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Keep Queer Spaces of Color Diverse
LGBTQ spaces that are frequently visited by people of color serve a much bigger purpose than just partying.
My first time visiting Woody’s was in the summer of 2015. I had just turned 21 that year and was home for summer break. My friends and I made the drive to Philadelphia to go to the LGBTQ bar of the city. Woody’s was right in the middle of the Gayborhood, a gay village in the city, where the streets and signs are proudly showing rainbow flags. It was the place to be on the weekends and the first time I was going to a bar that was centered around my existence. It did not disappoint.
Once I moved into the city, I regularly went to Woody’s. I felt safe there and could always count on having a good time. I would bring my straight friends to the bar and friends who were visiting the city for the weekend. If we weren’t going to Woody’s to have a good time, then I wasn’t sure it was going to be a good weekend. However, the more I visited Woody’s the more I started to pick up on how it was primarily a White space. The music was overwhelmingly pop and EDM, the servers and bouncers where White, and the people who attended were mainly White. The only spaces reserved for people of color were upstairs in the smallest room of the bar. Woody’s also owned a nightclub across the street called Voyeur…
