making sure there is a seat for everyone at the table-whether that’s the clientele or the business owners themselves-is an important part of keeping the inclusive scene alive here in Baltimore. The way a space feels safe for us now is different from when I was in my 20s.” “Our community was able to get married and start a family, and the necessity to go out and meet people just wasn’t there,” says Chris Jennings, who runs events and marketing for the newly reopened Baltimore Eagle. “Once people started meeting online, we lost a lot of business.”īeyond matchmaking websites and LGBTQ-friendly dating apps, the movement to legalize same-sex marriage in 2015 also played a part in curtailing gay-bar business.
“Years ago, gay bars were safe zones when gays were in fear of being beat up,” says Don Davis, who owned Grand Central for nearly 30 years until new owners took over earlier this year. With gay bars closing in Baltimore, it brings up the inevitable questions: Can we explain this? Are these spaces still necessary? And what comes next?
Across the street, where Club Hippo once hosted epic bingo nights, show tunes karaoke, and hip-hop parties, is now the standard bat signal of gentrification-a CVS. Sure, rainbow flags still fly outside of Grand Central Club, but it’s on borrowed time. The corner of North Charles and Eager streets just ain’t what it used to be.