Julius’, at the corner of Waverly Place and West 10th Street, New York City / Photo by dbimages, Alamy Only in June of this year did the Supreme Court rule on another case that, if decided differently, could have endangered any queer or trans person who dared to declare their identity openly in a hostile space. But the message they espoused-that they had the right not just to exist in public spaces, but to be out in those spaces-is one that still resonates. The Mattachine Society never successfully filed a discrimination suit based on the Sip-In, though in a related case the following year, a state court ruled that bars could not be shut down for the presence of homosexuality alone. A Village Voice photographer, Fred McDarrah, captured the moment in an iconic photograph that still hangs at Julius’ today. The bartender quickly covered a glass with his hand, indicating his refusal to serve them. The activists ordered their drinks, then stated they were gay. Thank You! We've received your email address, and soon you will start getting exclusive offers and news from Wine Enthusiast. When the business inevitably declined to serve them, they would file a complaint with the State Liquor Authority, forcing the state to recognize that refusing to serve gay patrons was a violation of their civil rights. They would visit a bar, announce they were gay, and request a drink. Mattachine, led by president Dick Leitsch, was out to solve a problem: though the State Liquor Authority had no regulation against serving gay people in bars, it did prohibit establishments from serving “disorderly” patrons-and all gay people were considered, by interpretation, disorderly. The Sip-In was the brainchild of the Mattachine Society, an early gay rights group.
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And in April 1966, three years before the famed riots at nearby Stonewall that many historians mark as the start of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, Julius’ was the site of a very different rebellion: a “Sip-In.”
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Not the iconic Stonewall Inn, but Julius’.Īt the corner of Waverly Place and West 10th Street, Julius’ is the oldest gay bar in New York City. Once, about a half a century ago, it found itself at the epicenter of an unprecedented protest asserting gay people’s right to gather in public spaces without police harassment. Apparently, too many high-powered individuals-including Mafia members, police officers and big Hollywood names-were implicated as clients.In the heart of the West Village, steps from the Christopher Street train station, stands a historic gay bar.
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But while the NYPD attempted to crack down on Mafia-run prostitution in the mid 1970s, during something known as “Operation Together,” the effort was eventually shut down in 1977. in his book, The Mafia and the Gays, the mob also plied the gay flesh trade, with bouncers “pimping out” patrons.
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The Mob designed the operations to maximize profits-from the cheap, watered-down alcohol sold at high mark-ups to the jukebox and bootleg cigarettes.
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In reality, the mob provided the liquor, leaving most bottles outside in cars or in hidden closets where they could be easily stashed during raids. Patrons, on entering, were asked to sign into a “membership” book, but most people entered faked names. To get around laws that prohibited serving alcohol to LGBT patrons, many gay bars-including the Stonewall-operated ostensibly as “bottle bars,” private clubs where members would bring their own alcohol.