Death of a business, or a culture?

[BeardedOne]

Entrepeneur.com recently posted the most likely businesses to expire within the next ten years. Among these were record stores (Assassinated by online downloads) and film manufactuers/processors (Ingloriously murdered by digicams).

One intrigued me:

Gay Bars: Around the country gay bars have been going out of business as gay men and women have been gaining greater acceptance in society. What used to be a hangout for people who felt unwelcome elsewhere is becoming less necessary.

Odds of Survival in 10 Years: As with many industries, the very best of them will endure; the rest won't.

Will this trend ultimately doom the 'tranny' club?

[Somedude21]

Entrepeneur.com recently posted the most likely businesses to expire within the next ten years. Among these were record stores (Assassinated by online downloads) and film manufactuers/processors (Ingloriously murdered by digicams).

One intrigued me:

Gay Bars: Around the country gay bars have been going out of business as gay men and women have been gaining greater acceptance in society. What used to be a hangout for people who felt unwelcome elsewhere is becoming less necessary.

Odds of Survival in 10 Years: As with many industries, the very best of them will endure; the rest won't.

Will this trend ultimately doom the 'tranny' club?

Since gays and lesbians seem to be more accepted in American society than transsexuals...I don't see it happening any time soon. It very well might happen though, if that prediction about gay bars is true.

[Jericho]

One intrigued me:

Gay Bars: Around the country gay bars have been going out of business as gay men and women have been gaining greater acceptance in society. What used to be a hangout for people who felt unwelcome elsewhere is becoming less necessary.

Odds of Survival in 10 Years: As with many industries, the very best of them will endure; the rest won't.

Will this trend ultimately doom the 'tranny' club?

I wonder if this trend will spawn a bunch of underground Straight clubs :?
:lol:

[TrueBeauty TS]

Entrepeneur.com recently posted the most likely businesses to expire within the next ten years. Among these were record stores (Assassinated by online downloads) and film manufactuers/processors (Ingloriously murdered by digicams).

One intrigued me:

Gay Bars: Around the country gay bars have been going out of business as gay men and women have been gaining greater acceptance in society. What used to be a hangout for people who felt unwelcome elsewhere is becoming less necessary.

Odds of Survival in 10 Years: As with many industries, the very best of them will endure; the rest won't.

Will this trend ultimately doom the 'tranny' club?


Interesting. And I think I agree with that. I've seen that happen to several places here in So. Cal. with both record stores and gay/tranny clubs.

The Queen Mary (famous tranny club) was around for something like 30-40 years and it finally went out of business. It used to be a big deal with tourists but I guess with Jerry, Maury and the internet, people can see female impersonators and TS's anytime they want.

The Boom Boom Room, one of the first well known gay bars in Laguna Beach, just closed.

I admit it's nice having a place that caters to like minded people, but in truth, for better or worse, it looks like we are becoming more mainstream. The people it will hurt the most are those TV, TG, TS that are just starting out and don't feel secure and those guys still in the closet or on the DL. If they are too scared to go to a mainstream place they will have to stick to airport restrooms.

However.... people said that bookstores were all going to close because you could now read everything you want online and look what happened, bookstores are bigger than ever. They have also started to merge several businesses together, books, CD's, Coffeehouse all in one.

Maybe they will start up some book, CD's, Coffeehouse, Gay & tranny all-in-one hangout places.

:wink:



.

[hondarobot]

I doubt that gay bars will disappear. If there's one group that likes to congregate strictly amongst their peers, it's gay men. It has nothing to do with being "accepted" by the mainstream, they just like places to go to get their gay on.

What will probably happen is most large gay clubs will either close, or morph like our club did. We've had a long running drag show, and right when "The Birdcage" and "Priscilla Queen Of The Desert" hit the scene, the straight, yuppie crowd flooded our place.

This was good for the drag show, because it exploded into a full on production five nights a week (this is when I started working their). The hardcore gay crowd started drifting off, accusing the club of having sold out. Now things have stabilized and our crowd is evenly divided straight/gay/lesbian/ts/whatever. I think that will become more and more common, but small niche gay clubs will still do pretty well.

TS friendly clubs will probably increase in number, now that more people realize ts girls aren't Frankenfurter.

[BeardedOne]

Maybe they will start up some book, CD's, Coffeehouse, Gay & tranny all-in-one hangout places.

Not impossible. Before their lifestyle directed them into a sort of retirement, Ivo Dominguez and Jim Welch (Recently written up in the local news for their neo-pagan beliefs) had a wonderful bookstore in downtown Wilmington that was a focal point for many people of all gender and sexual identities. Though it lacked the now-omnipresent coffee house/lounge, it was a rare day that the store didn't have a handful of like-minded people poking through the shelves and trading notes.

Damn. I miss that place. :(

[biguy4tvtscd]

The people it will hurt the most are those TV, TG, TS that are just starting out and don't feel secure and those guys still in the closet or on the DL. If they are too scared to go to a mainstream place they will have to stick to airport restrooms.

