‘The Lesbian Bar Project’ and the Big Apple
The Lesbian Bar Project (LBP), a small group committed to empowering lesbian+ spaces, estimates there were roughly 200 lesbian bars across the United States in the 1980s.
Today, that number has shrunk to 24. There are 8.5 million lesbians living in the U.S.- you can do the math.
“The Lesbian Bar Project” is also the title of the Roku limited documentary series that the group launched in October. Directed by Erica Rose and Elina Street, the series is made up of 30-minute episodes that chronicle the stories of three of those remaining spots in three very different parts of the country.
Rose and Street came up with the idea for the LBP before the COVID-19 virus hit the United States, but it was in 2020- when they launched a PSA about the disappearance of lesbian bars across the country- that it came to fruition.
LBP ran a four-week fundraising campaign, raising over $177,000 to support the lesbian bars still standing. The filmmakers then produced the first short documentary about these bars with additional assistance from liquor company Jagermeister and executive producer Lea Delaria (who also appears in the film).
Cubbyhole: Where it all began
Lesbian bars have been incredibly important in both filmmakers’ evolution as queer women.
“I remember going to Cubbyhole [lesbian bar] as a person who wasn’t out and immediately feeling this sense of community and safety,” Rose said, recalling when she moved to New York City for college in 2009.
Street has a similarly formative connection to the bar- it was one of the first places she felt accepted upon coming to New York from France, where she had never been public about her sexuality.
At their best, bars and restaurants provide a little escape from reality, a third space where the rest of the world falls away. For queer women, they’re few and far between.
“It’s crucial that these spaces remain because they are sanctuaries, they are time capsules, and they have so much history in them,” Street pointed out.
A welcoming environment for anyone
The LBP defines a lesbian bar as one that “[creates] space for people of marginalized genders including women (regardless if they are cis or trans), non-binary folks, and trans men. As these spaces aim to be inclusive of all individuals across the diverse LGBTQIA+ community, the label Lesbian belongs to all people who feel that it empowers them.”
Lisa Meninchino, the owner of Cubbyhole in New York City, agrees in principle. For her, the essential thing is engendering a welcoming environment for anyone- lesbian, gay, trans, straight, etc.- whenever they happen to show up.
“For almost 27 years, we never closed a single day. Through 9/11, through [Hurricane Sandy], through blackouts, through blizzards… Even if it was only for a couple of hours, we opened our doors,” she said.
As welcoming as Meninchino’s spirit may be, she also lamented in the documentary that- “as mainstream society started to accept gay people more and more”- most have taken lesbian bars “for granted.”