Lets face it, the Golden Age of the Gay Bar (late 1960's -early 1990's) is over. Not so much a victim of the AIDS epidemic, it has more to do with the drinking habits of the public. I remember in the mid to late 1970s when cities like San Francisco, LA and NYC boasted over 100 gay bars and even Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta, San Diego, Chicago would have like 50 or 60 gay bars.

It's not such a bad thing. Nearly all major American cities now have Community Centers and organizations and interest groups where gay people can meet and find each other. Nearly every major University now has a gay group on campus. There are also more "overnight" venues like gay resorts, gay hotels, gay campgrounds ...

The community is changing and evolving. From the 1890's to the the 1920s it was Turkish Baths and Steam Baths where gay guys hooked up mainly; then in the 1920s on the gay bar was the most popular place until the '90's. Mention has to made that the Internet has also changed the habits of gay people's lives ...

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"Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes." -- Walt Whitman, Leaves Of Grass

Well, to be fair, Knock just opened up a month or two ago, and Evolve is apparently underway. The Post is reopening as (someone told me) a lesbian bar, and there's at least one other new bar in development.

And let's not forget gay-friendly places in NoLibs and Fairmount.

Knock is mostly just after-hours.

To be fair, Bob & Barbara's sort of qualifies... although I would classify it as a "Phillyweird" bar.

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Buh-bye.

True. Most gays now get dates online. Can't blame them.

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Buh-bye.

Knock is open after-hours? How late is it open? Do you have to have some sort of "membership" to go there, like Pure?

As do many straights and all other people of every sexual persuasion.

I've only been inside Knock a couple of times, but (though the windows, at least) it seems like there are usually people there, even if patronage is light during the afternoon. Anyway, that's more a function of Philly having light overall gayborhood patronage during certain times than any failing of Knock's.

I haven't been to B&B's in years but the Thurs night drag show used to be at least half homo.

Times change, environments change and people change all contributing to the evolution of a neighborhood and its lifestyle. Philadelphia is no different than any other city experiencing these changes.

The gay nightlife is what you make it to be. While I hear a lot of negativity directed towards “Weiss & Company” they have contributed greatly to the nightlife in the city and continue to do so. Eliminate them from the landscape and what would remain looks pretty bleak as far as gay nightlife.

There is more to life than barstools and strippers and a lot of folks are missing the boat and perhaps do not realize what a great city they live in. Philadelphia has so much to offer and I can’t help but wonder if folks came out of the neon and into the sunlight you might just see what a beautiful city Philadelphia is.

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"Love your neighbor; yet don't pull down your hedge."
-Benjamin Franklin

If only more people would come to realize that. Of course I really don't think most Philly people are part of the "bar scene" on a regular basis.