Legendary Gay Bar Starlite Lounge Closes

Last night was the final day of operation for the Starlite Lounge, the oldest black-owned gay bar in New York. A fixture since the 1960s, the business was forced to close after the building was sold in 2009. Efforts to have the bar declared a landmark were unsuccessful and the Starlite was not able to come to agreement with the new property owner.

The Starlite’s demise comes on the heels of the June closing of the country’s longest-running gay bar, Connecticut’s Cedar Brook Cafe, after 71 years.

The Cedar Brook Cafe

Some people believe gay bars aren’t needed in cities where the LGBT community is accepted. But bars have served a crucial purpose in the gay community, one somewhat similar to the church’s position in the black community as a source of social, political, and economic strength.

The Starlite’s closure is the end of an era.