Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents xi
3. Preface: A Sociologist Walks into a Bar 1
4. Part One. Ambivalence
5. Chapter 1 Ambivalence about Gay Bars 11
6. Chapter 2 Changing Bars and Aging Bodies 21
7. Chapter 3 Outpost Bars Put Assumptions under Scrutiny 28
8. Chapter 4 Gay Bar History 37
9. Chapter 5 Not-Quite-for-Profit, Privately- Owned Community Assets 47
10. Part Two. Gay Bar Fundamentals
11. Chapter 6 Mom and Moms and Pop and Pops 57
12. Chapter 7 The Training Grounds of America’s Next Drag Superstars 69
13. Chapter 8 Bars for People of Color and the Ambivalence of Racial Camp 79
14. Chapter 9 There Are Easier Ways to Make a Buck in the Big City than a Big Nightclub 88
15. Chapter 10 Queer Spaces in the Gayborhood 96
16. Chapter 11 Small-City Gay Bars and the Only Gay in the Village 106
17. Part Three. Safe Spaces for Whom
18. Chapter 12 Gay Bars Were Never Safe Spaces 115
19. Chapter 13 Undocu-Queer Dreaming and Government ID 125
20. Chapter 14 Owners Behaving Badly 131
21. Chapter 15 Our Gender Is Medicine 139
22. Chapter 16 Conflicts over Safety in the Queer Pub 147
23. Part Four. Lesbian-Owned Bars
24. Chapter 17 Lost Womyn’s Spaces, Found Lesbian Bars 155
25. Chapter 18 I Always Hated Lesbian Bars 166
26. Chapter 19 Why Can’t We Be Straight Friendly? 172
27. Chapter 20 White Folks, Gay Men, and Straight Black Folks Don’t Come 179
28. Chapter 21 The Drama of Owning a Queer Bar 188
29. Chapter 22 Women First, Lesbians Second, But Everyone’s Welcome 195
30. Part Five. Cruisy Men’s Bars
31. Chapter 23 Democratizing Sexy Community 201
32. Chapter 24 We Were a Bear Bar. The Trans Community Was Extremely Forgiving 212
33. Chapter 25 Rebranding The Eagle for the Next Generations 221
34. Chapter 26 Leathermen at Drag Bingo 230
35. Chapter 27 Queering the Gay Strip Club 239
36. Part Six. How to Save a Gay Bar
37. Chapter 28 Crowdfunding While Black 249
38. Chapter 29 Nonprofit Ownership Means We Celebrate Pride Every Week 258
39. Chapter 30 Part of an Otherwise-Straight Hospitality Group 264
40. Chapter 31 The Benefits of Employee Ownership Caven Enterprises’ JR’s, Sue Ellen’s, TMC, S4, and Rose Room DALLAS, TEXAS 272
41. Chapter 32 #SaveTheGayBars from Another Pandemic 280
42. Part Seven. National Monuments
43. Chapter 33 National Archive 289
44. Chapter 34 National Memorial 301
45. Chapter 35 Municipal Landmark in Exile 310
46. Chapter 36 AIDS Altars in Plain Sight 319
47. Chapter 37 A Post-Gay, Not-Gay, Very Gay, Un-Bar 327
48. Acknowledgments 337
49. Notes 341
50. Index 403