Lesbian bar
[11][12] Parisian bars and brasseries for lesbians were numerous in Montmartre as far back as the late 1800s and early 1900s; among them were Le Rat Mort, La Souris and the Hanneton.
[13][14] San Francisco's Mona's 440 Club, opened in 1936, is widely cited as the first lesbian bar in the United States.
[21] Lesbian and gay identification and bar culture expanded exponentially with the migration and passing through of people in big cities during and after World War II.
[23] Homosexual acts were illegal in the United States until gradual decriminalization from 1962 to 2003, and police raids were a risk at places where lesbianism was considered criminal indecency.
Lesbians could be harassed and detained by the police for publicly gathering in a place where alcohol was being served, dancing with someone of the same gender, or failure to present identification.
[5] Some San Francisco bar owners banded together in the Tavern Guild to fight back against this, collecting funds to defend patrons who had been arrested in raids.
[21] Men were often the landlords of lesbian bars, in order to secure liquor licenses and navigate relationships with the police and the Mafia.
[5][18] In addition to drinking, lesbian bar culture has also revolved around community building, dancing, and pool playing.
[5] These pieces of history are being lost as the "neighborhood lesbian bar" is increasingly unable to make rent payments, and as gentrification contributes to declining patronage.
The repositioning into queer spaces is, according to the Washington Post, sometimes viewed negatively, "particularly [by] older women who identify as lesbian, [who] bristle at that expansion".
[35] According to Tagg Magazine, Henrietta Hudson's rebranding "proved to be controversial" on social media as to some it felt the bar was no longer lesbian-centered.
[44] Lesbian bars have become rare in Western culture nations, and there are signs of decline in parts of Asia as well.
[6] Some current and past lesbian bars include: Various nights occur regularly in Sydney catering to LGBTQ women.
[85] According to a June 2021 article on PBS NewsHour, there were more than 200 lesbian bars across the United States in the late 1980s and that number has dropped to 21 due to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the availability of dating apps, gentrification, and assimilation of queer people.
