Who belongs in a lesbian bar?
A minor altercation at a longtime West Village bar has revived this question online and prompted debate about queer spaces and whom they “belong” to. Like many viral conversations, this one started on TikTok.
In January, New York City-based influencer Lexi Stout posted a video about her night out at Cubbyhole, a lesbian bar on West 12th Street that has been a community staple for more than 30 years.
In the video, Stout says a lesbian friend invited her to Cubbyhole, and that she was having a blast during her first time at a lesbian bar.
But Stout said that after her straight male friend popped in to say hi, another woman approached him and asked, “‘What are you doing here?’”
In her video, Stout described feeling unwelcome and also taken aback as the bar was full of “flamboyantly gay men.” She did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
Near the end of her video, Stout asked the camera, “Are straight males not allowed to go to a lesbian bar?”