Gay bars in oklahoma city

It took that long to move freely in a world of secrets, to get beyond bars and into living rooms, businesses and minds. The following stories, written collaboratively, seek to put months of watching, several hundred hours of taped interviews and the lives of several hundred gay Oklahomans into focus. Some gays shared their secret on the condition it go no further.

For that reason, many sources are referred to by initials or by a business affiliation. In this, the third of a series, the roles of gay bars and gay churches are examined.

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A drive past oklahoma gay bar may be the only time most straight people are aware of having seen gays. The community's bars range from joints with one beer tap and a pool table to plush clubs with extravagant sound systems and hefty cover charges. Some change hands so often it is difficult for even gays to keep up with who owns what.

A lesbian bar on NW 16 still houses, on a more-or-less permanent basis, several men who were on their accustomed stools back when the bar was a neighborhood hangout. Doubtless they'll still be on their stools when it changes ownership again. But plush or punk, scandalous or sedate, they are much more than mere watering holes for their clientele.

If the gay community might be considered a wheel, then surely the bars provide the hub, holding the spokes of communication in place and providing the support for the outer rim of less-open gays. They host church dinners and many fund-raisers. But unlike other bars, their owners say they cannot city the press or the public to the good deeds.

For their patrons, privacy is much more important than public philanthropy. Paige, a gay-bar owner. Gay political issues are supported and communicated through the bars, and voter registration campaigns are conducted in their front hallways. While the touching, feeling and general jostling at some gay bars particularly those catering to men rival a feed lot, many gays said they don't frequent the bars to seek partners, but simply to make contact with others like themselves.

Sandy, a Tulsa lesbian, recalled that as a teen-ager she hitchhiked the 20 miles to a gay bar near her rural home, "just to see other women like myself. It's not uncommon for gays when they first come out to go to the bars and not talk to anyone, "just look for four or five hours," she said. Most of Oklahoma City's gay bars have very strict admission policies both to keep minors out and discourage curiosity seekers.

They know that they'll be safe from the public eye, DJ said, and that the premises are rarely visited by police. Many of Oklahoma City's gay bars that have been visited by police more than they would like have employed private security people in an effort to comply with noise and nuisance laws.

The rent-a-cops keep their clients from becoming unruly outside the clubs, and keep the crowds moving at the close of the evening. On their dance floors and at their bars, bankers, broom pushers, executives and assembly-line workers rub elbows. There seems to be a marked difference, however, between the bars that cater to lesbians and those owned and frequented by gay males.

Wiley McAnallan, a gay chef at one of the city's more exclusive restaurants, said the difference is due to gay greater disposable income of gay males. Wiley knows good food and good wine.