They won't be hurt that much, or for too long. A short term, minor hurt at best.

The beauty of capitalism, is that if there's a need, it will eventually be filled.

So while some bars may close, or scale down, there will still be bars catering specifically to the gay population. Just as there are bars currently catering to the country, or blues, or emo, or hip hop, or karaoke loving population.

[justatransgirl]

Interesting the information we share on this site.

I tend to agree with Robot. I think t-bars are important for people in the closet and coming out. I know when I was early in my transition I went to gay bars off and on much of my life. (I lived in Key West for 8 years...heck the whole island was one big gay bar. giggle)

When I moved to San Diego 3 years ago I became something of a fixture at the SRO. But now days we are lucky to get down there once a month. We've just got other things to do. Jessica's in college full time (the only t-girl out of 30,000 students) we have our video business and of course our "other" business... :-)

Jessica and I live mainstream. We have almost nothing to do with the TS or gay community anymore. We don't live in a gay area, it's more of a yuppie BMW/Mercedez neighborhood. Moderately upscale. When we go out it's to the beach, or downtown or something. Once or twice a week we have a dinner date with a gentleman and we usually go to a nice place downtown or on the bay.

I'm finding that more and more I meet men in normal everyday circumstances. And when they find out I'm trans their reaction is "reeeeeally?" (as in that presents some interesting possibliities...) rather than freaking out like I'm going to rape them or give them aids.

The last time we went to a club downtown I ended up doing the bump and grind with some boy child on the dance floor and everyone had a great time.

So yes, I think gay/trans bars will continue to lose market share as we intregrate into society - just as we are starting to see the demise of "gay ghettos." Hillcrest is the gay part of San Diego. There's a zillon great places to eat - and I've noticed that where it was mostly gay couples eating out 3 years ago, now it's mostly straight couples.

Be glad - that was my short answer...

Giggle,
TS Jamie :-)

[BrendaQG]

I have said for a long while that this is what happened in Illinois. We got a law that give you an F on your ID (not BC though) with only taking hormones. Since then a otherwise passable T in this state could go anywhere to socialize and reveal her status only as she see's fit. Thus...Chicago has far fewer Tranny bars than would be expected of a city it's size.

[mbf]

I dont buy into that "society getting more acceptable to Trans"

maybe a little bit, but I think meeting with the help of the net in various forms has reduced the demand for such places.

[tsmandy]

I'm not worried, most gay bars are too yuppified for my taste. My favorite spot to drink and meet other queer/trans folks used to be the Dahlak Paradise in west philly. It was an Eritrean joint, not a gay bar, but lots of local folks would hang out, and on any given night there would be a slew of queer and trans folks. Much more my speed.

Something about huge clubs with overpriced watered-down drinks and bad house music just makes me wanna hurl. So if those places are on the way out, and longstanding dives continue to do the same sad business they always do, I'll shed no tears.

Now my local record stores shutting down business left and right, now theres a reason for weeping and gnashing of teeth. Fucking itunes...

[Shining Star]

Gay bars are not getting the business they once were and the answer is simple: the Internet.

Instead of going to a bar or club to hook up, gays simply go to AOL, Gay.com, or any of the other Interent chat/meeting sites and hook up from there. No muss, no fuss, and you don't have to leave your home. Friday and Saturday nights some chats have three or four rooms open and all over flowing with gays chatting. With most everyone having access to a digital camera/camera phone, the hook-up has gotten easier. Now you don't have to just "chat" you can see and pick/choose.

In NYC, the gay bar and club scene isn't what it used to be, even the Roxy is gone. Mind you this can also have something to do with NYC's crack-down on nightlife that began during Rudy's time and continues today.

[alpha2117]

What I've noticed is that over the years the str8 dance kids and the gay club things have meged. Most dance venues have a really high % of gay people. Younger str8 girls & couples love the so called gay venues because there is less likelyhood of violence, less sleazy guys hitting on the girls and to be honest a better quality of drug dealer (not that I partake but it appears to be the case). As long as the st8 guys ae ok with public displays of affection between guys they tend to be fine because the gay guys rarely seem to bother them.

[Wombat]

The straights have over-run the gay district, Oxford St., here in Sydney. Its not like they haven't got anywhere else to drink, they come here because it is trendy. Gives me the shits...

Regards

Wombat

[dan_drade]

Entrepeneur.com recently posted the most likely businesses to expire within the next ten years. Among these were record stores (Assassinated by online downloads) and film manufactuers/processors (Ingloriously murdered by digicams).

One intrigued me:

[i]Gay Bars: Around the country gay bars have been going out of business as gay men and women have been gaining greater acceptance in society. What used to be a hangout for people who felt unwelcome elsewhere is becoming less necessary.

I guess whoever wrote that has never been to the Castro in S.F. :)