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“I get all kinds of crappy remarks and side glances. Harris, who is 62 and an Oklahoma native, bought a former lesbian bar in 2017 and created Frankie’s with her wife, Ann. While social attitudes have improved, Harris said going to non-lesbian bars and restaurants in Oklahoma can sometimes still be uncomfortable. Nationally, the number rose from 50 percent to 62 percent. The Pew Research Center found that the percentage of Oklahomans who indicated homosexuality should be accepted rose from 38 percent to 53 percent between 2007 to 2014. I think that’s not true of a lot of states.” “I can, for example, go down the street to any bar that doesn’t necessarily identify one way or the other, and I could feel safe - and that’s a luxury. “There is generally more queer acceptance in liberal states,” Rose told NonDoc. Rose and the Lesbian Bar Project cited a variety of potential factors, such as gentrification, the emergence of queer dating apps and online spaces and the increasing acceptance of LGBTQ people, which may make queer-specific spaces feel less vital. However, Mattson’s research reported that while all LGBTQ bars declined from 2007 to 2019, those predominately serving lesbians and people of color decreased at higher rates. There have always been fewer lesbian bars than gay bars. “I came to conclude that very subtle differences in local ecology (…) helped to direct how LBQ+ individuals understood themselves and related to one another,” she said. A community’s sense of safety and acceptance, the size and range of the local LGBTQ population and local place narratives can all have an impact. Japonica Brown-Saracino, a sociologist who has studied queer communities in small cities, said a number of factors can influence how lesbian identity, culture and organization manifest in different settings. When asked why Oklahoma might have such a comparatively high number of lesbian bars, Mattson said, “I wish I knew.” Disappearing spaces Musicians perform on the back patio of Frankie’s in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Sunday, May 30, 2021.
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They provide a social haven difficult to find elsewhere. To their loyal patrons, however, the state’s three lesbian bars are spaces to relax, meet other queer people and express themselves. “The (queer) women in Oklahoma City - or the state of Oklahoma, period - are really running out of places to go and just be able to relax and be themselves,” said Tracey Harris, the owner of Frankie’s on Northwest 36th Street in OKC. None of those four establishments from the 1980s exists today. While the overall number has not changed significantly, the state’s lesbian bars have not been stable institutions. Oklahoma had four bars during those years. In a 2019 study, sociologist Greggor Mattson estimated that 200 lesbian bars existed across the country in the 1980s. “That’s all queer women (cisgender and transwomen), nonbinary people and trans men.” “We define lesbian bars as a space for all marginalized genders within the LGBTQIA community,” Lesbian Bar Project co-director Erica Rose said. have one bar, and the remainder have none.Ī campaign created to support and preserve these endangered institutions, the Lesbian Bar Project launched in October 2020, releasing a 20-minute documentary in June. The other two, Frankie’s and Alibis, are in Oklahoma City.Īccording to the Lesbian Bar Project, 21 traditionally lesbian bars remain in the U.S., and the only other state with three such establishments is New York.
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Above the bartender, a disco ball hangs from the ceiling, and the scents of smoke and beer hang in the air.Īt first glance, there’s not much indication the holds special cultural significance - just a rainbow flag in the front window and a few rainbow-colored wall decorations.īut, in fact, Yellow Brick Road Pub is Tulsa’s only lesbian bar and one of three lesbian bars in the state of Oklahoma.
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Lit with neon lights, the bar has a jukebox and two pool tables in the back. TULSA - In many ways, the Yellow Brick Road Pub on 15th Street feels like any other dive bar.