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ar-hopping in Downtown Syracuse in search of the funkiest tunes and hottest guys was a favorite pastime for many young gay people in Syracuse in the 70s, but it also provided safety from the daily discrimination and harassment they faced. For closeted individuals, cruising was a more “anonymous” way to meet people and hookup, especially on Syracuse University’s campus. Surprisingly, Syracuse used to be home to a bustling queer nightlife scene, which may come as a shock given the lack of spaces available now. SU currently has Pride Union, the LGBTQ Resource Center, and the newly revamped LGBTQ-run magazine called The OutCrowd. Although there are a handful of queer spaces in the city, like CNY Pride and Sage Upstate, it seems like the queer nightlife scene does not in any way, shape, or form compare to what once was. “In the 1970s, there were upwards of 10 gay bars
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at one time in Syracuse; now there are a handful. You can’t help but to ask, ‘What happened?’,” said SU PhD candidate Sam Castleberry (he/him), who studies queer ethnography and theories of memory within mid-sized cities. Cissy Saloon, Orpheus, the Half Shell, and the Cat’s Meow were among the gay and lesbian bars that used to exist in Syracuse in the 70s, but now, there is barely any evidence of their existence apart from people’s memories. Currently, the gay bars in Syracuse include Trexx, Wunderbar, and Wolf ’s Den. There used to be a fourth, Rain Lounge, but it closed down due to COVID and lost revenue. Technically, Syracuse Guerilla Bar, a 21+ pop-up networking and social gathering with a constantly-changing venue that remains a secret until the afternoon the day of, can be included, but there is still a huge difference between now and then, when gay and lesbian nightlife once thrived. “Gay bars were crucial for queer people in the 70s;
