Jim Moser
Lynn’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community will proudly celebrate its amazing history, progress, and resilience with an exhibit opening this month at the Lynn Museum.
The Light House Cafe, the first LGBTQ+ bar in Massachusetts, opened on Lynn Harbor in 1937 at a time when it was not safe to be oneself in public. By the time Lynn’s last LGBTQ+ bar, Fran’s Place, closed in 2016, LGBTQ+ people had achieved the right to marry. More recently, several LGBTQ+ Lynn residents have achieved national prominence. The first same-sex marriage license in the United States was issued to two women, Susan Shepherd and Marcia Hams, who met while working at the GE in Lynn. In 2022, Rashida Ellis won the Elite Women’s World Championship gold, becoming the first American woman to win the lightweight division at the International Boxing Association World Championships. Alex Newell is the first non-binary person to receive a Tony Award, which they got for their role in “Shucked” in 2023. Jack Noseworthy is a gay actor from Lynn known for his roles in “Event Horizon,” “U-571,” “Barb Wire,” and “Killing Kennedy.” Jazzul Escada is a ballroom legend.
Lynn became an LGBTQ+ magnet and a sanctuary. Lynn’s LGBTQ+ bars provided a safe haven where LGBTQ+ people across the North Shore connected, supported each other, and felt the joy of being their authentic selves. In 1969 Lynn had a big, beautiful, palatial waterfront bar, the Aquarius Lounge, that attracted gays and lesbians from the North Shore and Greater Boston areas. In 2004, Fran’s Place was named the third-best New England dance club and in 2007, 47 Central was voted the number-one gay bar on the North Shore by WBZ-TV.
The community supported organizations and individuals with fundraisers. The Night of 100 Stars was an annual fundraising review at Fran’s Place featuring many drag performers. In 2004, The Daily Item described George Chakoutis as a “phenomenon of fundraising” due to the many benefits held at 47 Central.
The community organized politically as well as socially. The North Shore Gay Alliance was formed in 1978 and grew to 500 members, many from Lynn. An estimated 500 North Shore residents joined the first lesbian and gay march on Washington in 1979. A social group based in Lynn’s Diamond District, Lynn Side Out, grew to 120 members in 1999. In 2009, after the city had rolled back bar closing times, Fran’s Place and 47 Central ensured everyone at the bar voted for Judy Flanagan Kennedy for mayor, who opposed the rollback. She won by 27 votes even though her name was not on the ballot.
The Lynn LGBTQ+ community has had many struggles. People were beaten up on sidewalks, at Lynn Beach, and in their cars. Homophobes harassed and attacked bar patrons. Nearby straight bars fought with LGBTQ+ bar patrons. Fists, rocks, bottles, guns, fires, and legal discrimination were used to intimidate LGBTQ+ citizens, who fought back, resisted, and organized.
The AIDS crisis hit Lynn hard and the community came together in support. For example, In the early 1990s, when other churches would not perform services for AIDS victims, St. Pius V stepped up and took referrals from Boston’s AIDS Action Committee.
Thanks to a grant from Mass Humanities, United Lynn Pride is preserving the LGBTQ+ history of Lynn in partnership with Salem State University, the History Project and the Lynn Museum/Lynn Arts. The project is named “Through a Rainbow Lens, A Reflection on Lynn’s LGBTQ+ History” and runs from June 5 through Oct. 31, 2024. On June 5, the reception will be at 5:30 and the program will be at 6. We interviewed 25 historically significant people and recovered five more interviews from cassettes and floppy disks that were 40 years old. We collected more than 700 images and 150 news articles. On June 5 at 5:30 pm at the Lynn Museum, we will have a reception, open our exhibit, host a panel discussion and launch our history website, www.UnitedLynnPride.com/lgbtqhistory.
We have a lot to be proud of.
Jim Moser is the project director of “Through a Rainbow Lens, A Reflection on Lynn’s LGBTQ+ History.”
