While the protests and marches at The Stonewall Inn turned the bar into a symbolic headquarters for the Gay Pride movement, gay nightlife has always served as vital space for community building and escaping societal persecution. But the community and camaraderie made the bar’s buzz of activity special, and (thankfully) ordinary: Space to socialize and celebrate at a gay bar in 2016 isn’t hard to find.ĭespite the massive strides the lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, and queer communities have made in the last few decades, the shocking horror of the weekend’s shootings made clear the continued relevance and importance of these bars and nightclubs. Certainly, sober conversations and discussions around the televisions on the wall suggested nobody was unaware of the significance of the activities outside. Just one of a string of gay bars in the immediate neighborhood, The Monster was in the midst of a normal Monday. At the crescendo of one particular lyric-"that's the story of, that's the glory of love"-a crooner from the crowd, his square, white sunglasses askew, flashed a smile, adding contagious enthusiasm to an already buoyant singalong. In the corner, pianist Dan Daly was entertaining the crowd with classics, sipping a Perrier set atop his frosted glass-covered cocktail table, as patrons circled up and joined in on every number. Near the entrance, the bartender-in between giving hugs to friends and regulars-was running up and down the line, greeting regulars and reminding everyone of the 2-for-1 special tonight.
Inside The Monster, a gay bar around the corner from Stonewall, where the event played out on video screens, it was difficult to hear for a different reason. The occasional Orlando t-shirt slid through the crowd, a physical reminder of how close many of the assembled were, and felt, to those who were murdered less than 24 hours earlier.Īt the edges of the thousands-strong crowd, it was difficult to hear the speakers, or make out the shouts of solidarity. A man with rainbow-colored angel wings stood watching the scene unfold.