A Publisher’s Perspective. There is something I have been thinking about lately.
For generations, LGBTQ+ people searched for places where we could walk through the door, exhale and simply be ourselves.
Gay bars. Lesbian bars. Restaurants. Coffee shops. Bookstores. Community centers. Neighborhoods. Pride organizations. Local LGBTQ+ publications.
These weren’t simply businesses.
They became our living rooms.
They were places where friendships began, relationships started and chosen families were created.
And today, something interesting is happening across America.
LGBTQ+ establishments are disappearing in communities around the country.
Rising rents and operating expenses play a role. But our lifestyles have also changed.
We meet people on apps. We order dinner to our homes. We shop online. We stream entertainment. We communicate through social media.
Technology has connected us to virtually everyone while sometimes disconnecting us from the people standing around us.
Because a community cannot exist only on a phone.
There is something powerful about walking into a room filled with people who share some part of your experience.
There is something important about seeing the 22-year-old just beginning their journey sitting a few tables away from the 72-year-old who helped make that freedom possible.
That is community.
Here in South Florida, we are incredibly fortunate. Places like Wilton Manors didn’t happen accidentally. They were built over decades by courageous entrepreneurs, residents, entertainers, activists, nonprofits and customers who supported them.
But no LGBTQ+ neighborhood or institution should ever believe its future is guaranteed.
Every time we choose where to eat, where to have a cocktail, where to shop, where to celebrate or where to spend a Saturday night, we are quietly voting for the kind of community we want tomorrow.
This isn’t about telling anyone where they should spend their money. It’s about remembering that the places we love can only remain if people continue walking through their doors.
Maybe our community needs each other more than we realize.
Loneliness and isolation are real. We can have thousands of followers and still crave friendship. We can exchange hundreds of messages and still want someone sitting across the table.
Our LGBTQ+ spaces give us something an algorithm never will:
Human connection.
So this week I have a simple challenge.
Visit someplace LGBTQ+ that you haven’t visited lately.
Try a locally owned restaurant. See a drag show. Attend a community event. Introduce yourself to someone you’ve seen but never spoken with. Tip the bartender. Support the entertainer. Buy something from the local merchant.
And perhaps most importantly, bring someone with you.
Because preserving LGBTQ+ community isn’t somebody else’s responsibility.
It’s ours.
For decades we fought incredibly hard to create places where we could belong.
Now perhaps our next challenge is much simpler:
Showing up.
