That's when the bartender held out his hand. 'We were saying, 'We are homosexuals and we want to order a cocktail,'' Wicker said. And Randy Wicker, on the far end of the bar in that photo, was one of those men. Download for FREE!īut you could easily argue that a certain black-and-white photograph - showing a group of men being denied a drink - laid the groundwork for the gay bars of today. Get breaking news alerts in the FOX 5 NY News app. 'Disorderly people were considered homosexuals.' 'After prohibition, the State Liquor Authority is formed, which has a regulation that basically says if you serve people who are disorderly you can lose your license,' Lustbader said. You'd have to either be in possession of an underground guidebook listing places considered 'safe' or rely on word of mouth. 'They were bottle clubs, you had a sign, a fictitious name in many cases to get in.' 'In many cases, they were private clubs with bouncers at the door,' Lustbader said. 'So bars became really safe spaces.'īut the gay bar of the past was much different than the one we think of today where every inch is covered in rainbow flags. 'People could lose their jobs, their families, employment, religious associations,' Lustbader added.
