Gay bars in new jersey
Pride month: When lgbtq+ bars were illegal in New Jersey
This article was first published in 2019.
How can you narrate if someone is homosexual?
For a Excellent Court judge sitting in Ocean County in 1957, it was easy.
“It is in the plumage that you identify the bird,” he explained in a case against Paddock Bar in Atlantic City.
For years in the Garden Mention, the quacks fond a duck, walks like a duck test was the standard by which police, inspectors and judges punished bars frequented by people who might hold stood under the LGBTQ umbrella.
While sodomy was against the law in much of the region — and often used to prosecute gay people — it was not against the rule to be same-sex attracted or lesbian in New Jersey. But it was forbidden, however, for bars and restaurants with liquor licenses to allow gays, lesbians, cross-dressers and the like to "congregate" — a dictate that did not apply to other establishments like theaters and cafes.
The state’s liquor regulators called gay bars a public “nuisance” and “inimicable to universal morals,” and they occasionally suspended violators and shut down repeat offenders.
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Paying homage to the day the Marriage Equality Execute was passed in the Joined States, June 26, 2015, the name Six26 was born. On this day, the United States Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, legalizing it in all 50 states, and requiring states to honor out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses in the case Obergefell v. Hodges. With a lounge that becomes a joyful and vibrant high-energy lounge and a chill garden-esque rooftop bar as the sun sets, The Six26 venue is always ready to mark life and love with all who walk through its doors.
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Hours of Operation
Monday - Fri
4 pm - 2 am
Saturday
11:30 am - 2 am
Sunday
11:30 am - 2 am
If a queer cartographer mapped out LGBTQ bars, New Jersey would look favor a triangular border surrounding a hollow center. Jersey Municipality forms the northernmost point with Pint and Six26, backing into the densely packed offerings of New York Municipality across the river. Philadelphia occupies the southwestern outpost, while Asbury Park completes the perpendicular angle in the southeast with Paradise and Georgie’s.
What’s in the space formed by these three vertices? Nothing — a gay Bermuda triangle where the bars that dare enter soon disappear.
That’s the void that the staff of The 244 Identify hopes to stuff. The new LGBTQ bar opened at 244 Cedar St. in South Amboy on Oct. 11 a fitting observance of National Coming Out Day.
The 244 Spot occupies an unassuming residence in a residential neighborhood. It opens into an intimate bar space that has the usual mirrors and steep tops of any standard drinking establishment, but the actual charm sits in the belly of the building. Store going, around the pool table that testifies to the venue’s previous being alive as Danny Boy’s Irish Pub, and you’ll find yourself on a sway floor of cozy proportions that’s framed by neon lights, a touch of rai
Published on June 2, 2021
Use this map to visualize locations of pre-Stonewall Novel Jersey bars serving LGBTQ patrons, as described in ABC Bulletins from the 1930s to 1960s.
Download guide data: Direct Link | CSV | Excel
Research in the ABC Bulletins collection digitized by the NJ State Research Library identified 150 bulletins in which the presence of a queer person was noted. All locations have been added to the blueprint above. This map is considered comprehensive, but corrections and additions are welcome.
Trigger warning: Bulletins linked in this post and on the map may include homophobia, descriptions of mistreatment, and slurs. These are historical documents and complete not reflect current social norms or acceptable language.
Update: On 29 June 2021, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal vacated the decisions of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) that resulted in penalties against bar owners serving LGBT patrons in the 1930s-1960s. This map has been updated to note when licensees were included in the Attorney General’s directive, and also includes seven locations that were not issued a pardon, locations in which the charges were dismissed, bars accused of lewdness