| Part of a series on |
| LGBT topics |
|---|
 LGBT portal |
LGBT culture in Baltimore, Maryland is an important part of the culture of Baltimore, as well as being a focal point for the wider LGBT community in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Mount Vernon, known as Baltimore's gay village, is the central hub of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. [1]
Baltimore Pride is one of the oldest gay pride celebrations in the United States. In 2019, Baltimore Pride celebrated its 44th annual event. Pride weekend in Baltimore is held from June 14 to June 16. The first day of Pride weekend involves the Baltimore Pride parade in Charles Village and the Baltimore Pride Block Party in Station North. The second day involves the Baltimore Pride Festival held at Druid Hill Park. [2]
In 1931, the Baltimore Afro-American covered a local drag ball. The article detailed the "coming out of new debutantes into gay society." By 1931, the drag ball culture was starting to emerge into the mainstream in major cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, and New York. The Afro-American wrote that "The coming out of new debutantes into homosexual society was the outstanding feature of Baltimore's eighth annual frolic of the pansies when the art club was host to the neuter gender at the Elks' Hall." [3]
In 1955, 162 gay men and lesbians were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at the Pepper Hill Club on North Gay Street. It was the largest raid of a nightclub in Baltimore's history. The arrests were made after the nightclub's largely gay male patrons were seen kissing each other. Following the Pepper Hill raid, the head of Baltimore city's vice squad testified in court that he had warned the nightclub against allowing homosexuals to congregate. When charges were dismissed against co-owners Victor Lance and Morton Cohen, cheers of "hurray" erupted in the court from their supporters. [4]
In 1978, African-American gay and bisexual men helped found the DC-Baltimore Coalition of Black Gays (now known as the D.C Coalition) to cater to LGBT African-Americans in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. [5] [6]
Leon's, the first gay bar in Baltimore, opened in 1957. In has been continuously operating since and is the oldest gay bar in the city. During the 1890s, the bar was known as Georgia's Tap Room. The current name of the bar comes from Leon Lampe, who owned the bar in the 1930s. The bar survived during Prohibition by operating as a speakeasy and after World War II it became known as a hang-out for artists and beatniks, both gay and straight. Leon's officially became a gay bar in 1957, although the bar had been attracting a gay clientele for many years. In the early days of the bar when homosexuality was illegal and many patrons were closeted, it was custom to ask patrons at the door, "Are you a friend of Dorothy?" This was gay lingo that helped gay men identify each other, referencing Judy Garland's Dorothy Gale character in The Wizard of Oz. [7]
The Hippo, a gay club in Baltimore, announced that it would close in 2015 after 43 years in business. [8]
On June 13, 2016, a candlelight vigil was held at the Ynot lot in Station North to honor the 49 victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. [9]
In 2018, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh signed an executive order granting recognition of LGBT-owned businesses in Baltimore. This order places LGBT-owned businesses in the same category as women-owned and minority-owned businesses in Baltimore that are granted certain percentages of city incentives and product or service work on city contracts. [10]
Club Bunns, a gay club near Lexington Market that attracted a gay black male clientele, closed in February 2019 after 30 years in business. [11]
In February 2019, a lesbian radical feminist from Baltimore named Julia Beck was removed from Mayor Catherine Pugh's LGBTQ Commission due to her belief that "People who call themselves transgender women are male." Her decision to forgo use of preferred gender pronouns rankled other members of the commission. During the controversy, Beck received death and rape threats. Beck was replaced on the commission by Ava Pipitone, a transgender woman. [12] Pipitone is the executive director of the Baltimore Transgender Alliance (BTA). [13] Pipitone now goes by the name Kodah Pipitone and uses he/him pronouns. [14]
In 2019, one of Baltimore's largest gay nightclubs, Grand Central, announced that it was closing upon purchase by new owners. Grand Central had been located at 1001-1003 N. Charles Street in Mount Vernon. [15]
In March 2019, it was announced that one of the earliest gay gathering spots in Baltimore faces the possibility of demolition. The former Martick’s Restaurant Français, a restaurant that served French cuisine and attracted a bohemian and gay clientele, is now vacant. Once a speakeasy during Prohibition, Martick's has been visited by Billie Holiday, Leonard Bernstein, and John Waters. During the 1950s and 1960s, the restaurant was popular with artists, jazz musicians, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, crossdressers, transgender and intersex patients of Johns Hopkins Hospital psychologist John Money, and many others. It is one of the oldest pre-Civil War buildings in Baltimore. The building is located at 214 W. Mulberry St. and there are plans to build a 6-story $30 million apartment complex at the site. Efforts to appeal to the Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) have been unsuccessful. [16]
During the 1970s, Mount Vernon began to form into a gay village for Baltimore with the establishment of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore (GLCCB) in 1977, now known as the Pride Center of Maryland. [17] LGBT milestones included the first Pride parade in 1975, and the creation of the GLCCB Health Clinic in 1980. [17]
