Editing Gay bar (section)

==History==
[[File:STS Bank, Tampere (1973-6), Finland, architect Kosti Kuronen.jpg|thumb|200px|The {{ill|Mixei|fi}} [[nightclub]] in [[Tammela, Tampere|Tammela]], [[Tampere]], is the oldest still operating gay bar in [[Finland]], having first opened its doors in 1990.<ref>[http://www.mixei.com/index_en.php Mixei]: The oldest, still operating gay bar in Finland.</ref>]]
Gathering places favoured by homosexuals have operated for centuries. Reports from as early as the 17th century record the existence of bars and clubs that catered to, or at least tolerated, openly gay clientele in several major European cities.<ref>Tim Blanning. ''The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815''. p 80. {{ISBN|978-0-670-06320-8}}.</ref> The White Swan (created by James Cook and Yardley, full name unknown) on [[Vere Street, Westminster|Vere Street]], in [[London]], England, was raided in 1810 during the so-called [[Vere Street Coterie]]. The raid led to the executions of John Hepburn and Thomas White for [[sodomy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/new1800.html|title=Newgate executions 1800 - 1836|website=www.capitalpunishmentuk.org}}</ref> The site was the scene of alleged [[gay marriage]]s carried out by the [[Reverend John Church]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Caryn E. |last=Neumann |title=The Vere Street Coterie |url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/vere_street_coterie.html |date=17 June 2007 |access-date=2008-11-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610020523/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/vere_street_coterie.html |archive-date=2015-06-10 }}</ref>

It is not clear which place is the first gay bar in the modern sense. In [[Cannes]], France, such a bar had already opened in 1885, and there were many more in Berlin around 1900. In the United Kingdom and the Netherlands gay bars were established throughout the first quarter of the 20th century.

===China===
{{See also|LGBT history in China}}

The oldest gay bar in [[Beijing]] is the Half-and-Half, which in 2004 had been open over ten years.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jm2NAgAAQBAJ|title=Gay and Lesbian Subculture in Urban China|first=Loretta Wing Wah|last=Ho|date=September 10, 2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135256579|via=Google Books}}</ref> The first lesbian bar in China (also in Beijing) was Maple Bar, opened in 2000 by pop singer [[Qiao Qiao]]. The On/Off was a popular bar for both gay men and lesbians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newurbanquestion.ifou.org/proceedings/3%20The%20Urbanized%20Society/poster%20papers/B034_Teng_Jingru_Lesbian%20Spaces%20in%20Beijing.pdf |title=LESBIAN SPACES IN BEIJING|date=2009 |website= newurbanquestion.ifou.org|access-date=2020-10-03}}</ref> The increase in China's gay and lesbian bars in recent years is linked to China's opening up to global capitalism and its consequent economic and social restructuring.<ref name="auto1"/>

=== Denmark ===
{{See also|LGBT rights in Denmark}}

The bar Centralhjørnet in [[Copenhagen]] opened in 1917 and became a gay bar in the 1950s. It now claims to be one of the oldest gay bars in Europe.<ref>See: [http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/gaycopenhagen LGBT Copenhagen]</ref> The main Copenhagen gay district is the [[Latin Quarter, Copenhagen|Latin Quarter]].

=== France ===
The very first gay bar in Europe and probably in the world was the Zanzibar in Cannes on the French Riviera. The Zanzibar was opened in 1885 and existed for 125 years, before it was closed in December 2010. Among its visitors were many artists, like actor [[Jean Marais]] and comedians [[Thierry Le Luron]] and [[Coluche]].<ref>RTBF.be: [https://www.rtl.be/art/info/monde/france/france-fermeture-du-plus-vieux-bar-gay-d-europe-a-cannes-208944.aspx], January 7, 2011</ref>
{{Main|LGBT culture in Paris}}
[[Paris]] became known as a centre for gay culture in the 19th century, making the city a queer capital during the early 20th century, when the [[Montmartre]] and [[Quartier Pigalle|Pigalle]] districts were meeting places of the LGBTQ+ community. Although [[Amsterdam]], [[Berlin]], and London had more meeting places and organizations than Paris, the latter was known for the "flamboyance" of LGBTQ+ quarters and "visibility" of LGBTQ+ celebrities.<ref name=Tamagnep240>Florence Tamagne, ''Paris: 'Resting on its Laurels'?'', in: Queer Cities, Queer Cultures: Europe since 1945, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r6zDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA240 240].</ref>

