Can Boston improve its LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces?

Paris Alston: You're listening to GBH's Morning Edition. And today, we are continuing our special reporting series on something that feels a little funny to talk about early in the morning on a Tuesday.

Jeremy Siegel: Nightlife.

Alston: Welcome back to Nightlife in Boston, a reporting collaboration with Axios Boston, where we look at the city's nightlife identity, meaning what makes it good, what makes it bad, and what you think could make it better. And just a reminder that we want to hear from you at GBHNews.org/Nightlife, where you'll find our survey. And we've had a lot of responses so far to this, Jeremy, haven't we?

Siegel: We have, including on the LGBTQ+ nightlife scene, which we are going to talk about today, because in the studio with us to continue the conversation is Steph Solis from Axios Boston. Good morning, Steph.

Steph Solis: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Alston: Thanks for being here again. So throughout this series, we have been hearing from listeners and readers about what they think of nightlife and of course, the lack of inclusive spaces for the LGBTQ+ community. And that includes bars and clubs, but also goes beyond that, right? What is the landscape looking like currently?

Solis: Absolutely. The LGBTQ+ nightlife scene has been sort of shrinking over the last few decades. And there's a number of events, but you've seen The Machine, you've seen Buzz, and other bars close and not necessarily have things replace it. That seems to be slowly changing. The latest example being Dani's Queer Bar in the Back Bay being in the works. And once that's opened, that would be the first queer femme brick-and-mortar space Boston has seen in years and the only one that would exist right now.

Siegel: So in the responses we've heard from people in this series, there's definitely been a desire for more of these spaces and a lot of that stemming from safety concerns. Lizzie wrote to us: 'nightclub scenes downtown are wildly unsafe and homophobic. I've had my drink contaminated many times.' Zach wrote: 'the police protect bar owners but let people get assaulted,' saying there have been multiple anti-LGBTQ attacks on friends that they've seen. And an anonymous listener wrote in to say being out in the Seaport or near Copley as a queer person does not feel very safe. It is, quote, a 'hetero meat market land.'

Alston: Quite the description.

Siegel: All of this and the desire for more of these spaces, it makes me wonder: why is it so difficult for LGBTQ+ spaces to exist and open in Boston?

Solis: So there's so many reasons. They can range from high commercial rent costs to the maze of red tape that would-be entrepreneurs have to navigate. And in some cases, it's also just a matter of how much influence you have. It's really hard to get a liquor license. It's really hard to get all of those approvals. And, you know, from the consumer perspective, the end result is just there's not a lot of options unless you want to go out to broader bars and nightclubs and places that just aren't safe.

Alston: Yeah, you mentioned the liquor licenses was something we recently spoke about with your colleague Mike Deehan last week. And also Steph, you mentioned the effort to create more of these spaces, like Dani's Queer Bar, which our producer, Rachel Armany, has reported on the development of over time. And I also know that there are places like Legacy that does specified queer nights. There's Club Cafe, there's ManRay in Cambridge that reopened at the beginning of this year. But if folks don't want to go out, right, to a bar or club and be in that scene, what other options are available for them?

Solis: Not a lot right now, especially if you can't afford to go out and buy a drink or buy food or go get home safely after midnight. But there is a project that's in the works within city limits, and that is a project to create an LGBTQ+ library. A handful of folks have fundraised and are now looking for a space to open the QT Library, which would have long hours and among other things, would seek to offer a sober alternative to the nightlife scene.

Alston: Mm hmm. And you spoke with the development director, Carina Traub, who is looking to do that. Here's a little bit from her, from Carina, speaking about how so few of those different nightlife spaces exist.

Carina Traub: If you're immunocompromised, if you're disabled, if you're looking for an intergenerational space, if you're looking for a sober space, if you're looking for a space without financial barriers to entry or access, if you're looking for a space with more letters of the LGBTQIA++++ acronym, I think these spaces are not always your favorite space.

Siegel: And listening to the conversation that you had with Carina, you really do get a sense of the importance of these spaces. They also talked at one point about how violence is at the heart of a desire for them.

Traub: Acts of horrific violence against our community are more present. Just even when I am in a queer nightclub, I think about tragedies that have happened and that makes me feel less safe.

Siegel: So given all this stuff, you know, there are some places open, there are efforts to open more places, there are efforts to have things that aren't clubs, aren't bars. What are you watching for in the months ahead? And like, how long do you think it will be before there's actually movement on stuff like this? I know it can take a lot of time.

Solis: Oh, yeah, it takes time. It takes money. It takes so many things. We are, well, many people are waiting to see when Dani's opens. The business recently got a city grant, and so it looks like things are moving along there, hopefully to be open before the end of the year. And QT Library is looking at a June 2024 opening date. So hopefully by this time next year, the landscape will be a little more expansive and inclusive.

Alston: Well, that is Steph Solis joining us for the latest installment in our series Nightlife in Boston. Steph Solis of Axios Boston, I should specify. Steph, thank you so much.

Solis: Thank you.

Siegel: You're listening to GBH News.