That’s actually how we know that it was a gay bar pretty early on.” “So they did a survey of bars in Boston and created a list of bars where military people were not allowed to go and Playland was one of those bars. “After World War II, the military was still concerned about soldiers going to gay bars and basically getting in trouble to be a little euphemistic about it,” says Ilaqua. Playland Cafe wasn’t designated a gay bar when it opened in 1937, but it quickly gained that reputation. Ilacqua says that the Combat Zone rose up as the adult playland of the city. “Prior to the 1960s, the least savory part of Boston had been Scollay square, where there were theaters and arcades and bars, but during urban renewal Scollay Square was demolished to make way for City Hall Plaza,” says Joan Ilacqua, executive director of The History Project, the only organization focused exclusively on documenting, preserving, and sharing the history of New England’s LGBTQ communities. (Courtesy of Boston City Archives/Mayor John Collins Collection) Playland Cafe, photographed in the 1960s, would have been Boston's oldest gay bar had it not closed down in 1998. Her favorite of those bars was Playland Cafe. For a stretch of the 20th century, the neighborhood we now call Downtown Crossing was lined with porn theaters, strip clubs, and other establishments that the Boston Redevelopment Authority wanted to keep from spreading, like the gay bars Sylvia headlined her act. The Combat Zone was Boston’s adult entertainment district. She was infamous for her crass, audience-mocking acts in bars throughout Boston’s Combat Zone. Some say she still haunts Jacque’s Cabaret. Sylvia Sidney was a local institution in her own right, performing throughout New England for more than forty years until her death in 1998. “Reading about her experiences within this particular location just really sparked a creative interest for me.”
#BLACK GAY BARS BOSTON ARCHIVE#
“I was doing some digging and came across an archive about a specific drag queen ,” says West. West was drawn to Playland in particular because it was known to be diverse and welcoming, in contrast to many of the area’s bars that were more segregated and gender restrictive. It’s a warning sign for what can happen to queer nightlife in Boston, should we not be advocating and supporting it and also resisting the sort of government intervention into these spaces. “Playland represents the sort of lost gem of queer life within the 1900s. And it's not just Boston, it's across the United States,” says West. Artist Georden West has been developing the idea for her film "Playland" for several years. The pandemic shutting everything down made the task of writing the film even more urgent, as they spent the time preparing for production and reflecting on the loss of life and much needed community space. West had been developing an idea about LGBTQ nightclub workers for years. Since 2020 alone, Machine and Ramrod, The Boston Eagle, and inclusive venues like Bella Luna have all announced their permanent closing. Nearly 40 percent of LGBTQ people work in industries where they are at high risk of contracting COVID-19, according to a report by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Along with other public health crises and gentrification over the last 50 years, this pandemic has hit the LGBTQ community particularly hard. I love them all so much and this past year has been incredibly difficult, especially navigating what it means to be a tipped economy worker during a pandemic.” “It becomes your family and a family system so quickly. I met some of my best friends working in this space,” says West.
“I met my partner on my first night working in this space. But it quickly became much more than that. For the artist, community leader, and educator, this wasn’t just a typical job it was research for their upcoming film, called "Playland," about what would be Boston’s oldest gay bar had it not shut down in 1998. Georden West started working at Club Cafe in Boston’s South End the year before the pandemic hit.