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In this chapter the author follows the creation of a local lesbian bar community through three different bars in Tampere, Finland, from the 1970s to the 1990s. In the analysis of these heterotopias, the notions of increasing lesbian visibility, exercising resistance, and gaining autonomous control demarcate the stages of its development. In 1970s bar culture the lesbians and gays who partied together provided each other with a useful cover, as at that time remaining in the closet was still advisable. In the 1980s the lesbians put more effort into becoming visible to each other, which also helped them to find each other. Although the meetups of lesbians in a bar drew some heterosexist attention, lesbian and gay solidarity helped them to withstand the harassment. It was nevertheless a relief for the lesbians to move into a lesbian bar in the 1990s. It turned out, however, that the coming together was also the beginning of the falling apart of the lesbian bar community, as the lessening external pressures coincided with increasing internal differences. Following these stages makes evident how a local bar community is always a contextual and fragile construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, urban researchers have investigated how gender shapes gay and lesbian geographies in major post-industrial cities. These studies demonstrated that while gay men have often produced highly visible territorial enclaves in inner-city areas, lesbian forms of territoriality at the urban scale have been relatively 'invisible' since their communities are constituted through social networks rather than commercial sites. Contrasting the patterns produced by these two populations in the inner-city areas of post-industrial cities during the 'queer' 1990s has created a gender-polarized and historically specific interpretation of their patterns of territoriality and visibility that may differ significantly from those of earlier periods. This paper, therefore, provides a long-range historical geography of lesbians in a major metropolitan area through a case study of Montréal's lesbian bar cultures since 1950. The focus of the analysis is on the preconditions that led to the establishment of the city's lesbian commercial enclave in the 1980s and the factors that led to its decline in the 1990s. This case study, therefore, outlines the shifting character of lesbian territorial practices at the urban scale in Montréal since 1950. It illustrates that in Montréal lesbian territoriality and visibility have been strongly impacted by local neighbourhood dynamics, internal ideologies, and political and spatial relationships with gay men. Ultimately, these findings suggest that contemporary lesbian visibility at the urban scale may have been undermined by an increased identification with the 'queer' forms of community and their territorialization in Montréal's gay Village. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gay and lesbian bars are considered a safe haven. Safe havens exist because of the larger cultural environment that makes safe places necessary. Some communities have noted reductions in the need for gay and lesbian bars due to growing acceptance within the community. However, many states and communities within the South and Bible Belt continue to propose and pass bills which target or restrict the freedoms of LGBT persons. These cultural overtones may support or encourage targeted violence, including the Pulse Nightclub Massacre which was the deadliest incidence of violence targeted at LGBT persons in the USA. This manuscript presents two studies: one at gay bars in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a socially conservative city/state, and the other examines four US communities following the Pulse Nightclub Massacre. Study 1 included interviews at entrance to the bar, exit from the bar, and within a week of leaving the bar in order to identify feelings of safety and comfort. Study 2 seeks to compare gay bar attendance and feelings of comfort and safety in gay bars in regions of the USA with varying structural stigma. Results of study 1 suggest that the participants felt safe (82.4%, n = 42) and comfortable (72.5%, n = 37). In study 2, individuals from Tulsa, Oklahoma were compared to individuals in New York and the DC metro area and were significantly less likely to attend gay bars after the Pulse shooting ( t = 2.53 and 3.66, p ≤ 0.01 and p ≤ 0.001, respectively). Moreover, compared to individuals living in the DC metro area and Philadelphia, participants residing in the city in a conservative state felt significantly less safe attending gay bars ( t = −2.03 and −2.30, respectively; p ≤ 0.05). No differences across the communities were noted by comfort within the gay bar space. In light of a changing political landscape, additional programming efforts may be necessary at gay bars in communities with high structural stigma. These efforts may include supporting the naturally occurring feelings of community connectedness and facilitating community building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on one emblematic fi gure of lesbian Montmartre during the belle époque, the notorious restaurateur Palmyre. After managing the lesbian brasserie La Souris in the 1890s, Palmyre opened her own establishment, Palmyr's Bar, opposite the Moulin Rouge in the early twentieth century. Palmyre's restaurants, the second of which catered to gays as well as lesbians, feature in police, judicial, and fi scal archives as well as the visual arts, journalism, fi ction, and memoir. Palmyre's story, besides conveying a slice of lesbian life in Montmartre during the belle époque, illustrates the importance of lesbian and gay entrepreneurs and entertainers to the making of "Gay Paree." Establishments like Palmyre's, no less than the bohemian cabarets and giant music halls, contributed to the development of commercialized mass culture in the city, while also providing community space and artistic outlets for Paris's gays and lesbians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article examines the narratives of 57 older gay women about their experiences in gay women's bars in the United States during the pre-Stonewall era (1945–1969). Cartier's (2010) concept of “theelogy” is used