On Gay Life in Harlem

While going through an old folder, I found the following unpublished letter to the editor (dated June 28, 2000) that I sent to the Village Voice. Reading it has encouraged me to consider doing an article about the changing gay scene in Harlem, particularly since the area is becoming more and more gentrified, bringing with it gay and lesbian dollars.

Dear Editor:

Michael Henry Adams stated that "There's so little gay life," in Harlem today. ("Up From RuPaul," The Queer Issue, June 27) That depends on how you define what constitutes a gay life and a gay space. It's true that gay life in Harlem is not as blatant, as in-your-face as it is in the Village and Chelsea. It's also true that there is a paucity of bars and nightclubs that serve a gay clientele. But that doesn't mean that black gay men in Harlem are sitting around twiddling their thumbs. All you have to do is pay close attention to the subtle and not so subtle signs that indicate that gay life abounds in Harlem. Those signs can be found in the cruising areas of northern Central Park and St. Nicholas Park; in the private sex clubs; in the churches; at block and house parties; on the stoops, roofs, and public hallways of apartment buildings; on basketball courts; on the subway, etc. All are potential meeting places for black gay men. So to call the Mount Morris Bathhouse,*as Kai Wright does, "the extent of gay public space in today's Harlem" is to view this segment of the community with tunnel vision.
I would suggest to Kai Wright to come back to Harlem to get a broader, more accurate picture of Harlem's gay residents.


*Author's Note: The Mount Morris Bathhouse (where I later was employed for two and a half years), closed down in August 2003, the same week the citywide blackout occurred.