Unfortunately, gay bars in communities where they’re needed most – where they serve the most vulnerable segments of the LGBT population – will have the most difficult time rebounding from the crisis. On the one hand, this decline can be seen as a sign of shifting attitudes toward LGBT people on the other hand, their closure represents the loss of a vital community space. My research shows that as many as 37% of the United States’ gay bars shut down from 2007 to 2019. Their decline began sometime around 2002 and has since accelerated.
But gay bars were already closing their doors before the virus hit.