Paris retained the LGBTQ+ capital image after the end of [[World War II]], but the center of the meeting place shifted to [[Saint-Germain-des-Prés]]. In the 1950s and 1960s the police and authorities tolerated homosexuals as long as the conduct was private and out of view, but gay bar raids occurred and there were occasions when the owners of the bars were involved in facilitating the raids. Lesbians rarely visited gay bars and instead socialized in circles of friends. Lesbians who did go to bars often originated from the working class.<ref name=Tamagnep242243>Tamagne, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r6zDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA242 242]- [https://books.google.com/books?id=r6zDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA243 243].</ref> [[Chez Moune]], opened in 1936, and [[New Moon (nightclub)|New Moon]] were 20th-century lesbian cabarets located in [[Place Pigalle]], which converted to mixed music clubs in the 21st century.<ref>Laurent Jézéquel, "[http://www.telerama.fr/sortir/new-moon-comment-un-cabaret-de-pigalle-est-devenu-le-qg-du-rock-alternatif,132223.php New Moon : comment un cabaret de Pigalle est devenu le QG du rock alternatif", ''Telerama'']''   Publié le 05/10/2015. Mis à jour le 07/10/2015 à 18h59.''</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lostwomynsspace.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html|title=Lost Womyn's Space|website=lostwomynsspace.blogspot.com}}</ref>

Since the 1980s, the [[Le Marais]] district is the center of the gay scene in Paris.

=== Germany ===
{{Main|LGBT culture in Berlin}}
{{See also|First homosexual movement}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1983-0121-500, Berlin, Bar "Eldorado".jpg|thumb|right|The gay club Eldorado in Berlin, 1932]]
In [[Berlin]], there was gay and lesbian night life already around 1900, which throughout the 1920s became very open and vibrant, especially when compared to other capitals. Especially in the [[Schöneberg]] district around [[Nollendorfplatz]] there were many cafes, bars and clubs, which also attracted gay people who had to flee their own country in fear of prosecution, like for example [[Christopher Isherwood]]. The gay club Eldorado in the [[Motzstraße]] was internationally known for its [[transvestite]] shows. There was also a relatively high number of places for lesbians. Within a few weeks after the Nazis took over government in 1933, fourteen of the best known gay establishments were closed. After homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969, many gay bars opened in [[West Berlin]], resulting in a lively gay scene.

In [[Munich]], a number of gay and lesbian bars are documented as early as the [[Golden Twenties]]. Since the 1960s, the ''Rosa Viertel'' (pink quarter) developed in the ''Glockenbachviertel'' and around ''Gärtnerplatz'', which in the 1980s made Munich "one of the four gayest metropolises in the world" along with San Francisco, New York City and Amsterdam.<ref name="stankiewitz">{{cite book |last=Stankiewitz |first=Karl |date=May 2018|title=Aus is und Gar is |publisher=Allitera Verlag |isbn=978-3-96233-023-1|language=de}}</ref> In particular, the area around [[Müllerstraße]] and ''Hans-Sachs-Straße'' was characterized by numerous gay bars and nightclubs. One of them was the [[Travesti (theatre)|travesty]] nightclub ''Old Mrs. Henderson'', where [[Freddie Mercury]], who lived in Munich from 1979 to 1985, filmed the music video for the song ''[[Living on My Own]]'' at his 39th birthday party.<ref name="stankiewitz"/><ref name="mitvergnuegen">{{cite web|url=https://muenchen.mitvergnuegen.com/2017/11-verrueckt-vergessen-clubs-muenchen/ |title=11 verrückte Clubs in München, die Geschichte schrieben |trans-title=11 crazy clubs in Munich that made history |last=Schauberger |first=Anja |publisher=Mit Vergnuegen |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref><ref name="BR_20211004">{{cite AV media |title=Sechs Jahre hat Freddie Mercury in München gelebt – eine Spurensuche |trans-title=Freddie Mercury lived in Munich for six years – a search for clues |url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/YqhkiNg1OPg |publisher =[[Bayerischer Rundfunk]] |type=documentary |language=de |date=4 October 2021  |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref> Other gay venues include ''Pompon Rouge'', ''Mandy's Club'', ''Pimpernel'' nightclub, the bar ''Mylord'', the ''Ochsengarten'', which was "Germany's first bar for [[leather subculture|leather men]]", as well as the gay hotel-pub ''Deutsche Eiche''. Regulars in many of these bars and nightclubs include, for example, Freddie Mercury, [[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]], [[Walter Sedlmayr]] (who met his later murderer in the Pimpernel), [[Inge Meysel]] and [[Hildegard Knef]].<ref name="stankiewitz"/><ref name="mjunikdisco">{{cite book |last1=Hecktor |first1=Mirko |last2=von Uslar |first2=Moritz |last3=Smith |first3=Patti |last4=Neumeister |first4=Andreas |date=1 November 2008 |title=Mjunik Disco – from 1949 to now |publisher=Blumenbar |isbn=978-3-936738-47-6 |language=de}}</ref>

