Roanoke's LGBTQ community is celebrating Pride Month, with a Roanoke Queer History Bar Crawl today and the sixth annual Queer Community Picnic next Tuesday.
In 1978, Roanoke was home to five gay bars. But the city's queer history extends much deeper, back to the days of Big Lick. LGBTQ+ people existed in the days of saloons, through the 20th century into the disco days, all the way up through today, when there's a lone remaining gay bar – the Park Dance Club.
And Roanoke's gay history is the city's history. Take those 70s clubs, for instance. They were just as segregated as the city was.
"The gay bars that did exist in the 70s were designated for white gay men," says Katie Stuekle, who leads the tour.
Stueckle wants to make sure Roanokers of today don't forget that history, including places that were exceptions.
"Murphy's Super Disco, now the building that is Martin's, was notably a very integrated space, both in terms of gender and race," Stueckle says. "And notably only lasted a year because the owners were pretty homophobic, but thought they could profit off the community, and they did, but then they couldn't handle it."
Soon after moving to Roanoke in 2016, Stueckle began working with the Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project, collecting oral histories and leading a history bar crawl. The history project has concluded, but the bar crawl continues under the auspices of a group known as Second Friday. And takes place again at 6 p.m. tonight.
"There is a consideration every year of how the information we share on the bar crawl tracks with the changing layout of Roanoke's especially young, queer culture," Stueckle says.
But there are two constants that are part of the tour every year.
"It always ends at the Park Dance Club as the only gar bar left in town," Stueckle says. "We most if not all years have stopped at Macado's, Cuba Pete's, as that has been a gay hangout for decades, and friendly. And it has food and a jukebox!"
Macado's was the site of important history, too. The original site of the restaurant, which now has locations across western Virginia, was an 18-plus venue where same-sex couples could hold hands. It's full of gay-inspired kitsch and decor. And was the site of LGBTQ activism.
The lesbian women of First Friday organized there, and after a gay woman was fired, the queer community threatened to boycott the restaurant unless she was rehired. She was, and Macado's has been an LGBTQ favorite ever since.
Stueckle leans into stories from the oral histories to add depth and fill these historic places with real people.
"We have so many personal stories that we can start the event with, gives people such a solid context because, 'Oh, we're doing this because people don't see this history enough,'" Stueckle says. "And if we can get together a group of 25-30 queer folks gathering in downtown being visible and being joyful together. It helps everyone in attendance connect to the history they don't always see themselves reflected in."
The tour progresses through time as it moves west, stopping by Front Row, as well as Big Lick Brewery and Golden Cactus Brewing, where Second Friday organized, deliberately building on the foundation left by the First Friday group.
The tour always ends another block to the west, at the Park Dance Club. Stuekle wraps up there, talking about the effect of HIV/AIDS, about nightlife performers, about people's experiences in the Park itself.
"I'll be standing there and telling those stories immediately outside the park as more and more people are joining our group in their club outfits, talking about decades of queer folks before us who have done exactly the same thing," Stueckle says.
Stuckle says it's important to know about people who've come before — especially now, as LGBTQ+ people face a new wave of discrimination and policies targeting them.
"People have been fighting that fight," Stueckle says. "We're not starting from scratch. We have decades upon decades of work to build on. We need to be familiar with that in order to preserve our own future."
Pride Month activities continue next week, with the 6th annual Queer Community Picnic. Stuekel describes it as "a very grassroots family reunion potluck style big tent event."
Tonight's Roanoke Queer History Bar Crawl begins at 6 p.m. in Market Square Plaza. The Queer Community Picnic is 6 p.m. Tuesday at Fishburn Park.
