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For nearly 50 years, the Allentown nightspot has been a melting pot of queer culture, an organizing hub for the LGBT community and simply a place for people to meet people like themselves in a world that too often required them to hide in plain sight. Former and current employees and patrons say it could close by the end of May.

If it closes, the Stonewall would follow the path of two other recently shuttered LGBT-focused establishments in the Lehigh Valley and hundreds of other gay bars and clubs across the country. Nationwide, more than a third of gay bars closed between andsaid Greggor Mattson, associate professor of sociology at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio, who compiled a database of LGBT clubs and bars.

Gay serving more marginalized LGBT groups such as women or people of color have disappeared at an even faster rate, with more than half closing during the same period. In addition to the economic pressures facing the restaurant and bar industry generally, that trend has been driven by societal and technological changes leading LGBT patrons to frequent mainstream social spots or to forego face-to-face interaction altogether, Mattson said.

In addition to being a place to dance and socialize, the Stonewall served as a valley of belonging to young LGBT people in outlying parts of eastern Pennsylvania and a launching pad for Lehigh Valley club performers to a national stage for the uniquely queer art form, Shanker said.

Mattson, who has studied the role and decline of gay bars in small American cities, said a club of trends lehigh contributed to the dwindling number of LGBT bars across the country. Eating, drinking and dancing establishments are generally more accepting of same-sex couples, freeing some LGBT people to socialize in places that are not specifically LGBT-focused, he said.

The rise of geolocating smartphone apps, such as Grindr, has to some degree supplanted the role of gay bars as places for queer people to meet each other, Mattson said. LGBT businesses also tend to be backed by less capital than their straight-owned counterparts, leaving them less of a margin to weather downturns in business, Mattson said.

The Paycheck Protection Program, for example, covered wages for employees sidelined by the pandemic, but many of the people who work in gay bars, including performers, are considered contractors who were not eligible. A lack lehigh resources may also gay been an obstacle for some LGBT businesses applying for the programs, Mattson said.

Stephen Libby, editor of The Gay Journal, said gay bars played a vital support role for LGBT youth before social media made it valley for people to connect online and high school gay alliances were commonplace. Libby worked as a bartender at the Stonewall and saw lots of customers who came in and only drank water.

While society has become more accepting, Goodwin of the Trans Equity Project said the role of an LGBT-focused space for support remains vitally important to transgender individuals.

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Barnett said that as a transitioning man who presents with a combination of male and female traits, they are wary of the looks they get in public. She found the employees and customers who welcomed her as she started her transition in a bittersweet mood, she said. Glad to be there for possibly the last time, Smith said she was thankful that it had been part of her story.

The Allentown property housing the Stonewall is under contract to be sold, possibly meaning an end to the Lehigh Valley's last gay bar, which has been a welcoming place for the LGBTQ community to gather for nearly 50 years. More in Pennsylvania News.