Valley’s LGBTQ find unique ways to fill void left by closure of Stonewall, other gay bars – lehighvalleylive.com

Editor’s Note: The following is part of a series on LGBTQ issues in the Lehigh Valley that coincides with Pride Month. Lehighvalleylive.com and a Lafayette College journalism class collaborated on the series, which was made possible through a Journalism for Underheard Stories grant from the University of Wisconsin and Cortico’s Local Voices Network. Read more about the series here.

By Sabrina Sicilia

It was a Saturday night in May, and the party was just getting started at LGBTQ+ Club Night at Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem. A 20-foot-long illuminated rainbow Pegasus hung from the ceiling, and patrons were grabbing drinks from the bar and dragging friends onto the dance floor.

Suddenly, the music stopped. Patrons cheered when dollar bills rained down from the VIP balcony as Miz Cracker, a fan favorite and runner-up on Ru Paul’s Drag Race, was introduced and took the stage. Wearing a pink, sparkly leotard covered in feathers and jewels, Miz Cracker sang and danced to Tove Lo’s “Habits” as patrons lined up, fanning her with dollar bills and dancing along to the show.

“This is the closest thing we have to the Stonewall since it closed,” said one attendee, referencing the former Allentown gay bar.

Over the past decade, Lehigh Valley’s three gay bars have closed their doors one by one, with the Stonewall having shuttered in early June 2021. The Stonewall is expected to reopen soon as a new gay bar called Vogue Lounge, but the void’s been felt, and the Lehigh Valley’s LGBTQ community has spent more than a year without a full-time designated space to socialize. It’s pushed the community to creatively utilize spaces around the Lehigh Valley to gather and celebrate their identity.

“The bars may have closed but the gay scene never went away,” said Brad Scott, a Lehigh Valley DJ and promoter. “It just shifted to DIY spaces like the Easton Tea Dance, The Easton Pride Party, Tap’d Tuesdays, Werk It Wednesdays, and Proud.”

Held bi-weekly on Sunday afternoons at Two Rivers Brewing Company, Easton Tea Dances are known for their lively music and dance-party atmosphere. Additionally, scheduled for the first Wednesday of every month, Werk It Wednesdays are hosted by various Allentown businesses, drawing hundreds of people to different downtown restaurants and bars every Wednesday night. PROUD in Silk is hosted every second Thursday of the month at Allentown Brew Works, which also features DJs and dance parties.

“This has been great for me as a DJ because I’m not a Top 40 DJ,” Scott said. “I like classic disco, underground club, goth, and alternative music, so the new take-over of straight spaces was a lot of fun. It created a tighter scene and people relied on social media to see where the next party was going to be. it really helped me blow up, so to speak.”

Werk it Wednesdays and PROUD in Silk are also known to host drag performances and club-like atmospheres.

“In my opinion, the drag scene is thriving,” said Stephen Libby, editor-in-chief of Lehigh Valley’s Gay Journal and former bartender of Diamonz Nite Club and the Stonewall.

Despite these many social happenings still occurring throughout the Lehigh Valley, the ability to gather in a queer-owned establishment cannot be wholly replicated through sporadic events, according to Brian Wendt, longtime Lehigh Valley resident and former patron of Lehigh Valley’s former gay bars.

“I think, you know, every town should have a safe place where people don’t have to compromise themselves or conform to be accepted,” said Wendt, referencing the continued need for LGBTQ bars in the Lehigh Valley alongside these creative social happenings occurring throughout the Lehigh Valley.

Liz Bradbury, director of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center’s Training Institute, said she feels strongly that the LGBTQ needs a dedicated community space that’s open every day, including evenings and weekends. It’s something the center is working on, she said.

That hasn’t been the case for some time in the Lehigh Valley. The Stonewall’s business hours fluctuated in the final years before its permanent closure. The region’s other gay bays – Candida’s Bar and Diamonz Nite Club – both permanently closed prior to the Stonewall shutting its doors for good.

Diamonz Nite Club was the first to cease operations in 2016, after 24 years of business. It was remembered by former patrons as one of the few lesbian bars in the Northeast.

Candida’s Bar followed shortly after, having closed its doors in 2017. Known as a popular social space since its opening in 1980, Candida’s Bar hosted dance and karaoke nights for patrons.

The bars’ closures took away far more than just a go-to socializing space for the queer community.

“Lehigh Valley LGBTQ+ youth will never experience the feeling that we had walking into a gay-owned establishment that catered to gay people and feeling like you were home,” said Libby. “Your spirit just soars, like Dorothy landing in Oz and – BAM! – everything is in technicolor, and you’re like, ‘Wow, these are my people’. While many places are welcoming and celebrate us, I don’t know if there’s a space like that anymore.”

While members of the Lehigh Valley’s LGBTQ community have expressed positivity towards an increase in acceptance from the greater Lehigh Valley community, with members feeling they can comfortably visit most any bar or restaurant that the region has to offer, there remains concerns about safety that only queer establishments can address.

“Safety is a big reason why you need specific LGBTQ establishments,” Bradbury said. “At the top of stairs used to be a sign at the Stonewall, and it said ‘the Stonewall is run as a gay establishment. If you are uncomfortable with that, please don’t come in.’ I loved it, and wanted it to say right upfront to people, ‘If you have a problem with this, get out of here.’”

And despite an increase in acceptance and visibility, a number of queer folk around the Lehigh Valley insisted there is still progress to be made, making gay bars a continued need throughout the community.

“We need a place that is open to everything, with the patrons being 100% behind you,” Wendt said. “That’s what is so important about having a gay bar… for (the community) to be around people who know exactly what they’re going through.”

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