=== Japan ===
{{see also|LGBT in Tokyo}}

The oldest continuously operating Japanese gay bar, New Sazae, opened in Tokyo in 1966.<ref name="new sazae">In 1966 (昭和41), There is the continuously operating gay bar "New Sazae" which opened in Tokyo, [[Shinjuku Ni-chōme]]. 8 December 2007 [[:ja:出没!アド街ック天国]] Shinjuku Ni-chōme.[http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/adomachi/backnumber/20071208/31164.html]</ref> Most gay bars in Tokyo are located in the [[Shinjuku Ni-chōme]] district, which is home to about 300 bars.<ref>''Independent''. February 7, 2010. Retrieved on March 16, 2015.</ref> Each bar may only have room to seat about a dozen people; as a result, many bars are specialized according to interest.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.utopia-asia.com/tipsjapn.htm | title=Gay Japan and Japanese Gay and Lesbian Resources by Utopia Asia 大同}}</ref>

===Mexico===
{{Main|LGBT history in Mexico}}
[[File:Amberes street, Zona Rosa, Mexico City.jpg|thumb|Amberes street in [[Mexico City]]'s Zona Rosa is lined with gay bars.]]

Because of a raid on a Mexico City drag ball in 1901, when 41 men were arrested, the number 41 has come to symbolize male homosexuality in [[Culture of Mexico|Mexican popular culture]], figuring frequently in jokes and in casual teasing.<ref name="Coerver, Pasztor and Buffington, p. 202">Coerver, Pasztor and Buffington, p. 202.</ref><ref name="Dynes, Johansson, Percy and Donaldson, p. 806">Dynes, Johansson, Percy and Donaldson, p. 806</ref> The raid on the "Dance of the 41" was followed by a less-publicized raid of a [[lesbian bar]] on 4 December 1901 in Santa Maria. Despite the [[Great Depression|international depression of the 1930s]] and along with the social revolution overseen by [[President Lázaro Cárdenas|Lázaro Cárdenas]] (1934–1940), the growth of Mexico City was accompanied by the opening of gay bars and [[gay bathhouse]]s.<ref name="Dynes, Johansson, Percy and Donaldson, p. 806"/> During the [[Second World War]], ten to fifteen gay bars operated in Mexico City, with dancing permitted in at least two, El África and El Triunfo. Relative freedom from official [[harassment]] continued until 1959 when [[Head of Government of the Federal District|Mayor]] Ernesto Uruchurtu closed every gay bar following a grisly triple-murder. But by the late 1960s several Mexican cities had gay bars and, later, U.S.-style [[dance club]]s. These places, however, were sometimes clandestine but tolerated by local authorities, which often meant that they were allowed to exist so long as the owners paid [[Bribery|bribes]]. A fairly visible presence was developed in large cities such as [[Guadalajara]], [[Acapulco, Guerrero|Acapulco]], [[Veracruz, Veracruz|Veracruz]] and Mexico City.<ref name="Herrick and Stuart, p. 141">Herrick and Stuart, p. 141.</ref> Today, Mexico City is home to numerous gay bars, many of them located in the [[Zona Rosa (Mexico City)|Zona Rosa]], particularly on Amberes street, while a broad and varied gay nightlife also flourishes in Guadalajara, Acapulco, in [[Cancun]] attracting global tourists, [[Puerto Vallarta]] which attracts many Americans and Canadians, and [[Tijuana]] with its cross-border crowd. However, there are at least several gay bars in most major cities.<ref>books.google.com.mx/books?id=_bXMDAAAQBAJ</ref>

