Gay bar dayton ohio
Magic, love, and acceptance: the saga of West.
For LGBTQ+ Gen-Xers (and late stage Baby Boomers), the nightclub West was and is massively essential. Life saving to many. It was not only a safe haven for queer folks from the Miami Valley (and beyond), but one of the hottest night spots of any kind in Ohio. The original location was in Kettering in the Hills and Dales shopping center. West moved from itsHills and Dales location at West Dorothy Lane in Kettering on May 24th, and soon relocated to Downtown Dayton at 34 North Jefferson Street.
The nightclub wasn’t always known as West. The original name was Sweetwater, and it was an early ’s discotheque owned by Tom Utterback (along with his brothers Jerry and Gary Delaney). After disco faded, he changed the name of the club to mirror its actual address on West Dorothy Lane.
I interviewed a mix of the club’s patrons and employees. They shed light on and fondly remembered a extraordinary time in their lives…an era. Below is a story of discovery, dancing, affirmation, and acceptance.
The saga of West.
How did you hear about W Daytonology was visiting Sacramento during Pride Month, so a belated Gay Pride thread for Dayton, doing some Gay History (and, yes, there is such a thing) Dayton is the fourth largest town in Ohio, located north of Cincinnati, near the beautiful Miami Valley area of the state. Dayton has long been recognizable as a city that shines in the fields of technology and study science. It is nicknamed the “City of Aviation” because it is the home of the National Museum of the Joined States Air Force and is also the hometown of the Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, who invented flight. Even better, Dayton has a smaller, yet thriving LGBTQ community where all can feel noted and welcomed. If you’re thinking of making a move to Dayton, chances are, you’ll find plenty about it to love! A Look at Dayton's History Dayton was originally named after Captain Jonathan Dayton, who served in the Revolutionary War and was the youngest person to sign the United States Constitution, and who owned land in the Miami Valley area. The urban area was officially founded on April 1, , by a dozen people acknowledged as “The Thompson Party,” who had traveled up the Great Miami River from Cincinnati. When
Before Gay Bars: The Levee
I don&#;t know if there were saloons or halls that catered to gays assist before prohibition, but I do understand that in the police records there was one or two arrests per year for &#;impersonating a female&#;. Unfortunately the records don&#;t list particulars for those cases.
I undertake suspect, and this is just speculation, that the levee was a place of assignation, a cruising spot. I say this because the levee was the cruising notice in modern times, but not actually on the levee, which makes me think that this is a entitle carried down from an earlier location that&#;s long gone.
Perhaps this location:
&#;which appears in the Fresh Dayton Illustrated
This would be the levee wrapping around downtown from Wilkinson Highway to the west and south down to 4th or 5th.
Outdoor cruising spots have been cute common in lgbtq+ history: famous ones were Hempstead Heath in London, the Siegesaule (Victory Column) in Dayton LGBTQ City Guide