Cooley, the owner of the popular Los Angeles gay bar the Abbey, tells this story: “One time a kid was put on a plane by his parents at LAX, but instead he snuck off and took a cab here,” he recalls. It’s keeping something alive and thriving that gives back to many people.” David L. That’s why it’s a personally rewarding job and one I feel the responsibility of pretty heavily.
“You see familiar faces and get to have that camaraderie with everyone. He’s the general manager of Metropolitan, a gay bar located in Brooklyn, New York. “Some people treat them just as a bar, but to so many others it’s a community,” Steven McEnrue says. “It’s rather a dirty version, where people can feel a different kind of ease and be true to themselves.” “I wanted to let the reader know that I wasn’t going to start with a sanitized version of what these bars could be,” Atherton Lin, a writer and editor based in London, told me when we spoke earlier this year. In the first words of Chapter 1, there it is: “It’s starting to smell like penis here.” William Faulkner couldn’t have conjured up a better opening. It’s even referred to in the very first line of Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, the recently released book written by Jeremy Atherton Lin that aims to capture the intricacies, complications, and fabulousness of this culture.
It turns out that Gay Bar Smell (a free cologne idea one of the Queer Eye guys should cash in on) was an auspicious introduction for me, and an iconic one at that. The neuroticism of being closeted is like that stress of seeing a cop while you’re stoned, but 24/7, and also, you like gay sex. Not only that, but they'd also run and gossip to all my friends and family. Surely if some passerby saw me even casually glance in, they’d figure out I was gay. I’d walk through that smell almost every day while still in the closet, holding a steadfast, soldierly resolve to stare straight ahead. A mixture of cologne and BO, it’d waft out of the open doors of the cavernous establishment down the street from where I lived, like man cake emanating from a queer bakery. When a hook up is all you need during COVID, but you want to be conscious about social distancing, here are a few round about ways to get your Mattress Olympics on.Even before I ever went inside a gay bar, I was aware of the smell. We understand that relationships aren’t for everyone, nor is everyone looking for a relationship. New ways to meet people, interact with them and ultimately get a little cozy at the end of a long night out. Because of that, you need different ways to get laid. OK, so we understand that it can be tough to get laid at a bar right now considering, well, a lot of them are not open and the ones that are are operating under extremely different circumstances. Each bar offers a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline. If you are on a trip to city, we recommend visiting these 11 rooftop bars. Photo Credit: LondonHouse Chicago Popular Rooftop Bars in Chicago to Visit As long as everything is consensual (emphasis on consensual, please), Berlin really doesn’t give a damn about what you’re gonna do or who you’re doing it with when you leave the club, making it one of the easiest ways to get laid in Chicago. Though maybe not quite as free-spirited as some of Germany’s most infamous hookup clubs (check out the Kit Kat club at your own risk), Berlin definitely adapts a kind of “anything goes” mentality when it comes to your need to get laid. Taking its name from one of the most openly sexual cities in Europe, Chicago’s Berlin is the sex-positive club of your dreams. Photo Credit: Berlin Facebook Berlin - CLOSED Though true, the caliber of tunes won’t really have too much of an effect on your chances of getting laid, it might make for an easy conversation starter. Like many-a-bar in this roundup, the East Room rocks that “Dirrty” dance floor, 2002 X-Tina-type vibes – but this spot does so with the added bonus of playing totally amazing music.
Located in Logan Square, this DJ venue and concert hall is not really a dive, but definitely not a club either. If hipster-types are your one night stand of choice, then East Room is the hookup bar for you. Thrillseekers, enter at your own risk!) Photo Credit: East Room Facebook East Room - CLOSED (Warning: We cannot guarantee what does or does not go on or go in the hot tub. What this lounge doesn’t have in numbers or dance floors, it definitely makes up for in sex appeal. And if you are #blessed enough to swipe an invite to one of these exclusive events, you better prepare to walk into one of the straight-up sexiest venues in the city and possibly get laid. Though strictly speaking The Bunny Slope isn’t open to the public, this ski slope themed cocktail lounge does host plenty of parties on its calendar.
We repeat: this River North bar at the ACME Hotel has a hot tub. Photo Credit: Bunny Slope Facebook Bunny Slope