The racist intent of cabaret law restrictions in New York were well known for decades. By 2017, according to the New York Times, only 97 out of roughly 25,000 eating and drinking establishments had a cabaret license, which allows for dancing and serving alcohol. The prohibition-era regulation effectively banned new establishments that combined dancing and serving alcohol. A similar dispute befell the legendary Latinx LGBTQ club Escuelita in 2016, just short of its 50th anniversary.įor 90 years, that shortage was artificially enforced by New York’s infamous Cabaret Law. At Lambda Lounge that night, besides Luke & Leroy the crowd also traded stories about Chi Chiz - a Black-owned gay bar in the West Village forced to close down in 2010 amid claims of racially-motivated policing. Luke & Leroy closed in 2007.Įven in New York, the list of bars, clubs and lounges that welcome and celebrate Black or Brown LGBTQ people has never been very long. One of only two Black LGBTQ-owned nightlife spots currently open in Harlem, Lambda Lounge hosted an all-night reunion party honoring the former Luke & Leroy - one of the few reliably Black-queer friendly spaces in the LGBTQ mecca of the West Village. On the night of June 21 at Lambda Lounge, nostalgia was fueling a new generation of spaces dedicated to -and owned by - queer Black men in New York.
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