Gay bars in west virginia
For more than 30 years, the space at Elevated Street in Morgantown, West Virginia has been a gay bar, serving the state&#;s LGBTQ+ community and providing them a vacuum to meet each other, perform, and express themselves.
The establishment is currently famous as Vice Versa, but in the beginning of its history as an LGBTQ+ space, when it was first called The Class Act, patrons had to navigate a society that was cold and violent to them before entering the safe haven of the bar.
“[The entrance] was in an alleyway, and there was no lighting in the alleyway. You snuck into the gay bar and you snuck out of the gay bar,” Vice Versa co-owner Montaz Morgan recalled from his time at The Class Act. “You didn’t wear ‘gay clothes.’ You brought gay clothes, and you changed into them, and then you’d put your clothes on when you left.”
The identical rule applied to the entertainers, because the police were not on their side, even if they were attacked on their way home.
“The drag queens didn’t come here already ready, they all came here to get ready, and didn’t leave until they changed out o
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I am graduating from med school/residency and the VA in WV has made me a very nice offer because, using their own words, "nobody wants to move here." |
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Ask GHO, as he is our resident expertlast year of college and has seen the scene |
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There are actually two gay bars in the Morgantown area. Vice Versa is the biggest/main bar which is located downtown, there is also a bar
Site of the Grand PalaceOriginally at this location was Summers Market, built in the early s and owned by Abraham and Takla Summers. In the s Abraham Summers retired and the business passed to one of his daughters. In , she decided to stop managing the store and sold it to her brother, Lee Summers. Lee Summers opened The Greek Downtown Lounge, one of the first two gay bars in Charleston. The other was the Longbranch on Morris Street, owned by Hershel Layne. Both opened around the same time. In the late s Summers built an addition on the building, added a proper stage and dancefloor, and rebranded the bar to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace was Charleston’s biggest queer bar, on busy nights there might be people there. In Summers approached Hershel Layne about purchasing the Grand Palace since Hershel owned other gay bars in the city, and Hershel purchased the building for $, Unfortunately, in the s and s a new type of crowd attended the bar as the stigma of attending a gay bar lessened, and the establishment was plagued by drug raids and other issues. Hershel closed the Gran This directory contains valuable data about the best GLBT bars and clubs in the state. Just click on the hyperlink to find out the latest news and events from the finest! HOME | STATES | COUNTRIES | FEEDBACK! |