LYNN — Visitors on a tour hosted by United Lynn Pride got to see seven sites that housed 16 of the 19 LGBTQ+ bars that opened and closed in the city from 1937 to 2016.
The walk was organized in conjunction with United Lynn Pride’s “Through a Rainbow Lens, a Reflection on Lynn’s LGBTQ+ History” exhibit that is currently on display at the Lynn Museum.
“When we started this project a year ago, we thought that there were six (LGBTQ+) bars in Lynn and that was a reason to get into history, but we did some digging and we found 19 bars,” Jim Moser, the exhibit’s project director, said.
Moser guided the walking tour as people shared stories about the bars they had visited. He said 16 people participated in the tour, and Galleries of Lynn Arts and the Lynn Museum were also involved in it.
The starting point of the tour, 776 Washington St., was the site of one of the oldest LGBTQ+ bars in Massachusetts, the Light House Café, which opened in 1937.
It closed in 1975, and another historic LGBTQ+ bar, Fran’s Place, opened there in 1976 before closing in 2016.
“One woman told a story about going into Fran’s Place dressed as nuns, and the place went well,” Moser said.
The tour ended at 47 Central Ave., which also housed a number of important LGBTQ+ bars over the years.
According to a pamphlet provided for the tour, there are two main reasons why the city, which once had so many LGBTQ+ bars, no longer has any.
The first is that bars favored Lynn because of its 2 a.m. closing time, but when the closing time changed to 1 a.m. in 2006, the city became less profitable for them.
The second reason is that greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in society, marriage equality, and the ability to meet people online reduced the need for distinct LGBTQ+ spaces.
