With gay and lesbian bars rapidly disappearing across the nation, a new generation of LGBTQ+ youth is left wondering where to go. Students expressed the need for intersectional recreational spaces for queer people, citing that the Gen Z queer community lacks a sense of togetherness.
How can recreational spaces fulfill their purpose of making people feel at ease if many still feel unwelcome or unsafe due to their sexuality?
Journalism student Dylan Brashier has watched and played sports his entire life. He said that creating sports bars and recreational leagues that uplift queer individuals would help the LGBTQ+ community foster a stronger, more supportive environment.
“It’s a little different when playing with like straight people. I don’t want to have the need to come out to my friends having a league where you like, there’s already a group understanding of each other, and just having fun would be, would be great,” Brashier said.
According to research from out on the fields, 80% of LGBTQ+ people have witnessed or experienced homophobic behavior in sports, creating recreational spaces would promote a safe environment for queer athletes and sports lovers.
“I felt like growing up, I had to put on a mask in order to conform with, you know, the straight male community of sports media that dominates sports media, and I feel like this type of community engagement would really boost representation for queer, for the queer community among sports and, you know, fosters as a community for the next generation that wants to go into sports, sports media, sports medicine, all of that,” Brashier said.
A student who preferred to remain anonymous recalled a space they went to for queer international students, while the student acknowledged that the space was incredibly important. It was not so much a recreational place to relax, but instead somewhere for people to share their struggles and feel heard.
The anonymous student said, “I think it’s so important to remind anybody, but especially queer people, who are weighed down by some of their experiences, just some of the community that is out there, or the joy that life can bring if it’s related to their queerness, if it’s outside of their queerness, places they can share themselves without being afraid.”
While the media may celebrate the few gay and lesbian bars that still exist, the anonymous student said they would love to see a wider breadth of recreational spaces for queer people that prioritize joy and ease in diverse forms.
“Very often, queer people can find themselves in spaces where they are restricting themselves from being too much or watching themselves for fear of more serious things, you know. And so just having spaces that are open and you can let people breathe and like rest is so important because it gives them a space that feels like it’s just for them, that they don’t have to, like, work so hard to carve out for themselves,” the student said.
Political economy and theater student, Fabian Gutierrez expressed the need for recreational spaces for queer people close to us east campus, including what he dubbed a gay Rock and Reilly’s.
“It’s a missed sort of opportunity for the university community to not have spaces that are purely recreational for queer people and that are inclusive and intersectional, that allow for any and every group to sort of feel comfortable,” he said.
Gutierrez said that bars like Rock and Reilly’s often cater to straight and white individuals. The USC community could benefit from a gathering place that accepts and uplifts everyone.
He said, “I would love a place that’s near campus where people of legal age can go and enjoy an alcoholic beverage, or people of any age can go and get a burger in sparkling water. But maybe the music playing isn’t always the same, or playing on the TVs isn’t always the same. Maybe the floors aren’t quite as sticky. Maybe it just feels like a place where anyone and everyone can be instead of, you know, somewhere where as a creeper person, you walk in and you feel like a sore thumb sticking out somewhere where I can look around and see people like me, people unlike me as well.”