June 2021

It was a Friday night in the 1980s and police raided the Spurs, a popular gay bar in Cincinnati. Carl Fox and others have been ordered by police to line up with their IDs.

“I didn’t dare move. I was against the wall,” he said, adding that there was a police van nearby. “They were ready.

Fox is 63 and opened Rosie’s Tavern, a gay bar in Covington, about 20 years ago. After selling it, he opened the Crazy Fox Saloon in Newport. It is decorated with rainbow flags and a plush fox. He considers it a gay-friendly bar where everyone is welcome, which is important to him.

He and his partner of around 25, Terry Bond, remember how much the gay bar scene meant to them and their peers when they were younger.

Fox says that Friday night in the 1980s, several people were beaten by police as they tried to escape through the patio. The agents inside tried to upset people.

“They came right up to me, put a flashlight at my face, called me an f–, looked at my ID, asked me if my parents knew they had raised an f -, called me by name, shouted my address, “Fox said.” And if you dare say a word, you get beaten up. ”

Back then, people used to give false names in bars to hide their identities. Fox said he would meet three people on a night named “Joe Smith”.

The real names of those arrested were published in the newspaper, calling them homosexuals. Many lost their jobs and were ostracized by their friends and family. Despite the risk of police raids, gay bars were essential for LGBTQ people.

“The bar felt like a place you could be safe,” Fox said. “This was the place where you would meet all your friends. This is where you made new friends and you knew you weren’t going to be judged, not like you were being judged at home or at the school. “church or your job or whatever. It was a refuge, I guess.

This refuge was particularly important in the 1980s and 1990s as the HIV epidemic ravaged the LGBTQ community. Terry Bond, 54, says it galvanized people.

“It really engaged the community in a way that I don’t think it had before.”

Rather than just drinking together, the LGBTQ community was the first person to raise money for HIV research – even though it wasn’t called HIV at the time – and the first to publish articles on the virus. and safe sex practices, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC says nearly 330,000 gay and bisexual men have died of AIDS in the United States since the 1980s. The most recent data shows they are still at highest risk for contracting HIV.

In 2018, the CDC reports that 37,968 people were diagnosed with HIV in the United States. About 66% identified as gay or bisexual men; about 24% contracted the virus through heterosexual sex.

As the spread of HIV worsened, LGBTQ people had to recruit allies to prevent and treat the virus, Fox and Bond said.

Building allies meant creating a stronger movement for LGBTQ equality and health – something they are grateful for – but it also meant losing some of the intimate gay bars created.

“Now there’s a certain nostalgia for it because you gain stuff – you gain more acceptance in society,” Bond said. “But you’re also kind of losing that tight-knit community that you were used to and grew up in.”

Nowadays, they say, bars tend to be more “gay-friendly,” accepting allies into the fold.

Fox is now retired and Bond runs the Crazy Fox. He says the fear of an unknown virus during the COVID-19 pandemic was eerily reminiscent of what he and Fox went through in the 1980s. Because of this, they were especially strict with the mask mandate, social distancing and the seats outside, even during the winter.

“There are strong and strong parallels in terms of responsibility – the parallel between safer sex and ‘look, wear a mask, take care of each other’, and issues of personal responsibility,” Bond said.

Will the Gay Safe Space last?

In downtown Cincinnati, Paul Bogenschutz and Tim Ruffner have owned Bar 901 at Brittany since 2018. They are younger than Fox and Bond, but they still grew up fearful of violence and discrimination due to their sexual orientation.

“I’m very aware of where I am. So if I was ever on a date… you still won’t find me putting my hand on his back or holding his hand or me. lean towards, say, a kiss, for example, “Bogenschutz said.” What I always love about gay bars is that I can show appropriate affection and not have to worry about my life being in danger inside the bar or on my way back to my car. I find a lot of value in it and it’s important for me to keep it going for others. ”

Ruffner said their bar is small and intimate. It’s supposed to feel like a big living room where people can have conversations without being drowned out by loud music.

They recognize that the gay bar scene has changed over the years. Rather than being a space exclusively for LGBTQ people, the new generation of gay bars are more open and inviting to everyone.

Just as some LGBTQ youth are not afraid to be themselves openly in public, heterosexuals seem more and more comfortable joining their friends in gay and “gay-friendly” bars.

None of the bar owners think this refers to the end of gay bars.

“People say that in 50 years (…) there will still be gay bars, hopefully, but it won’t necessarily be because of the need for a safe space,” Ruffner said.

Lancaster County is hot, so now is the perfect time to decorate yourself with a wide-brimmed hat, shorts and your favorite sandals. Additionally, pandemic restrictions have been lifted, allowing most restaurants and bars to dine indoors and out.

So, it’s time to catch up on all the fun summer drinks you might have missed last summer.

Here are some drink trends to check out in Lancaster County this summer, reminding you of how to be sociable in the sun.

Selzer

In 2019, as beverages became a cultural phenomenon, Hardselzer paved the way for dominant alcohol trends and beer coolers across the country.

Gluten-free and low-calorie drinks appeal to those who need a special diet and come in many flavors not found in typical beer choices. Lancaster County restaurants, bars and breweries have added Hardselzer to their beverage lineup over the past two years.

Some local breweries, such as Lancaster’s Iron Hill Brewery, which recently launched the Rivet Hard Selzer line, are starting to make their own Selzer.

Iron Hill now has homemade mango and black cherry selzers, and some retailers also sell assorted packaging such as black cherries, mangoes, creamy orange shekels, and limoncello.

The Black Forest brewery in Efrata recently launched Hardselzer. Hardselzer is available in a variety of flavors such as plain or cherry, mango, blueberry, passion fruit, and watermelon. You can mix the flavors to make a personalized drink.

Alcohol-free cocktails

One of the biggest summer drink trends may be completely alcohol-free. Cocktails are served at select Lancaster County restaurants, but alcohol is optional.

The Commonwealth Kitchen and Café in downtown Lancaster offers ‘moderate cocktails’ or ready-made cocktails without alcohol.

The restaurant is BYOB and the menu includes a combination of liquors, but the drinks are designed to be a delicious option for those who love brunch and don’t drink, operations director Michael Sirianni said.

Options include a shot of Bloody Mary (called Common Mary) and an optional rum watermelon and mint mojito.

Luca, an award-winning restaurant in downtown Lancaster, offers a cohesive menu of alcohol-free cocktails including straight Negroni, Juni Party, orange peel and demerara syrup with non-alcoholic appetizer.

Other non-alcoholic drinks include lemon-basil spritzer and amaro-based relbolista.

Different ways to absorb

Some local restaurants and bars have relied on take-out cocktails after pandemic closures prevented people from going out and drinking. Now that the restaurant is reopening for indoor and outdoor dining, liquor rules have become stricter again, but some bar owners want an extension.

In the meantime, the way people choose to drink cocktails has evolved, and some of those changes are staying there.

The tap handle behind the bar isn’t just for beer anymore. Cocktails on tap are now part of the landscape of local consumption. For example, Annie Bailey’s pub in downtown Lancaster has a selection of rotating cocktails, including knee-length drinks, paloma, and margarita options.

And this summer, refreshing alcoholic drinks go beyond fine cocktails, wine and beer. Bartenders experiment with locally made beer and mead as ingredients for cocktails.

Mannheim-based Artifice Ales and Mead offers a beer-based chocolate milkshake made from crafty Irish stout from a brewery. This sweet summer drink is also available at the Medized Medery in downtown Lancaster.