Three years later, riots at another gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, sparked the modern gay rights movement.
In 1966, activists there declared a 'sip-in,' protesting state crackdowns on homosexuals in bars. Julius, a tavern in New York City's West Village, is believed to be America's oldest gay bar. They owe that celebration to the humble beginnings of a small, straight Michigan family - a golf lover, his college-age sister and their mother, a spiritual Catholic. Bar manager Steven Pearson sent out 300 invitations on the labels of eight-track tapes. Dancers and DJs and a small sorority of drag queens will lead the festivities. Today, the bar's gay and straight clientele will gather to toast the pub's 35th year. It became one of the few places where its patrons could be themselves. Birthed in the disco days of 1976, the pub served as a meeting place.
The pub served as a sanctuary.īut it was also something else. Decades ago, men who went there braved violent, bigoted attacks. The pub's obscurity was a defense mechanism. Our Colorful history written by Washington post reporter Drew Harwell 2011ĬLEARWATER - One of downtown's oldest businesses is a nondescript gay bar named the Pro Shop Pub.ĭrive too fast on Cleveland Street, east of Myrtle Avenue, and you'll miss it - a garnet outpost, brick and glass block, with only 'Pro Shop' in neon lights.