to develop two parallel theories that illustrate the meaning of the bars for these women. Christian rituals are used to outline the socioreligious significance of the bars, while achieving self-acceptance is expressed through language that illustrates interconnectedness (including “to see each other” and “to have each other”). The article closes by addressing the significance of these theories and this approach to spirituality for the field of gerontology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sydney's lesbian scene changed significantly between the 1940s and 1970s from mixed private social networks to a more gender segregated public scene. For many lesbians in the early post-war decades, private friendship networks defined patterns of socialising and this impacted on the development of lesbian identity, limiting the scope for the emergence of distinctive lesbian subcultures and styles. Increasing numbers of women joined camp men on the commercial scene in the 1960s but the emergence of feminism in the 1970s prompted the development of new women-only spaces and encouraged increasing gender segregation on the commercial scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores queer Japanese women's narratives of their own histories and the history of the “Japanese lesbian community,” which has been constructed as a space outside the heterosexual mainstream, a space where queer women can find at least temporary refuge. It begins with the acknowledgment that the evolution and the shape of the community, along with the identities of the women who comprise it, are shifting and contested. This article specifically looks at the long history of the lesbian bar scene as well as more recent history of lesbian dance parties; the early role of lesbian feminism and activism; lesbian community-based and commercial publications, paying special attention to the critical role translation has played in Japanese lesbian discourse and the construction of multiple lesbian identities; and, finally, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride events and film festivals, through which the larger LGBT community has been gaining increasing visibility. This article argues that while some of the building blocks of the community are borrowed, from the “West” as well as from the Japanese gay community, there has also been creative translation, adaptation, and resistance to these imports. The resulting Japanese lesbian community is a complex and local construct, an innovative bricolage firmly sited in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminist researchers have acknowledged that racial differences between researcher and researched impact on the research process; however, there has been little concern with how "race" is actually made in/through the research process. If we think "race" as performative and as always in the process of being made then this theoretical claim has crucial implications for research encounters. In this article the author draws on her own research, which focuses on processes of racialization. This ethnographic study was conducted in two lesbian bars in the North West of England. The article illustrates different ways of how "race," in particular Whiteness, operated during the research process. The author critically reflects on her role in "race making" during this process and highlights the importance of acknowledging that researchers are also complicit in this making when doing research where "race" is not the central focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the mapping of ostensibly 'lesbian' spaces in Brisbane, Queensland, focusing on lesbian bars and/or clubs. It provides an overview on how gay space has tended to be 'mapped' in existing scholarship. The article explores how lesbian space is mediated through interpersonal networks, gay media and virtual spaces. It also looks at how lesbians go about the process of finding each other, and finding community in the spaces of Brisbane's built environment. Moreover, a brief case study of the three incarnations of one lesbian bar in Brisbane, Mint cocktail bar, is provided.

Over the last two decades, urban researchers have investigated how gender shapes gay and lesbian geographies in major post-industrial cities. These studies demonstrated that while gay men have often produced highly visible territorial enclaves in inner-city areas, lesbian forms of territoriality at the urban scale have been relatively ‘invisible’ since their communities are constituted through social networks rather than commercial sites. Contrasting the patterns produced by these two populations in the inner-city areas of post-industrial cities during the ‘queer’ 1990s has created a gender-polarized and historically specific interpretation of their patterns of territoriality and visibility that may differ significantly from those of earlier periods. This paper, therefore, provides a long-range historical geography of lesbians in a major metropolitan area through a case study of Montréal's lesbian bar cultures since 1950. The focus of the analysis is on the preconditions that led to the establishment of the city's lesbian commercial enclave in the 1980s and the factors that led to its decline in the 1990s. This case study, therefore, outlines the shifting character of lesbian territorial practices at the urban scale in Montréal since 1950. It illustrates that in Montréal lesbian territoriality and visibility have been strongly impacted by local neighbourhood dynamics, internal ideologies, and political and spatial relationships with gay men. Ultimately, these findings suggest that contemporary lesbian visibility at the urban scale may have been undermined by an increased identification with the ‘queer’ forms of community and their territorialization in Montréal's gay Village. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the geographies or spatial patterns of LGTB (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people across the Netherlands. Topics covered include the relative abundance of gay and lesbian establishments in the world of entertainment especially bars and cafes, the reluctance of some social and religious groups to accept the general assimilation of non-heterosexual identities and the refusing civil servants who refuse perform same-sex marriage.