Le Hanneton (lesbian bar)

Le Hanneton ("The June Bug") was a popular Parisian lesbian bar of the 1890s and early 1900s at 75 Rue Pigalle in the Montmartre district.

The brasserie was one of several Belle Epoque establishments in the Montmartre District that catered to lesbians, including also La Souris and Le Rat Mort.

[1][2] The female clients of Le Hanneton and Montmartre's other lesbian establishments were described by journalist Jean Lorain as a mix of young and old, of cabaret singers, painters' models, housewives, and affluent society women.

[6] Writer, singer, and lyricist Gabriel Montoya collaborated with the painter and lithographer Odilon Redon on a series of depictions of various nightclubs and brasseries in Montmartre, which included Le Hanneton.

In the poem, he describes the bar's customers as "perverse flowers of love" who "lean on their elbows, coquettish", and as "androgynes and sphinxes" who "nourish strange passions".