Read More: The Gay Bar as Safe Space Has Been Shatteredīut some bar managers are changing policies, if only slightly, in the wake of Orlando. “(LGBT people) all understand what it’s like to be under attack.” “We’re going to continue to do everything we can to make people comfortable,” he said. Johnston says large items, like backpacks, have been banned for decades, but patrons are not patted-down. Sidetrack has a security staff of at least three people for the 34-year-old bar. “Gay bars were the only place where gay people could be with other gay people in a safe space,” said Art Johnston, the 72-year-old owner of Sidetrack, a Chicago, Illinois gay bar known for its showtunes and LGBT activism. By increasing security, bar owners said it would appear they have been terrorized by the attack. Robinson sums up the feelings of some gay bar owners. “If we sit there and bow down to them, then we lose.” “I’ve already been through a lot of anti-gay in life,” said Robinson, who is gay.