In 2016, long-running Mount Vernon gay nightclub "The Drinkery" experienced a liquor license battle amidst complaints of noise, crime, and excess trash. Some patrons of the club believed the battle was due to racism and classism in the changing neighborhood that is undergoing rapid gentrification. [18]
While Baltimore historically had a thriving lesbian nightlife scene, most lesbian bars and clubs have shuttered over the years. In 2016, only two lesbian bars remained: Sappho's at Grand Central and The Attic in Mount Vernon. After Grand Central closed in 2020, The Attic remains as the only lesbian nightclub in Baltimore. The Attic is a lounge and dining room in the upstairs of the Flavor bar in Mount Vernon and is open on weekends. [19] [20]
Like many other major cities along the Northeastern United States, Baltimore has been home to a predominantly Black and Latino drag ball scene [21]
In May 2019, a hate crime occurred at Same Gender Love, an LGBT-themed shop in Mount Vernon. Two unidentified men set fire to a rainbow flag outside of the boutique. The Baltimore Police Department's criminal intelligence unit and LGBT liaison, along with Central District officers, are investigating the incident. [22] [23]
In April 2019, the Baltimore City Council unanimously voted to pass a policy allowing transgender and transsexual students to use the names and pronouns of their choosing, as well as usage of restrooms in accordance with a person's gender identity. [24]
Many black bisexual and black gay men in Baltimore are "on the down low." Men who are "down-low" identify as heterosexual, but also have sex with men. This is often due to homophobia in the African-American community. The taboo on acknowledging homosexuality and bisexuality can contribute to issues of infidelity and higher rates of HIV/AIDS. Black bisexual men may conceal their bisexuality while projecting an image of machismo. As part of his research into the "down-low" phenomena for his 2004 book On the Down Low, gay author and HIV/AIDS activist J. L. King interviewed 2,500 men on the down-low, many of them from Baltimore. [25]
The Pride Center of Maryland is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population of Baltimore and its metropolitan area. The Pride Center offers two groups for lesbians; SILhouette - Spiritually In-tuned Lesbians, a group for religious lesbians; and Sistahs of Pride, a group for lesbians of color. The center also offers several groups for transgender people, including Akanni – Black Transmen, Inc., the Baltimore Trans*Masculine Alliance (BTMA), and Tran*quility (a support group for trans women. [26]
The Portal, now defunct, was a center for LGBT African Americans in the Baltimore metropolitan area.
BPT Charm City (Bi & Proud Together), a Baltimore-based organization that holds a monthly support group for people who identify as bisexual, pansexual, or fluid, was founded in June 2014. The organization was formed to cultivate a space for the bisexual community, due to perceived marginalization from both heterosexuals and LGBT communities. [27]
Due to a lack of support for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Latinos in Baltimore, an organization called IRIS (Individuality, Respect, Integrity, and Sexuality) was created in 2016 to cater to the LGBT Latino community of Baltimore. Previous programs directed at LGBT Latinos have come and gone, but IRIS is designed to be more permanent. While most LGBT services in Baltimore are in the gayborhood of Mount Vernon, the majority of Baltimore's LGBT Latinos live in Highlandtown alongside their heterosexual Latino peers. In addition to the problem of location, LGBT Latinos face intersectional barriers to access and equality, including immigration status, language fluency, and cultural acceptance. [28] [29]
In 2015, lesbian-feminist activist and historian Louise Parker Kelley published LGBT Baltimore, a pictorial history of Baltimore's LGBT community. [30]
Gay Life, a defunct newspaper about gay culture published by the Pride Center of Maryland. It was distributed in Baltimore and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. In 2016, Gay Life was purchased from the Pride Center and merged into the LGBT newspaper Baltimore OUTloud. [31]
Many LGBT people in Baltimore are Christian or come from Christian backgrounds. The Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore, headed by Reverend Harris Thomas, is a church that serves African-American Christians and other LGBT Christians of color. Unity Fellowship is the local branch of a national movement that caters to LGBT Christians of color. Baltimore's Unity Fellowship Church is located on Old York Road and has a congregation of around 150 people. While homophobia exists within the African-American community, the majority of African-Americans in Maryland are supportive of same-sex marriage. [32]
Baltimore has a large population of LGBT Jews. JQ Baltimore is a Baltimore-based organization that fights for LGBT inclusion within the Jewish community. Mindy Dickler, an Orthodox Jewish mother, co-founded JQ Baltimore after her son came out as gay on during Rosh Hashanah. [33] Many Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative synagogues in Baltimore are accepting of the LGBT community. Rabbi Mark Loeb, senior rabbi at Beth El Congregation, a Conservative synagogue in Baltimore, has welcomed LGBT Jews by stating that "We're telling the community of gay Jews that there are many rabbis in the R.A. inclined to serve them as fellow Jews." [34]
Unlike major metropolitan areas such as New York City and San Francisco, Baltimore has fewer resources for Orthodox Jewish parents of LGBT children. LGBT Orthodox Jewish organizations such as Eshel have tried to fill this gap by organizing meetings and Shabbatons for LGBT Orthodox Jews and their families and supporters. [35]
The LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBT activists and sociologists see LGBT community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBT community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBT community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBT community.
LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.
Gay Life was a weekly newspaper about gay culture published by the LGBT Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland. It was distributed in Baltimore, Maryland and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
LGBT stereotypes are stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are based on their sexual orientations, gender identities, or gender expressions. Stereotypical perceptions may be acquired through interactions with parents, teachers, peers and mass media, or, more generally, through a lack of firsthand familiarity, resulting in an increased reliance on generalizations.
Atlanta Pride, also colloquially called the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival, is a week-long annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) pride festival held in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1971, it is one of the oldest and largest pride festivals in the United States. According to the Atlanta Pride Committee, as of 2017, attendance had continually grown to around 300,000. Originally a pride held in June, Atlanta Pride has been held in October every year since 2008, typically on a weekend closest to National Coming Out Day.
Racism is a concern for many in the Western lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities, with members of racial, ethnic, and national minorities reporting having faced discrimination from other LGBT people.
The Outwords Archive (OUTWORDS) is a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles. It records and archives on-camera interviews with elders from the LGBTQ+ community throughout the United States.
The development of LGBT culture in Philadelphia can be traced back to the early 20th century. It exists in current times as a dynamic, diverse, and philanthropically active culture with establishments and events held to promote LGBT culture and rights in Philadelphia and beyond.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in San Francisco is one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the United States, and is one of the most important in the history of American LGBT rights and activism alongside New York City. The city itself has been described as "the original 'gay-friendly city'". LGBT culture is also active within companies that are based in Silicon Valley, which is located within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.
New York City has been described as the gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest LGBTQ populations and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rise buildings, and Broadway theatre". LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs". LGBT advocate and entertainer Madonna stated metaphorically, "Anyways, not only is New York City the best place in the world because of the queer people here. Let me tell you something, if you can make it here, then you must be queer."
Throughout Dallas–Fort Worth, there is a large lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Since 2005, DFW has constituted one of the largest LGBT communities in Texas.
The African-American LGBT community, otherwise referred to as the Black American LGBT community, is part of the overall LGBT culture and overall African-American culture. The initialism LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. A landmark event for the LGBT community, and the Black LGBT community in particular, was the Stonewall uprising in 1969, in New York City's Greenwich Village, where Black activists including Stormé DeLarverie and Marsha P. Johnson played key roles in the events.
Austin, Texas has one of the most prominent and active LGBT populations in the United States. Austin was acclaimed by The Advocate in 2012 as part of its Gayest Cities in America, and was recognized by Travel and Leisure as one of America's Best Cities for Gay Travel. Much of Austin's gay nightlife scene is clustered around 4th Street. LGBT activism groups Atticus Circle and Equality Texas are headquartered in Austin.
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is an American memorial wall in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, New York City, dedicated to LGBTQ "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes". The wall is located inside of the Stonewall Inn and is a part of the Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history. The first fifty nominees were announced in June 2019, and the wall was unveiled on June 27, 2019, as a part of the Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 events. Each year five additional names will be added.
The LGBT Caucus of the Chicago City Council is a bloc of aldermen in the Chicago City Council that was formed in 2015, to focus on issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. As of 2022, the caucus consists of 6 members, out of the council's 50 aldermen.
The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed The World is a 2019 book by Mason Funk. It contains interviews and biographies of members of the LGBT community and advocates compiled by The OUTWORDS Archive. It was published by HarperCollins. There is a mix of well-known and unsung heroes of the LGBT movement.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted inequities experienced by marginalized populations, and has had a significant impact on the LGBT community. Gay pride events were cancelled or postponed worldwide. More than 220 gay pride celebrations around the world were canceled or postponed in 2020, and in response a Global Pride event was hosted online. LGBTQ+ people also tend to be more likely to have pre-existing health conditions, such as asthma, HIV/AIDS, cancer, or obesity, that would worsen their chances of survival if they became infected with COVID-19. They are also more likely to smoke.
In Washington, D.C., LGBT culture is heavily influenced by the U.S. federal government and the many nonprofit organizations headquartered in the city.
