{"id":24338,"date":"2021-05-03T14:56:05","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T21:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000019946"},"modified":"2021-05-06T10:51:27","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T17:51:27","slug":"as-restrictions-thaw-long-beachs-gay-bars-are-coming-back-after-a-dark-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/news\/as-restrictions-thaw-long-beachs-gay-bars-are-coming-back-after-a-dark-year","title":{"rendered":"As restrictions thaw, Long Beach\u2019s gay bars are coming back after a dark year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Michael Romero, owner of The Crest, works behind the bar at his North Long Beach establishment, Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a brisk Monday evening at the Mineshaft, a 43-year-old gay bar situated on the Broadway Corridor, the slow business hours of the establishment belie the boisterous jubilation inside\u2014if only celebrated by five men.<\/p>\n

The men laugh and converse as they sip beer and vodka cranberry cocktails. They\u2019ve got a lot to catch up on; for several of the men in attendance, it\u2019s the first time they\u2019ve seen one another in over a year.<\/p>\n

Though the COVID-19 pandemic put immense strain on communities across the board, for the Long Beach gay community, 2020 was especially isolating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019ve lost a lot of connection, and this year has made it worse,\u201d said 46-year-old Ryan Schroeder, who lives near the bar.<\/p>\n

With restrictions on public gatherings especially stringent on enclosed spaces like bars, many of the city\u2019s gay bars were closed through the bulk of 2020 and into this year.<\/p>\n

Many owners feared for the survival of their businesses, not just for their own livelihoods, but for the sake of the gay community, which has historically found sanctuary and community inside their establishments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a place where you can go and be yourself and not be ridiculed by anybody. You can show PDA and not and not be afraid that somebody is going to hurt you,\u201d said Michael Romero, who owns The Crest in North Long Beach.<\/p>\n

Last year was especially tough for Romero, he said, as it marked not just his 60th birthday but the 25th anniversary of his bar in Long Beach. His plans to celebrate were throttled.<\/p>\n

Pride week, and the annual parade that is traditionally celebrated in mid-May, was always a joyous and lively period, drawing in huge crowds to his bar and others in the city.<\/p>\n

The city announced that it would not host the annual Pride parade in-person this year and opted for a virtual celebration as a safety precaution since the event would draw tens of thousands of people. Though it was already a blow for the gay community to forgo last year\u2019s celebration, this year is just as demoralizing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely put a strain on me just being a gay person and not being able to partake,\u201d Romero said. \u201cI love decorating the bar for it, meeting all the new people, to see everybody so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Romero said his bar will be open for Pride Week, he won\u2019t be advertising any special events and will be operating in accordance with the city\u2019s guidelines. The boisterous nature of Pride isn\u2019t conducive to county health precautions, which require patrons to stay seated at their tables with their respective parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody wants to go from table to table and socialize and meet people,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

There may be some relief soon, however. Los Angeles County qualified for the \u201cyellow tier\u201d the week of April 26\u2014which is the least restrictive in the state\u2019s \u201cblueprint\u201d for COVID-19 metrics. If the county reports low numbers again on Tuesday, May 4, health officials could move to open bars indoors at 25% capacity for the first time in more than a year.<\/p>\n

And if the state maintains its current trajectory on COVID-19 numbers, the governor has said everything will open back up on June 15.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Vehicles zoom past construction along Cherry Avenue in front of The Crest, Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That doesn\u2019t however, diminish the disappointment over this year\u2019s Pride celebration.<\/p>\n

At the Mineshaft, the five men who recently gathered echoed similar sentiments of dismay regarding the news of a virtual Pride, and wistfully recalled past celebrations. The liveliness, seeing rainbow flags on every corner, watching thousands of people blissfully \u201cjust being themselves,\u201d Dan Nakori, 72, said.<\/p>\n

Rob Ramone Flores, who lives across the street from the Mineshaft, said he made sure to celebrate last year\u2019s Pride in his own way at home with a couple of cocktails and some Zoom calls. Though Flores said he frequents other bars in the city, gay bars like the Mineshaft feel like home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are certain times when I just want to be around gay people,\u201d he said. \u201cWhenever I walk into a gay bar, yeah, I want to have a good time and be silly, but when I walk into these doors, I\u2019m walking on the shoulders of people who have paved the way for all of us to feel free to come to a [gay] bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long Beach has a long history with gay bars dating back to the 1970s, said Carlos Torres, the new executive director of the LGBTQ Center Long Beach on Retro Row. Ripples, one of the first and longest-running gay bars in the city opened in 1972 and after 47 years closed its doors in 2019. Que Sera, the city\u2019s first lesbian bar, opened in 1975.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the early days, some of these businesses were started underground, like speakeasies where you had to have their own password to enter because of harassment, particularly by police,\u201d Torres said. \u201cPolice would frequently raid known gay establishments because for the longest time homosexuality was considered a mental illness, in Europe and the U.S. as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though historically Long Beach has been progressive and open-minded of its queer residents, during the `70s and `80s the Long Beach Police Department was notorious for entrapping members of the LGBTQ community, particularly gay men in bars and at \u201ccruise spots\u201d where they frequently met for sexual encounters.<\/p>\n

Even the inaugural Long Beach Pride Parade in 1984 was a hard-fought win for the gay community and lasted only 30 minutes despite drawing thousands.<\/p>\n

The following year, Judi Doyle, the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade president, said she was threatened with violence in the weeks leading up to the 1985 march, as reported by Los Angeles LGBTQ newspaper, The Pride.<\/p>\n

Long Beach has certainly made strides since and is lauded for its inclusivity and celebration of the queer communities. But this doesn\u2019t detract from the relevance and necessity for spaces like the Mineshaft, The Falcon, The Brit, the Silver Fox and other gay bars in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering all the legislation that is before state houses right now regarding access to sports by transgender individuals, I think spaces like gay bars continue to be ground zero for that community to be able to employ that sense of belonging,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n

Torres also pointed to the recent destruction of the rainbow-painted lifeguard tower near 12th Place as an example of why safe spaces are still needed for the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the progress, there is still a lot of a lot of bias out in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many owners feared for the survival of their businesses, not just for their own livelihoods, but for the sake of the gay community, which has historically found sanctuary and community inside their establishments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":71555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2002],"tags":[31862],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[8767],"class_list":["post-24338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-pride","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24338"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=24338"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=24338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}