Gay bars in cambridge ma
End of an era
Stephen Plouffe and David Swan sat in a corner of the Paradise nightclub, the site of their first meeting on Sept. 15, 1990. On Saturday, the Lexington couple visited the Cambridge gay bar one last time, joining a large crowd for a farewell celebration.
“We met here 28 years ago today,” Plouffe said. “We start out the place was closing, and we said, ‘We better come on the last night.’”
Cambridge witnessed the end of an era on Saturday, Sept. 15, as Paradise, the gat nightclub at 180 Massachusetts Ave., hosted “The Last Dance” to commemorate the final weekend for the decades-old establishment. A customer appreciation night followed on Sunday. While the closing of Cambridge’s last gay bar left many lamenting the loss, some say it also points to shifting social patterns within the LGBTQ community.
“It’s definitely the end of an era,” said James Rafferty, the attorney for Paradise’s owner, Paul McCarthy.
Rafferty told the Chronicle that McCarthy decided to retail the building to Novartis Pharmaceuticals for personal and business reasons, stressing that this was not a situation where the nightclub was being forced out. For the past 10 years, Novartis has been a tenan
Dani's Queer Bar is Boston's only queer/sapphic bar, created by and for the LGBTQ+ community, in a world where spaces like this are so limited and far between.
Dani's hosts weekly events and weekend parties that showcase Boston’s queer culture, and is always uncover for an afternoon or evening visit! In addition to cute, gay bevys, we also help up delicious bites from our kitchen until 11:30 pm nightly.
Friday's @
Dani's
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In a good place to be LGBTQ+, dedicated spaces for those communities can be difficult to find
Campus, seen June 15, is the Thursday LGBTQ+ night at ManRay in Cambridge’s Central Square. (Photo: Annie Schugart)
In Cambridge and Somerville, you would be firm pressed to find a place where members of the Gay community are not welcome. Celebration flag stickers are a dime a dozen on store and café windows, and nobody seems to mind bold proclamations of gender or sexuality. In many ways, it’s an ideal place to be LGBTQ+ in an America that is growing more hostile.
Spaces dedicated to the group are sparse, though. Club and bar nights exist, but there are no gay bars to be heard of since the closing of Paradise in 2018. In neighboring Boston, spaces include been disappearing too: Machine in Fenway closed to make way for a condo development, and Bella Luna and the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain closed during the Covid pandemic.
One of the spaces that remain in Cambridge is Campus at ManRay, a club night that happens every Thursday. The night itself is informal compared with some others at ManRay that cater to specific, alternative subcultures and come with dress codes. The only
One of the amazing aspects about living in a enormous, metropolitan city favor Boston, Massachusetts is that sense of multiculturalism; a feeling that there's a place for everyone in the urban area in which to fit and be themselves. This sensibility definitely applies to Boston's gay, female homosexual, bi-sexual and transsexual population, for which there are plenty of bars at which to connect up with friends or family. Here are five of Boston's Best Male lover Bars.
180 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02238
(617) 868-3000
www.paradisecambridge.com
This Massachusetts Ave. mutual is a cash only bar located in the Cambridge area of Boston, right near Kendall Square and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dancing is the name of the game here at Paradise Lock. While the usual clientele is a varied mix of the young and old, gay and bi from Boston's queer community. Warm staff and a cool, spacious move floor make this a great place for the male lover community of Boston to let loose on a Friday or Saturday night.
Related: Boston Area's Optimal Country Bars
Hot Mess! Sundays
at Seaver Place
275 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 819-4297
www.chrisharrispresents.com/hotmess
Hot Mess!