There are so many neat places to choose from it’s hard to choose favorites because every place has it’s own style, vibe and perks but here are a few places that have good drinks. It’s an exciting time to live in and visit downtown Tucson! There are currently over 30 bars and clubs to explore and more and more keep popping it everywhere. And then from downtown, it goes up through 4th Ave and on to the U of A main gate square area. It goes from the Mercado through downtown on Congress St. The light rail travels to all the downtown hot spots. One of the most active areas for gay, lesbian, LGBT, LGBTQ and strait people to socialize is downtown all throughout the light rail district. No matter gender, sexuality, ethnicity or class - Tucsonans embrace and celebrate diversity to reinforce the values of love and abolish hate and negativity. The community here is so evolved and conscious, that everyone simply hangs out with each other anywhere and everywhere. Awesomely, you will find gay, lesbian, trans and straight people all hanging out together in whatever bars or venue in Tucson. Awesomely, is that a word? Well, I’m going to use it. There are some bars that are considered actual gay bars in Tucson, and the most popular is IBT’s. One of the great benefits of acceptance is less segregation. Fornelli said BS West won't reopen until July at the earliest, with the renovations still ongoing.Tucson has always has been very accepting of all people, especially gays. It will only be available for reserved, private parties, and there is no set date for a public reopening.Ī few of the bars early on looked at this as an opportunity to do some renovations that had been put off. Kobalt will be reopening soon, but in a different manner. So I think it was very irresponsible for businesses to put that facade of normalcy on a reopening that doesn't exist and put lots of people at risk because of that."ĬAN BARS REOPEN? Why bars are reopen despite Ducey's executive order We're not anywhere near a normal situation right now. "But one of the biggest disappointments was the rush to reopen without actually implementing the protocols that were in place for people to take advantage of, only to make people feel like they're coming back to normal, to a normal place. "I understand people's need to reopen, and that's all fine and good," Perales said.
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Jeff Perales, co-owner of Kobalt in Phoenix, has gone to see how other bars and restaurants have reopened, with his takeaways ranging from "impressed" to "extremely horrified." Packed scenes from Scottsdale clubs were particularly alarming. 'We're not anywhere near a normal situation'Īll of the owners watched what happened at bars around Arizona that opened earlier. Still, the financial situation varied by bar, and Jacobs said five are now open. At BS West in Scottsdale, owner Mike Fornelli noted they were also able to use the money for performers as well as for bartenders and other staff. Many gay bars around Phoenix were able to get PPP loans.
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"It wasn't a tough decision: either we had to open, or we would have probably ended up closing," Jacobs said. But for Mike Jacobs, co-owner of The Rock in Phoenix, it was time. Other gay bars made similar decisions, postponing indefinitely. 'We would have probably ended up closing' "I think that there are still many concerns that with the numbers skyrocketing in Arizona and other states that have opened too soon, we need to wait," Louis wrote on Instagram. Stacy's originally planned to reopen on Monday, but announced that due to concerns about coronavirus, the bar would remain closed for now.
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Now, a handful are reopening, feeling there's no financial alternative, but with social distancing guidelines in place. However, as coronavirus cases rose in Arizona, the date kept getting pushed back. At first, the bar owners hoped to coordinate opening their businesses around the same time.
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They swapped ideas and information, and worked on a plan. The owners of seventeen gay bars in Phoenix were looped in on the group text, Louis said. Louis, owner of Stacy's Melrose, wanted to check in with other gay bar owners during the coronavirus closures. A few weeks ago, Stacy Louis turned to what is always a source of strength during trying times: a good group text.