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“It’s actually been a dream come true…to meet so many people from so many backgrounds,” Vey said. While growing up in South Jersey and bartending at LGBTQ-centered parties, she always dreamed of owning her own place.Īs a co-owner of Stir, she said inclusivity is a priority, and its tagline is “everyone’s welcome.” Stacey Vey, who studied education at Temple from 1983-1985, feels a similar connection to the gay bar Stir, which she opened 11 years ago on Chancellor Street near 17th. “From the beginning, this bar has always been accepting no matter who you are, and that always drew me,” Nields said. After working there for 10 years, he said it’s become a second home for him. Nields grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and often visited Tavern on Camac in his 20s - a time when he said there were no rainbow street signs or gay pride flags hanging outside, making the LGBTQ community feel hidden. Nields suggested the idea about seven years ago when he was a bartender at the tavern, he said. Late in the week, it hosts Showtune Sundays, when guests sing along to popular musicals displayed on a 20-foot projector. The nightclub’s use alternates each night. The tavern, which is on Camac Street near Manning, has three levels: a restaurant on the bottom floor, a piano bar in the middle and an event space at the top, which is also known as the Ascend Nightclub. It’s one of the oldest gay bars in the country, he added. Tavern on Camac’s building has housed a gay bar since 1927, though it’s gone through different owners, names and layouts, said Howard Nields, the bar’s general manager. The neighborhood, with boundaries at 11th and Broad streets and Pine and Chestnut streets, was officially recognized by the city as the Gayborhood in 2007. Venues for LGBTQ people clustered in that area, where many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people also began to move in at the time. Tabu is one of many bars in the Gayborhood, which originated around 13th and Locust streets in the late 20th century. “If you give somebody a space to allow them to be themselves and flourish, is when you bring the best part of that person out,” said Morrison, who is Tabu’s events manager. More than 30 years later, he finds the same respite at Tabu, a gay sports bar and lounge on 12th Street near Walnut. Morrison, a 1997 journalism alumnus who was president of the club, said he was lucky to have an on-campus space to express himself and support other LGBTQ students.
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In a room the size of a “broom closet” on the third floor of the Student Center, Ian Morrison said he found his “gay tribe.” The small room was the meeting place for Temple’s Lambda Lions, a former student organization for gay students.