What was it like being Black and gay in the 1970s?

Oh they didn't exist back then.

Teacak.

There's no such thing as a colored fag.

- Archie Bunker, 1970s icon

"Safe spaces..."

In segregated cities like D.C. the gay bars were often segregated, too, there would be black gay bars as well as white ones

Peachy Keen.

Two black guys tried to beat the shit out of me after I left a gay bar in the 1987. It wasn't even in a black neighborhood. So, I guess no intersectionality.

I've listened to various stories of both gays and black people about the 70s, and maybe the grand eldergays can weigh in here, but I get the impression that while both homophobia and racism were a problem, it wasn't as big a problem as you may think - at least in major urban areas, because everyone was having a good time. People didn't have a problem crossing over, mingling, partying, and sometimes sleeping with each other. They all seem to point to the 80s and AIDS as to when everything changed.

I knew a gay black couple when I was stationed in Germany ('77-'79). They too were in the Army; you would never have guessed that either one of them was gay, and they made quite the handsome couple.

Sadly, they were both killed while passengers in the back seat of a car that was hit by a truck.

They were sweet guys. May they RIP.

As I recall, our gay bars in Atlanta in the 70s were mixed. I believe there were also black gay bars, too.

In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, there were 'black gay bars' in both NYC and San Francisco. But of course, they weren't exclusively black - more like a place for black men and the men who love them. And as others have said, in these towns, gay black men who chose to go to predominantly white gay bars were welcome without a hiccup. There were asian bars as well - same MO.

I used to love Piano Bars, and there certainly was a cross-section of gay men who joined me there.

I recall gay bars in SF back then that had both white and black regulars. Some of the blacks were drag queens. This was so long ago.

There used to be a black bar on West 72nd, right west of Columbus—no idea what happened to it.

I really miss David Ehrenstein sometimes. Yeah, he might come flying in with some angry damn comment about this topic, but then he'd probably have some interesting stories.

Shit! I forgot one!

This was in the early 80s, but close enough for government work.

My gf and I were in the "bookstore" looking for sex toys, and we ran into someone we knew from the gay AA meeting. I was so naive, I called out to him, "Hey, [his name], what are you doing here?" Back then, I didn't even know what gay men did in those bookstores, so I had no idea what an asshole I was... He tipped his chin down and skulked out the front door.

I think he was a big shot at the local PBS station way back then. I felt bad about it later. Oh, well.

[quote]There used to be a black bar on West 72nd, right west of Columbus—no idea what happened to it.

I don't remember its name, but I went there on a few occasions because it was local. I was intrigued, a bit scared, but energized by the exoticness of it. I did go home with one handsome, young guy and took him to my apartment on West End Avenue. The tryst started out well, but I couldn't get a reading on where it would end - top, bottom, or side. I think he sensed my discomfort, and that I was not your stereotypical white bottom looking for a black buck. Fortunately, it ended exactly the way it should, and I think we both had a great time.

Oh -- and he was black. Sorry -- I guess I missed the main point.

Elder gay here. My busiest times were in the 70s, 80s and 90s. My first black guy (I'm white) led me on a search for more blacks. I know I met some online, AOL I am sure. One I met that way came to live with me for 2-1/2 years. I had been told that it was common for young blacks to look for white sugar daddies, and who was I to resist. Living in Southern California at the time, I found several nightclubs that catered to a mixed crowd. Those were the days. Retired now.

I don’t know. I was old (and spoken for), and nobody gave a shit even to ask why I was single.

It seemed like the black gay bars were always owned by white men. They were in the cities I’ve lived in or visited.

There was a place in LA called the Study on Western off of Hollywood Blvd in the 90s.

Every gay bar I ever went to had a mix of races, but there were still separate black gay bars as well. Some in gay areas - but mainly in black neighborhoods.

Despite what people may think, the gay and lesbian community have always been more open and accepting than other communities. Not to say there aren't racists, but civil rights/gay rights/women's rights - it was a collective mindset.

There were a couple in West Village - one on Christopher Street - but I can't remember the name. I think it was on corner of Christopher and Greenwich. I think it's now a French restaurant - Libertine.

Jewel Thais-Williams just passed away on July 7th at age 86. Jewel was the proprietor and creator of Jewel's Catch One, the premier Black gay disco in Los Angeles. Founded in 1973, Jewels Catch One was the epicenter of Black gay life for decades. Many longterm Black gay and lesbian relationships started at "The Catch."

As a white eldergay, my perspective is from the outside. Philadelphia had two perhaps at times three Black gay bars. That's in the center city scene. I think for a while or from time to time there were Black gay bars in Germantown and West Philly. The white gay bars were nominally integrated, but black gays were often carded at the door and denied entrance. At least one had protesters outside for a short while because of the door policy. There was one bar that was where white and Black gay men went to meet each other. There was an active chapter of BWMT (Black and White Men Together) that was activist and also social. This description is all about men, I can't speak to the lesbian scene. There was at least one drag bar that had a large Black clientele. (Upstairs above a restaurant, you had to buzz the door and be admitted after they looked at you through a sliding little window.) The larger black men's bars were white-owned; one black-owned bar, on Arch St. like about 11th St., was Black owned, I think.

They used to have "Chocolate Sunday" at one of the bars in WEHO back in the 90s. They may have had similar nights at bars and bathhouses in the 70s that might have been more exclusive to black men.