It was not an ideal life for anyone, but it was an acceptable alternative. It gave gay males time to take a girl to dinner or a movie, drop her off at a respectable hour and then have time to head out and party with all their gay friends. Mary Alice Brown was a young jazz entertainer at a bar called Slivers who encouraged her gay customer base.ĭuring this time frame and before, the penchant for partying late at night was also born for very practical reasons. The Fiesta Room at the Lawrence Hotel also catered to it's gay clientele. It was particularly popular with the women's softball teams. The "A Bar" was a popular gay hang out which was located on Perry Square where City Hall now stands. Numerous bars were known to be gay friendly. Additionally, there was a law on the books that anyone dressed in clothing of the opposite sex must have at least three items of their gender's clothing on to be "legal"- otherwise they could be arrested. This is why most drag shows and contests were held at that time of year. They usually were called Halloween parties since dressing up at Halloween became much more acceptable. Events were not allowed to called Drag Shows. Bars were not allowed to permit same sex dancing, under any circumstance under penalty of fines or closure. Word of mouth was the only way of communicating this within the community itself. Bars could not be billed as gay or gay friendly. There were many city ordinances and laws that had to be obeyed, with threat of arrest, fines or closure.
Heterosexual owners of many bars did what they could to accommodate gays with certain areas, certain days and times - but when push came to shove, they usually backed down for their own economic reasons.
The threat of being exposed or arrested was very real to many people and gay bashing were as common place as they often are today. It was a very different social time and political climate for gays in Erie in the 1950's and 1960's. History of Socialization, Drag and Bars in Erie