=== Netherlands ===
{{see also|LGBT history in the Netherlands}}

[[File:Café ‘t Mandje.jpg|thumb|Café 't Mandje at Zeedijk in Amsterdam]]
In [[Amsterdam]], there were already a few gay bars in the first quarter of the 20th century. The best known was {{ill|The Empire (Amsterdam)|lt=The Empire|nl|The Empire}}, in [[Nes (Amsterdam)|Nes]], which was first mentioned in 1911 and existed until the late 1930s.<ref>Pieter Koenders, ''Tussen christelijk réveil en seksuele revolutie - Bestrijding van zedeloosheid in Nederland'', Amsterdam 1996, p. 704-706</ref> The oldest that still exists is [[Café 't Mandje]], which was opened in 1927 by lesbian [[Bet van Beeren]].<ref name="gaybarnl">[[Gert Hekma]] (Gay Studies University of Amsterdam), [https://web.archive.org/web/20050306020448/http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/gl/gaybar.html The Amsterdam Bar Culture And Changing Gay/Lesbian Identities]</ref> It closed in 1982, but was reopened in 2008.

After [[World War II]], the Amsterdam city government acted rather pragmatic and tolerated the existence of gay bars. In the 1960s their number grew rapidly and they clustered in and around a number of streets, although this was limited to bars, clubs and shops and they never became residential areas for gays, like the [[gay village]]s in the US.

Since the late 1950s the main Amsterdam gay street was [[Kerkstraat]], which was succeeded by [[Reguliersdwarsstraat]] in the early 1980s, when the first openly gay places opened here, like the famous cafe April in 1981, followed by dancing Havana in 1989.<ref>Reguliers.net: [http://www.reguliers.net/history.php History of Reguliersdwarsstraat]</ref> Other streets where there are still concentrations of gay bars are [[Zeedijk]], Amstel and [[Warmoesstraat]], the latter being the center of the Amsterdam [[leather subculture|leather scene]], where the first leather bar already opened around 1955.<ref name="gaybarnl"/><ref>About the history of the Amsterdam [http://www.leatherhistory.eu/ Leather Scene] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911203247/http://www.leatherhistory.eu/ |date=September 11, 2019 }}</ref> [[The Queen's Head (Amsterdam)|The Queen's Head]] is a gay bar located at Zeedijk 20 in the centre of Amsterdam.

===Russia===
{{See also|LGBT culture in Russia}}

Because of the high prevalence of [[homophobia]] in Russia, patrons of gay bars there often have had to be on the alert for bullying and attacks. In 2013, Moscow's largest gay bar, Central Station, had its walls sprayed with gunfire, had harmful gas released into a crowd of 500 patrons, and had its ceiling nearly brought down by a gang who wanted to crush the people inside. Nonetheless, gay nightlife is increasing in Moscow and St. Petersburg, offering drag shows and Russian music, with some bars also offering discreet gay-only taxi services.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-is-what-a-gay-night-out-in-moscow-is-like/|title=Jessica Kirk, Secrecy, Dark Rooms, and Patriotic Drag Queens: A Gay Night Out in Moscow, Vice, March 26, 2015|work=VICE |date=26 March 2015 }}</ref>

=== Singapore ===
{{See also|LGBT history in Singapore}}

The first recorded use of the term "gay bar" is in the diaries of homosexual British comedian [[Kenneth Williams]]: "16 January 1947. Went round to the gay bar which wasn't in the least gay."<ref>''The Kenneth Williams Diaries'' edited by [[Russell Davies]], 1993, 8.</ref> At the time Williams was serving in the British Army in [[Singapore]]. In the 1970s, straight nightclubs began to open their doors to gay clients on designated nights of the week. In the 1980s, a lesbian bar named Crocodile Rock opened in Far East Plaza, which remains to this day the oldest lesbian bar in Singapore. Today, many gay bars are located on the Neil Road stretch, from Taboo and Tantric, to Backstage Bar, May Wong's Café, DYMK and Play. Mega-clubs like Zouk and Avalon are also a big draw for the gay crowd.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/blogs/singapore-showbiz/behind-doors-singapore-gay-night-club-scene-031521386.html|title=Behind the doors of Singapore's gay night club scene|website=sg.entertainment.yahoo.com|date=30 December 2012 }}</ref>

