A new book titled The Bars Are Ours from Duke University Press, written by Lucas Hilderbrand, explores the history of LGBTQIA+ bars in the US from 1960 to the modern day. The book highlights how queer bars have represented queer communities, politics, and cultures in the US for the better part of a century. Hilderbrand, an author and Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine, offers insight into the history of queer communities throughout the US, including Black and Latinx origins of drag bars in Kansas City, New York’s bathhouses, and activism against racial discrimination in Atlanta.
The book also covers other locations with prominent queer nightlife across the US, such as Denver, Chicago, Detroit, Seattle, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Orlando. Mary’s, Houston’s oldest gay bar that closed down in 2009, is featured in the book as well. Mary’s had a garden with a memorial dedicated to the victims of HIV and AIDS, with all profits from drag queen tips and vegetables grown in the garden going to charity.
For Hilderbrand, inclusivity was fundamental in documenting the community-specific histories and cultures of Black and Latinx gay bars, without exoticizing or claiming to speak for them. The book’s blurb reads, “Gay bars have operated as the most visible institutions of the LGBTQ+ community in the United States for the better part of a century, from before gay liberation until after their assumed obsolescence.” Readers can find more information on The Bars Are Ours on the Duke University Press website.
Gemma Ross, Mixmag’s Assistant Editor, highlights that Hilderbrand’s book offers a crucial look into the queer community’s history in the US, including its origins and the political and cultural implications of queer spaces. Mixmag has previously featured other books such as Simon Reynolds’ exploring the roots and future of electronic music and a new book exploring Berlin club culture titled Berghain Nights
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