OutClique Magazine December 2023

Raising the Bars “I’ll meet you at the bar.” That phrase has been used

by LGBTQIA+ for decades. In many communities, you don’t need to say the name because there is only one bar in the area.

But it doesn’t matter if you live in a town with one watering hole or a thriving area like Wilton Manors, our bars hold our history. Their patrons pass it down one generation, one night, one drink at a time.

Now, Stonewall National Museum Archives, & Library in Fort Lauderdale is teaming up with GayBarchives to detail, preserve, and spread LGBTQIA+ history in a project called Raising the Bars.

“When I started researching the history of gay bars across the country and hearing the heartfelt stories of hundreds of thousands of people who remember things that happened in the seventies or before in these bars, [the need to team up] became obvious. The marriage between GayBarchives and Stonewall began and we started tossing ideas around,” Art Smith of GayBarchives said.

The announcement was made at Eagle in Wilton Manors, the heart of what many call the gayest place on Planet Earth.

Stonewall is a growing collection of books, periodicals, and other media chronicling LGBTQIA+ history.

Executive Director Robert Kesten says the collaboration makes sense for everyone.

“Just like bars are places for people to come together, so are libraries. Libraries need to be the village greens of the future because fewer and fewer people take out books, but they still need places to call home.”

Next autumn they hope to have assembled exhibitions that can go on the road to bars throughout the country.

Each will be curated for the needs of the particular destination.

For more on the project, visit GayBarchives.com.

Author: John Hayden | Photo Courtesy of Raising the Bars