===South Africa===
{{See also|LGBT rights in South Africa}}

The history of gay and lesbian bars in South Africa reflects the racial divisions that began in the [[Apartheid]] era and continue, to some extent, in the 21st century.<ref>Ken Cage, Moyra Evans, Gayle: The Language of Kinks and Queens: a History and Dictionary of Gay Language in South Africa Jacana Media, 2003, p. 15</ref>

The first white gay bar opened in the Carlton Hotel in downtown [[Johannesburg]] in the late 1940s, catering exclusively to men of wealth. In the 1960s, other urban bars began to open that drew more middle and working class white men; lesbians were excluded. The language of [[Gayle language|Gayle]] had its roots in the [[Cape Coloured]] and [[Afrikaans]]-speaking underground gay bar culture. In 1968, when the government threatened to pass repressive anti-gay legislation, queer culture went even further underground, which meant clubs and bars were often the only places to meet. These bars were often the targets of police raids.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WSn7026sq_cC&q=history+gay+bars+south+africa&pg=PA11|title=Gayle: The Language of Kinks and Queens : a History and Dictionary of Gay Language in South Africa|first1=Ken|last1=Cage|first2=Moyra|last2=Evans|date=October 3, 2003|publisher=Jacana Media|isbn=9781919931494|via=Google Books}}</ref> The decade of the 1970s was when urban gay clubs took root. The most popular gay club of Johannesburg was The Dungeon, which attracted females as well as males, and lasted until the 1990s. The 1979 police assault on the New Mandy's Club, in which patrons fought back, has been referred to as South Africa's [[Stonewall riots|Stonewall]].<ref>Philip Harrison, Gay and Lesbian, New Africa Books, 2005, p. 13</ref>

In the 1980s, police raids on white gay clubs lessened as the apartheid government forces found itself dealing with more and more resistance from the black population. In the black townships, some of the [[shebeens]], unlicensed bars established in people's homes and garages, catered to LGBTQ clients. During the struggle against apartheid, some of these shebeens were important meeting places for black gay and lesbian resistance fighters. Lee's, a shebeen in [[Soweto]], for example, was used as a meeting place for black gay men who were part of the Gay Association of South Africa (GASA) but did not feel welcome in the GASA offices.<ref name="citation.allacademic.com">{{Cite web |url=http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/4/2/8/9/pages242891/p242891-4.php |title=Williams, Jill.Spatial Transversals: Gender, Race, Class, and Tourism in Cape Town, South Africa |access-date=2016-08-17 |archive-date=2016-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006104539/http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/4/2/8/9/pages242891/p242891-4.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

With the establishment of the post-apartheid 1996 constitution that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as race, South Africa's gay night life exploded, though many bars continued to be segregated by race, and fewer blacks than whites go to the urban bars. The 2005 inaugural gay shebeen tour was advertised as a gay pub crawl that would provide an opportunity for South Africans and foreigners to "experience true African gay Shebeen culture".<ref name="citation.allacademic.com"/><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4329017.stm Alastair Leithead.  Taking Gay Pride to SA's townships BBC News, Cape Town, Tuesday, 8 March, 2005],</ref>

===South Korea===
{{See also|LGBT history in South Korea|l1=LGBT History in South Korea}}
[[File:Lesbos 레스보스 (5477800401).jpg|thumb|250px|Lesbos bar in Sinchon, Seoul, South Korea 레스보스]]

In Seoul, most gay bars were originally congregated near the [[Itaewon]] area of [[Seoul]], near the U.S. military base. But in recent years, more clubs have located in the [[Sinchon-dong, Seoul|Sinchon]] area, indicating that "safe spaces" for Korean LGBTQ+ people have extended beyond the foreign zones, which were traditionally more tolerant. One male bar patron said Korean bar culture was not as direct as in the United States, with customers indicating their interest in another customer by ordering him a drink through a waiter. The oldest lesbian bar in Seoul is Lesbos, which started in 1996.<ref>Timothy R. Tangherlini, Sallie Yea, Sitings: Critical Approaches to Korean Geography, University of Hawaii Press, 2008, p. 181</ref>

