I would say that Peter Rabbit was pretty much half and half at it's blackest. I was friends with several of the white bartenders. In face I met my husband there a LONG time ago. Peter Rabbit was a mixed crowd until it closed. In fact many engaged in outright discrimination.
This was mostly due to white/European bars and clubs not always welcomed minorities. There were a couple of mainly or mostly 'black' gay bars all over NYC at some time. It was open during the early 1980's because the guy used to hang out on Christopher as a teenager and graduated high school in that year and PR was open then he believes. He knows it was an all AA gay bar (and the white gay men that went with them), but cannot remember when it opened. I'm wondering if anyone knows the names of ANY black gay clubs, lounges or 'anything else' that are now CLOSED but were open prior to 1985?Īlso looking for information on a black gay club called 'The Hideaway' that was located off Hillside Ave & Parson's Blvd in Queens in the early 1980's.Īccording to an older co-worker try searching Peter Rabbit bar on West Street. Much has been written about the white gay experience in NY, but not much about Black Gay America.
