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When (my customers) walk through the doors they know it’s safe here. “I’ve seen moreĭeath in my life than some people who go to war.”Īs Nelms puts it: “No matter how gay it gets in the straight world, we still need an outlet. But if the community - and by extension Charlie’s - can survive the AIDS epidemic - the time period his business saw the biggest drop in business, he says - Charlie’s can survive anything. He goes back and forth between discussing all the good the community has done for itself and the City of Denver to get to this point - some of those changes were even born out of Charlie’s, including the election of Denver Mayor Federico Pena, the lobbying for a police precinct in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and having a seat at the table of a number of civic associations like Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods - and wrestling with how he’ll continue to employee his staff of 24. Throughout our conversation Nelms seems as much in transition as his business model. But these days “you have to work harder.” There was time when all you had to do to make money as a gay bar was open your door, Nelms said.
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We have to stay on our toes and keep thinking outside the box.”Īs evidence, Nelms rattles off a series of steps Charlie’s has taken including summer pool parties, new staff and a new monthly Sunday night party, Flesh, a male review show in vein of the movie Magic Mike. “It’s good socially, but challenging for business. “Our community has fought hard for equality and that has changed the way gay bars do business,” Nelms said. In the days before civil unions and Grindr it was the only place men and women of the community could gather and know there was safety in numbers - and if they found someone to share an evening with or just make a new friend, all the better.Īs the world outside the dimly lit gay bars of the Mile High City evolves, the question bears asking: what are bar owners and managers doing inside to keep the kegs flowing as usual? The most basic role of a gay bar has always been its ability to foster a safe place for the LGBT community.
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And as our community and political fight matures - from gay liberation in the 1970s to full marriage equality in the 2010s - more gay men and lesbians are finding themselves farther away from the gayborhood and in suburbs raising families. New mobile apps with geolocation services allow gay men the ability to find one another for dates and relationships without ever leaving the couch. The city has rapidly become more accessible and inclusive, and now the most unabashed same-sex couples can hold hands walking through Larimer Square and have dinner in Wash Park as they can in the traditional safe haven of Capitol Hill. Within the last five years Denver’s gay and lesbian culture hasn’t seen this much cultural upheaval since the AIDS epidemic when a generation of leaders and community members died. It’s an observation repeated from a half-dozen gay bar managers and owners, but one I hadn’t been expecting given the rapid cultural changes in the LGBT community, especially for a skeptic like me. Nelms and I find a spot inside away from the Saturday congregation. One appears to be celebrating a birthday. The crowd is a mix of off duty employees, regulars, a few pockets of friends. It’s a warm October afternoon, the bar is offering a $5 beer bust. The next afternoon I find Charlie’s General Manager John Nelms on the patio.