The days and nights following the massacre at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, we listened as various spokespersons attempted to explain to the general public exactly what the gay bar/club meant to LGBTQI people. We heard the words “safe place,” “refuge,” “free to be ourselves.”
Some of us posted pain-filled messages on the social networks. Others took the time to remember past experiences and write about them. Lee Lynch’s blog, “Freedom Clothes,” pried open memories I’d forged in gay clubs in Philadelphia and its suburbs. My recollections and Lee’s forced the door open a bit further and jump-started our curiosity about other LGBTQI folks’ bar-related adventures. Is the gay bar is still a beacon that welcomes us? Have the recent developments in our civil rights movement diminished the role clubs play in our lives?
You are invited to create a piece of work that explores the role the gay bar’s culture has played in your life or in the lives of LGBTQI people in general. Your work may be either fiction or non-fiction/essay/memoir. It can be prose or poetry. Your work must be original and not previously published. Please note that we are not looking for erotica at this time.
Understand how much we value diversity and inclusion. We hope to receive pieces from writers who represent different generations and a variety of nationalities and ethnicities. We are determined to include work written by women of color as well as by white authors.
If you wish to send us a submission, it must be presented in MS Word, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font. Send it as an attachment in an email to both S. Renée Bess: levrb1@aol.com and Lee Lynch: greenhat66@gmail.com
In the subject line write: Bar Stories, Fiction, or
Bar Stories, Non-fiction, or
Bar Stories, Poetry
In the body of the email, please include the title of the submission, your full author’s name, your mailing address, and your telephone number.
Then attach your submission to the email.
If your submission is accepted for the anthology, we will send you a contract. You will receive a free copy of the anthology upon its publication. All royalties will be donated to two non-profit agencies that serve LGBTQI youth, the Attic Youth Center in Philadelphia, PA. and the Ali Forney Center in New York City.
S. Renée Bess and Lee Lynch
Title: Happy Hours – Our Lives in The Gay Bars
Story Curators /Collectors: S. Renée Bess and Lee Lynch
Publisher: Flashpoint Productions
Submission Deadline: January 1, 2017
Word Count Limit (Prose): 5,000