===Spain===
{{See also|LGBT history in Spain}}

Under the dictatorship of [[General Francisco Franco]] from 1939 to 1975, homosexuality was illegal. However, in 1962, Spain's first gay bar, Tony's, opened in [[Torremolinos]] and a clandestine gay bar scene also emerged in the 1960s and early 1970s in [[Barcelona]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2015/07/27/how-la-nogalera-came-to-be-torremolinos-gay-hot-spot/|title=How La Nogalera came to be Torremolinos' gay hot-spot|first=Rob|last=Horgan|date=July 27, 2015}}</ref>

===Taiwan===
{{See also|LGBT history in Taiwan}}

In Taiwan, Gay bar culture was first brought to Taiwan by the US military stationed in the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web|last=潘柏翰|date=2021-10-25|title=寂寞的年輪運轉不休：從文字傳情到沿網路線徵友，30年來男、女同志如何找到圈內人？|url=https://www.thenewslens.com/feature/gay-les-dating/155557|access-date=2023-04-24|website=The News Lens 關鍵評論網|language=zh-Hant-TW|archive-date=2023-04-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428105601/https://www.thenewslens.com/feature/gay-les-dating/155557|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1970s, the first gay bar "Take" appeared in Taipei.<ref>{{Cite web|title=新活水|url=https://www.fountain.org.tw/tag/space/article/lgbt-space|access-date=2023-04-24|website=www.fountain.org.tw|language=zh-TW|archive-date=2023-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430144311/https://www.fountain.org.tw/tag/space/article/lgbt-space|url-status=live}}</ref> At the same time, lesbians often held activities in American military bars and gay bars. It was not until 1985 that the first lesbian bar "Forgettable Valley" appeared.<ref name="卡拉永遠OK：客廳、酷兒、家族系譜 — ARTalks">{{Cite web|title=卡拉永遠OK：客廳、酷兒、家族系譜 — ARTalks|url=https://talks.taishinart.org.tw/event/talks/2022040901|access-date=2023-04-24|website=talks.taishinart.org.tw|archive-date=2023-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529085833/https://talks.taishinart.org.tw/event/talks/2022040901|url-status=live}}</ref> After the mid-1980s, Gay bars and T-bars sprouted up like mushrooms after a rain. In addition to Taipei, they also began to appear in Taichung and Kaohsiung. The style has also become diversified from simply drinking and chatting.<ref name="卡拉永遠OK：客廳、酷兒、家族系譜 — ARTalks"/> For example, Funky in the 1990s divided its business hours into singing hours and dancing hours.

In the early 2000s, the human rights of gays and lesbians in Taiwan improved significantly. The gay nightlife entertainment scene shifted from being a scene opened by gays and only having gay customers. Some non-gay-only nightclubs were considered gay nightclubs because they gathered a large number of gays. Representative stores are TeXound and 2F.<ref>{{Cite web|last=陳俊志|date=2019-05-16|title=永遠的美麗少年——陳俊志：我們要抬頭挺胸|url=https://www.unitas.me/archives/8653|access-date=2023-04-24|website=聯合文學 unitas lifestyle|language=zh-TW|archive-date=2023-04-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429070827/https://www.unitas.me/archives/8653|url-status=live}}</ref>

Starting in 2007, gay bars began to move into the Ximen Red House, which was not operating well at that time. Relying on the gay customer base, this place gradually gathered a lot of popularity and became the first openly gay business district in Taiwan.<ref>{{Cite web|title=台北市電影委員會 TAIPEI FILM COMMISSION|url=https://www.filmcommission.taipei/scenesCT.aspx?id=739|access-date=2023-04-24|website=www.filmcommission.taipei|archive-date=2023-04-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424210258/https://www.filmcommission.taipei/scenesCT.aspx?id=739|url-status=live}}</ref> Nowadays, Ximen Red House Bar Street is a must-visit attraction for gays from all over the world when visiting Taiwan.

Currently, the representative gay bars include Abrazo Bistro, Bacio Taipei, Belle's, Commander D, Fairy Taipei, G-Star, Ganymede, Hunt and Locker Room. There are also many small gay bars in Ximen Red House.

