The first category was Address Only, like the 520 in Iowa City. In the 1990s, as I first started going to find community in what we called gay bars then, I developed a theory of their names. The Kevin Aviance story could be Season 3 of Pose. And how that is exactly what happened next. “Hello, I’m Kevin Aviance, House of Aviance, and I’ve moved to New York to take over.” I nodded as if agreeing.
One of my favorite memories of working at Tunnel Bar in New York City in 1991 is when a striking Black queen walked in off the street and shook my hand as if I owned the place.