While I know we all ventured here as a class, I couldn't help but want to return here to see about this bar. It had been called, by one of the bartenders, 'the gay bar in town', and with it's technicolor light display making it an eye-catching stop on a nighttime stroll along the Saône, it nearly begged for attention. I decided I would come back another night to sus it out.
This has long been a sort of dichotomy that I've found interesting. Over the past decade or so, with the normalization of homosexuality in the Western world, there's been a bit of a departure between gay men and the rest of the queer community. Whereas La Chapelle was a place for gay men, and both the clientele and the vibes inside reflected that, The L Bar (which operates as Lyon's only lesbian bar) still felt like a queer space. At the L bar, it seemed like people who look any way and of any proclivity were actively encouraged and welcomed. This is not to say those people were not welcomed at La Chapelle, but at the end of the day it was a space creat
ed by and for gay men, and that is a very different thing than a queer space. It's hard to describe the difference, but the best way I know to put it into words is the difference between going to a club meeting that put out flyers saying 'open attendance', and going to a club meeting because a friend invited you there. In the latter example, while you have been invited, it is ultimately not a space created to be open, and upon entering you will be the outsider. I'm reminded a bit of the discussion we had at the LGBTQ+ center, where it was said that, while gay marriage had been legalized, there was still a lot of discrepancies in terms of the rights allotted to queer people as a whole. A similar thing happened in the U.S.- once gay men got the right to marry, it seemed like their fight was over, and a portion have begun to try and distance themselves from the community.
You'll have to forgive me if I ramble about this subject. As a transgender man, I think a lot about the difference about being queer and being gay. There's some spaces that I simply feel I just don't belong in with cis gay men, where I feel as though there's been a line drawn in the sand. In queer spaces, however, I will know that it is a space where there is no question whether or not I am welcome. It's a hard thing to explain, and I promise I'm not using this as a cop out- but unless you're in the queer community, it's hard to see these partitions that have been put up between the 'G' and the rest of the acronym.
However, this is not to in any way be negative towards La Chapelle! The only real critique I had there were the drink prices. I'm gay, not rich. Otherwise it was a pleasant experience, but one that did make me think about how the queer community now addresses itself and those who align themselves with it and those who don't.
Angel, this was a great little insight into La Chapelle Café. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and ambiance when we all went as a group. It seemed like a space that was welcoming and laid back, which sounds perfect if you ask me. But, as a heterosexual female, it is always more interesting and realistic to hear how someone that identifies with the LGBTQIA+ community feels about a place like this in comparison to myself. Sometimes I feel safer in some spaces and less safe in others in comparison to many of my friends who are a part of this community. This is why it is always nice to find a space where everyone feels welcome, and I feel like La Chapelle was it. It seemed like a nice gay bar, but also a place for groups to get together, as I observed many tables of mixed company friends while we were there as a group. I feel like I could imagine Colette hanging out here on a weekend evening with her friends - dressed in one of her suits, being her awesomely radical self.
ReplyDeleteI wish that there were more spaces like this back in the United States, because I find that in most cities there either are no gay/lesbian/queer bars or you have to search for them if you aren't in a huge city. This community deserves spaces in which they feel safe and can let loose for an evening without judgement or threat, and I feel like those envirnoments are more common here. Perhaps that's just my perspective, I know I can't speak as someone who would truly identify with having experienced feeling something like this.
At the end of the day, I think gay bars are awesome and I loved your little blog blurb!
Angel, I totally agree with the point you brought up about the 'G' distancing itself from the LGBTQ+ community. To me, it's obvious that most cis/het white gay men have a lot of privilege and they seem to be comfortable not using it. It feels like since gay marriage became legal, their battle for equality ended while the rest of the queer community has to keep fighting for rights. That's not to say that all cis/het gay white men are complacent, but I feel that many in the community are, and they have the privilege to do so. Their identities are much more accepted in our society than any other queer identity, and I get what you mean about a space being for gay men vs. for queer people in general. I agree that it's difficult to explain to a non-queer person what we mean by a space being queer-centric vs. gay-centric. I think that queer people have to be more sensitive to their surroundings in order to avoid hate crimes and assess if it's a safe space. That being said, this may explain why non-queer people don't get what we mean by saying a place has a 'queer vibe', we almost have to have a 6th sense to subconsciously understand if we are safe or not. While I didn't join the group to go to La Chapelle, your blurb about it put me there in a way that satiated my curiosity about the spot. I personally enjoyed the L Bar, but again I'm biased. I think it had that intangible queer vibe that caters to everyone in the community. It felt like a space where everyone was welcome, queer or not. I'm looking forward to going to more queer bars in the states and seeing how different they are. Thanks for your blog!
ReplyDeleteAngel, I love your comparisons between the two bars we visited, La Chapelle and the L Bar. The vibes of both places are similar, yet different. I enjoyed your descriptions of the music and lighting of both places. I agree that the L Bar had more of a calming sensation with the tv screens playing a fireside. Meet up’s could be made more relaxed because of this, as well as the size of the bar. Also, the fact that we saw a family there made it feel accessible to everyone. Chapelle, on thé other hand, was a bar with a lot more energy with the loud disco and pop music, the colorful lighting, and the overall atmosphere was just as inviting as the L bar. I also agree with your statement that the L bar was more inviting for everyone, despite sexuality. This does not mean La Chapelle wasn’t inclusive for lesbians, but the clientele did include more gay men.
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