Greggor Mattson

Jul 27, 2023 | lithub.com | Greggor Mattson |Krista Burton

When my favorite gay bar closed in Cleveland, coastal folks agreed it was gentrification. That didn’t square with life here in the depopulating rust belt. Straight journalists had called my favorite corner a “toxic” “nowhere;” some gay businessmen called it an improvement. Many locals said that it didn’t matter, as if Cleveland had gay bars to spare— though half had recently closed. I seethed for months, worrying over the fate of gay bars like a sore tooth.

Jun 16, 2023 | journals.sagepub.com | Greggor Mattson

AbstractThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic marked a dramatic change in the gendered composition of gay bars and a slowing rate of overall decline. Trends are drawn from historic data from printed business guides supplemented with two national censuses of online business listings for LGBTQ+ bars. An online census shows a rebound from a nadir of 730 gay bars in spring 2021 to 803 in 2023.

Jun 2, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Greggor Mattson

Comment on this storyCommentThe data is clear: gay bars are closing. In fact, there are 45 percent fewer of them than in 2002. Dating apps like Grindr and Tinder have broken bars’ monopoly on helping LGBTQ+ people meet one other. Despite the recent spate of new laws targeting LGBTQ+ people, rising social acceptance over past decades means that LGBTQ+ people are increasingly comfortable socializing anywhere.

May 5, 2023 | eventbrite.com | Greggor Mattson

Join author Greggor Mattson and nightlife impresario Murray Hill for a conversation about the past, present, and future of gay bars and LGBTQ+ spaces at the legendary Stonewall Inn. Mattson’s new book WHO NEEDS GAY BARS? reports on more than 300 gay bar visits in 39 states and conversations with bar owners and bartenders, drag queens and DJs (Redwood Press May 2023). Samantha Allen, author of Real, Queer America, describes WHO NEEDS GAY BARS?

Apr 3, 2023 | sup.org | Greggor Mattson

"A fun, thoughtful, and nuanced examination of the past, present, and future roles of the 'gay bar' as the demand for and economics of queer community space wildly in flux."—Hugh Ryan, author of The Women's House of Detention and When Brooklyn Was Queer"Who Needs Gay Bars offers a powerful collection of microsociological portraits of gay bars across the United States.