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The journey that emerges is a stylish and nuanced inquiry into the connection between place and identity-a tale of liberation, but one that invites us to go beyond the simplified Stonewall mythology and enter lesser-known battlefields in the struggle to carve out a territory. He charts police raids and riots, posing and passing out-and a chance encounter one restless night that would change his life forever. In prose as exuberant as a hit of poppers and dazzling as a disco ball, he time-travels from Hollywood nights in the 1970s to a warren of cruising tunnels built beneath London in the 1770s from chichi bars in the aftermath of AIDS to today’s fluid queer spaces through glory holes, into Crisco-slicked dungeons and down San Francisco alleys. In Gay Bar, the author embarks upon a transatlantic tour of the hangouts that marked his life, with each club, pub, and dive revealing itself to be a palimpsest of queer history. But in urban centers around the world, they are closing, a cultural demolition that has Jeremy Atherton Lin wondering: What was the gay bar? How have they shaped him? And could this spell the end of gay identity as we know it? Strobing lights and dark rooms throbbing house and drag queens on counters first kisses, last call: the gay bar has long been a place of solidarity and sexual expression-whatever your scene, whoever you’re seeking. "Atherton Lin has a five-octave, Mariah Carey-esque range for discussing gay sex.” – New York Times Book ReviewĪs gay bars continue to close at an alarming rate, a writer looks back to find out what’s being lost in this indispensable, intimate, and stylish celebration of queer history. “ Gay Bar is an absolute tour de force.” –Maggie Nelson NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: The New York Times * NPR * Vogue * Gay Times * Artforum * A new anthology of writing has brought together a sweeping global selection of such places, cataloguing the sheer variety of spaces LGBTQ people have created or co-opted to protect themselves and boost their communities’ resilience.National Book Critics Circle Award Winner NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: The New York Times * NPR * Vogue * Gay Times * Artforum * “ Gay Bar is an absolute tour de force.” –Maggie Nelson "Atherton Lin has a five-octave, Mariah Carey-esque range for discussing gay sex.” – New York Times Book Review As gay bars continue to close at an alarming rate, a writer looks b National Book Critics Circle Award Winner These spaces include bars and clubs, naturally, but also theaters, parks, museums, archives, private homes, bookshops and even such unlikely places as trains or historic monuments during particular seasons or times of day.
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As a result, LGBTQ people have found ways to create spaces of their own, places where they can connect and feel included (if not always safe), free from the need to self-monitor or repress their identity. Even today, simply expressing gender non-conformity or failing to conceal same-sex attraction can potentially put you at risk of danger or ostracism pretty much everywhere in the world, whether it is on a public street or a in hostile home. Throughout much of history, LGBTQ people have found themselves excluded from, or threatened and stigmatized within many shared spaces.