=== United Kingdom ===
{{Main|LGBT culture in London}}

In the 18th century, [[molly house]]s were clandestine clubs where gay men could meet, drink, dance and have sex with each other. One of the most famous was Mother Clap's Molly House.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/8/bailey.php|title=Welcome to the Molly-House: An Interview with Randolph Trumbach &#124; Amanda Bailey and Randolph Trumbach|first=Amanda Bailey and Randolph|last=Trumbach|website=cabinetmagazine.org}}</ref>

The first gay bar in Britain in the modern sense was [[The Cave of the Golden Calf]], established as a [[night club]] in [[London]]. It opened in an underground location at 9 Heddon Street, just off [[Regent Street]], in 1912 and became a haunt for the wealthy, aristocratic and bohemian.<ref>{{Cite book|title=London and the Culture of Homosexuality, 1885-1914 (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture)|first=Matt|last=Cook|isbn=978-0521089807|date=2008-11-06|publisher=Cambridge University Press |url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/londoncultureofh00matt}}</ref> Its creator [[Frida Uhl|Frida Strindberg née Uhl]] set it up as an [[avant-garde]] and artistic venture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/server.php?show=conObject.4983|title=The programme and menu from the Cave of the Golden Calf, Cabaret and Theatre Club|work=20thcenturylondon.org.uk|access-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216092210/http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/server.php?show=conObject.4983|archive-date=16 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The club provided a solid model for future nightclubs.

After homosexuality was partially decriminalized in the UK in 1967, gay bar culture became more visible and gradually [[Soho]] became the centre of the London LGBTQ+ community, which was "firmly established" by the early 1990s.<ref name=Turnerp50>Turner, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5VdsY1LF_gMC&pg=PA50 50].</ref> Gay bars, cafes, restaurants and clubs are centred on [[Old Compton Street]].

Other cities in the UK also have districts or streets with a concentration of gay bars, like for example [[Stanley Street Quarter]] in Liverpool, the [[Merchant City]] in Glasgow, [[Canal Street (Manchester)|Canal Street]] in Manchester and the [[Birmingham Gay Village]].

