That rate has been much higher in Cleveland due to population declines.
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His research shows that 37% of gay bars and clubs nationwide closed between 20. And while most people obeyed mask mandates and social-distancing rules, others resisted the health orders.Įven with such events, remaining open before the pandemic was difficult for many such establishments, says Greggor Mattson, a professor of LGBTQ+ social history at Oberlin. Social-distancing requirements limited the number of people who could be served and fear of COVID-19 restrained the number who wanted to be. There were new expenses – masks, sanitizers, signage.Įvents that bring customers and additional revenue to town – like CLAW, the national annual leather event downtown – were canceled. But the subsequent reopening in May posed further challenges. Like other gay bar owners in town, Briggs and his husband had other sources of income to keep the lights on through the three-month shutdown. “The bills didn’t stop just because we were closed,” said Briggs. The Payroll Protection Program eventually helped cover employee wages for Vibe and other gay bars in Cleveland, but business owners had to dig into their own pockets to cover other expenses: internet, utilities, maintenance costs. “We lose money, that’s one thing, but I was reallyįreaking out about my employees,” Kevin Briggs said. They’ve often survived by tapping federal Covid relief for small businesses and by coming up with programming that has appealed to patrons’ desires for Covid-safe entertainment.īriggs remembers the anxiety he felt when he first learned of the shutdown, long before vaccines were available. Vibe and the handful of Cleveland gay bars and nightclubs in business before the pandemic, remain open. Would the pandemic add to these closures? Not in Cleveland. Gay bars and nightclubs in Cleveland and nationally had been closing at high rates for more than a decade before the pandemic, according to research by an Oberlin College professor. Early in the pandemic, they didn’t know how long the shutdown would last or if their fledgling business would survive it. He and his husband John had owned Vibe Bar & Patio, a gay bar on Lorain Avenue near West 117th Street in Cleveland, for only about a year.
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When Governor Mike DeWine ordered bars and clubs to shut down in March 2020 to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Kevin Briggs panicked.