For information on sites associated with Marie Equi and Harriet Speckart, we relied on Portland city directories for the years 1906-1920, the 19 U.S. Secondary sources include the first written account of Portland’s gay history in William Holman’s “A Gay History: Lest We Forget,” (The Northwest Gay Review, Special Issue, June 1977), hereinafter referred to simply as “Holman,” and Duane Frye’s account of The Music Hall from the Gay Pride Program of 1993. Paul LePage explained that, angered by charges of racism, he’d called the lawmaker “the worst word I could think of.This guide to historic gay, lesbian, and transgender buildings and locations in Downtown Portland borrows from a number of primary sources, including Minutes of the Portland City Council, Oregon Liquor Control Commission records, Portland city directories, Sanborn fire insurance maps, and several early gay newspapers published in the city between 19 (The Fountain, The NW Fountain, The Northwest Gay Review, and The Cascade Voice). I dare you to go in.’”Īnd in a public apology this summer for calling a member of the state legislature a “c-sucker,” Gov. Moody said he still gets men jeering outside the club: “‘I dare you to go in there, man. In 2009, a Bangor memorial to Howard was vandalized with vulgar graffiti. “We need gay spaces because there still is a problem of safety and acceptance in many parts of the state.” “There’s a lot of value of gay spaces where non-gay people come in and participate,” Bonauto said. Supreme Court last year, applauded the fact that more young gay people are comfortable going elsewhere, but said the club’s closure is a real loss. Mary Bonauto, the Portland lawyer who successfully argued for marriage equality before the U.S.
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The club was known as The Underground starting in the 1980s - the decade when Charlie Howard was thrown off a bridge and killed by three Bangor teens, who later told police they’d been looking to beat up a “faggot.” Before that, it had been called Rumors and earlier The Limelight, Moody said. In Portland, Styxx’s history and name has tracked this sea change. Moody said Portland still needs a gay club. Walz only goes to Styxx occasionally but said he’s sad to see the club close - a sentiment shared by several other gay men interviewed for this story. “Having identified gay bars is essential to the community, and the loss of Styxx is a real loss,” said Tommy Walz, a member of the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus, who added that even in liberal Portland he feels “hints of fear” as a gay man. But the closure of the city’s only gay nightclub, which was first reported by Dispatch magazine, comes as a blow to many. The challenge of meeting people with the same sexual orientation has also been eased by the rise of dating apps. Portland still has a self-declared gay bar in Blackstones on Pine Street, and many in the LGBTQ community said Flask Lounge is another prefered spot.
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It’s not necessarily a bad thing for the gay community, it’s just bad for gay bars.” “There’s just a lot more bar hopping now than there used to be in the gay community,” Moody said. But as heterosexual Americans have become more comfortable with their gay counterparts, LGBT Portlanders have increasingly frequented other downtown bars and clubs. The news was bittersweet for some gay Portlanders, who saw triumph in the changed attitudes that have made the city’s nightlife more welcoming but who also mourned the closing of an institution that provided community and acceptance when many in the country and city regarded being gay as transgressive.Īs recently as 10 years ago, gay Portlanders would primarily stick to the city’s handful of LGBTQ bars, said Moody, who’s worked at Styxx since 2004 and owned it since 2009. The closure of Styxx, the cavernous Spring Street nightclub, is tied in part to the remarkable rise in Americans’ acceptance of gay men and lesbians in recent decades, according to owner Josh Moody, who said that business has slowed as costs have risen.
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PORTLAND, Maine - After more than 30 years of serving the city’s LGBTQ community, the last last call at Portland’s only gay nightclub will come on New Year’s Day.