=== United States ===
[[File:Virginia Senate Resolution recognizing Freddie’s Beach Bar.jpg|thumb|A 2021 Virginia State Senate resolution recognizing Freddie's Beach Bar, Northern Virginia's only gay bar at the time.]]
There are many institutions in the United States that claim to be the oldest gay bar in the country. Since [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] ended in 1933, there are a number of notable gay bars that have opened. In alphabetical order:
* The [[Atlantic House]] in [[Provincetown, Massachusetts]], was constructed in 1798 and was a tavern and stagecoach stop before becoming a ''de facto'' gay bar after artists and actors, including [[Tennessee Williams]], began spending summers in Provincetown in the 1920s.<ref name="A-House">{{cite web | url=http://www.ahouse.com/history.html | title=History | access-date=November 28, 2015 | archive-date=April 11, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411232355/http://ahouse.com/history.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The [[Black Cat Bar]], founded in 1906 and operated again after Prohibition was ended in 1933, was located in [[San Francisco]]'s [[North Beach, San Francisco|North Beach]] neighborhood and was the focus of one of the earliest victories of the [[homophile movement]]. In 1951, the [[Supreme Court of California|California Supreme Court]] affirmed the right of homosexuals to assemble in a case brought by the heterosexual owner of the bar.
* [[Black Cat Tavern|The Black Cat Tavern]] opened in November 1966 and was one of many LGBTQ+ bars to be raided, which happened on New Year's Day in 1967. It is now considered a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
[[File:Cafe Lafitte in Exile by Tony Webster.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Cafe Lafitte in Exile]], on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, opened in 1933, has a storied past, replete with celebrities.]]
* [[Cafe Lafitte in Exile]] in [[New Orleans]], dating back to 1933 and the end of Prohibition, claims to be the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the United States.
* [[The Double Header]] in [[Seattle|Seattle's]] Pioneer Square is claimed to be the oldest gay bar on the North American West Coast, operating since 1933.<ref>{{cite news | first=Kery | last=Murakami | title=No longer at the center of Seattle's gay scene, bar still serving outsiders | url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/320946_doubleheader23.html | work=The Seattle PI | date=June 23, 2007 | access-date=1 January 2011}}</ref>
* [[Esta Noche (gay bar)|Esta Noche]] was the first gay Latino bar in San Francisco; it opened in 1979. It was located on Mission Street and 16th Street. It closed down in 1997 as one of the last gay Latino bars in the [[Mission District, San Francisco|Mission District]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://works.bepress.com/horacio_roqueramirez/4/|title=""'Mira, Yo Soy Boricua y Estoy Aquí': Rafa Negrón's Pan Dulce and the Queer Sonic Latinaje of San Francisco"" by Horacio N Roque Ramirez|last=Press|first=Berkeley Electronic|website=works.bepress.com|access-date=2016-04-07|archive-date=2016-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102192150/http://works.bepress.com/horacio_roqueramirez/4/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
* [[Eve's Hangout]] was one of the first lesbian bars,<ref name=Gattuso>{{cite web|last=Gattuso|first=Reina|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-was-first-gay-bar|title=The Founder of America's Earliest Lesbian Bar Was Deported for Obscenity|website=[[Atlas Obscura]]|date=September 3, 2019}}</ref> also called Eve Adams Tearoom. It closed after a police raid in 1926. [[Eva Kotchever]], the owner, was deported to Europe and murdered at Auschwitz.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nymag.com/nightlife/features/gay-bar-history-2013-1/|title=The History of Gay Bars -- New York Magazine - Nymag|website=New York Magazine|date=4 January 2013 }}</ref>
* [[Julius (New York City)|Julius Bar]], founded by local socialite Matthew Nicol, is the first modern gay bar in [[New York City]]. It is where the [[Mattachine Society]] staged a "Sip-In" on 21 April 1966 challenging a New York State Liquor Authority rule that prohibited serving [[alcoholic beverage]]s to gays on the basis that they were considered disorderly. The court ruling in the case that gays could peacefully assemble at bars would lead to the opening of the [[Stonewall Inn]] a block southwest in 1967, which in turn led to the 1969 [[Stonewall Riots]]. Julius is New York City's oldest continuously operating gay bar.<ref>{{cite news | first=Scott | last=Simon | title=Remembering a 1966 'Sip-In' for Gay Rights | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91993823 | publisher=National Public Radio | date=28 June 2008 | access-date=2008-11-26}}</ref>
* [[Cotton Street, Shreveport, Louisiana|Korner Lounge]] (1933) of Shreveport, Louisiana is believed to be the second oldest continuously operating gay bar in the country.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://heliopolis.la/common-interests-a-korner-of-history/|title=Common Interests: A Korner of History|last=Kennedy|first=Esther|date=2015-03-31|website=Heliopolis|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-28}}</ref>
* [[Maud's (bar)|Maud's Study]] (961 Cole Street, San Francisco), featured in the film ''[[Last Call at Maud's (1993 film)|Last Call at Maud's]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1993/film/reviews/last-call-at-maud-s-1200431389/|title=Last Call at Maud's|first1=Derek|last1=Elley|date=February 26, 1993}}</ref> was a lesbian bar which was founded by [[Rikki Streicher]] in 1966 and closed in September 1989. At closing, it claimed to be the oldest continuously operating lesbian bar.<ref>Bajko, Matthew, "[http://ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=71691 For Many, Shuttered SF Lesbian Bar Maud's Was Home,"''The Bay Area Reporter''], June 30, 2016</ref> It closed during the AIDS crisis when a "clean and sober" mentality drove down a lot of bars.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Girls in the Back Room: Looking at the Lesbian Bar|last=Hankin|first=Kelly|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=2002}}</ref>
* Nob Hill (1101 Kenyon St NW) In Washington D.C was a gay bar dedicated to providing a safe space for queer African-American men. Due to segregation many gay bars in the U.S were centered around white queer people but from 1957-2004 Nob Hill was a space for Black queer people to celebrate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nob Hill Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=86014 |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref> Nobb Hill was run for and by Black queer men and was one of the longest gay nightlife establishments in D.C and the entire country. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Nob Hill, Washington, DC (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/nob-hill-dc.htm |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>
* The [[White Horse Inn (Oakland, California)|White Horse Inn]] in [[Oakland, California]], operating legally since the end of Prohibition, but also likely illegally during it, claims to be the oldest gay bar in operation in the U.S.<ref name="White Horse Bar">{{cite web | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/americas-oldest-gay-bar_n_3314338.html | title=America's Oldest Gay Bar, WhiteHorse, Turns 80 | work=Huffington Post | date=May 21, 2013 | access-date=November 28, 2015}}</ref>