- David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee.
Greggor Mattson, an Oberlin College professor, traveled across the United States to do research for his book “Who Needs Gay Bars? Bar-Hopping through America’s Endangered LGBTQ+ Places.”
He bluntly told readers in a guest opinion column for The Washington Post in 2023: “The data is clear: gay bars are closing.”
Mattson documented a 45% drop from 2022 to 2023 and provided a series of reasons, among them, dating apps that keep people at home, displacement because of rising rents and mainstream acceptance of the LGBTQ-plus community.
However, in Nashville, a city the author did not visit for his book,there is a vibrant gay bar scene. But establishments have come and gone. There are historical markers honoring defunct bars such as Juanita’s and The Jungle on Commerce Avenue in downtown and one to be unveiled on June 14 on Franklin Pike for Warehouse 28, a disco turned first home of Nashville CARES, the 40-plus-year-old HIV/AIDS service nonprofit organization.
Now, another such business is being forced from its location. On June 4, the staff of Trax, the gay bar at the intersection of the Chestnut Hill and Wedgewood Houston neighborhoods south of downtown, announced that the land owner abruptly terminated its five-year lease and they would leave the current location at the start of July. They said they planned to relocate, but the establishment’s future is unclear.
Attitudes toward LGBTQ-plus people improve, but pushback has grown
Construction for new high-rises surrounds Trax, which has been in business for 15 years, and it appears the land is too valuable to allow a gay dive bar to remain. It became another victim of displacement from the growth and change in Nashville over the years. Sad that the news came at the start of Pride month.
Trax and other gay and lesbian bars in Music City – Peckers, Canvas, Tribe, Play, Frankie J’s and Lipstick Lounge – offer a safe space where patrons do not have to fear being gawked at, harassed or assaulted.
That seems so last century as social norms have changed and more people than ever identify as queer, including 1 in 5 Gen Zers, according to Gallup, but the pushback to LGBTQ-plus rights has intensified in recent years.
Laws in states like Tennessee that target trans people, drag performers and LGBTQ history make these places even more important centers of community.
Mattson notes in his research that many of these bars across the country emerged after World War II as spots where people could come to socialize and be authentically themselves without shame although there were risks such as arrest. The police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969 famously sparked the uprising that led to the Gay Liberation Movement.
Politician’s call for burning Pride flags stokes vile behavior and violence
But history has come to repeat itself, as far right politicians have challenged the decency of LGBTQ people and labeled them as threats to children.
Tennessee’s laws drew national attention, which is why the Volunteer State was featured in the first three episodes of the latest season of “We’re Here,” an HBO Max show documenting three drag queens trying to amplify the voices of LGBTQ-plus people in conservative communities.
While I criticized the show in a recent column for making Tennessee seem like a hellscape without any queer joy and ignore the numerous advocates and allies in the community, the legislation has, in fact, had a chilling effect on people’s perceptions of their value, dignity and agency, and their desire to stay in the state.
Vile rhetoric, such as the Colorado Republican Party chairman’s recent call to burn all Pride flags, motivates thoughts and acts of hatred that put people’s lives at risk.
Queer spaces are not immune from violence as proven by the 2022 mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado or the 2016 massacre at Pulse in Orlando, Florida.
When the Pulse tragedy occurred, as a former Florida resident, I had trouble putting my thoughts together, knowing I could not fully understand what it was like to be in that place at that time.
At the same time, gay bars were locales where I found friendship when I was closeted and where I found love when I was finally ready to enter a relationship.
Growing up gay in a religious, conservative home created a need to find safety and acceptance elsewhere.
I have frequented all these establishments in Nashville I mentioned earlier at some point or another for brunch, Happy Hour and the very rare late night drink after a Nashville SC match or a jaunt on a party bus.
After cheering during the soccer match and riding the bus, my group and I ended up at Trax on both occasions and connected with friends we had not seen in a long time.
We felt a deep sense of community – something that will be lost for many patrons when Trax finally leaves that location.
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He isan editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts theTennessee Voices videocastand curates theTennessee VoicesandLatino Tennessee Voicesnewsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him atdplazas@tennessean.comor tweet to him at@davidplazas.
