Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › WS needs a Lesbian/Gay Bar- Is it The Skylark?
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April 19, 2009 at 7:43 am #590550
gilkiesanMemberSo, out tonight on a whim….followed the bass notes to a nice little dive called Skylark. You know it? On Delridge, the last chance detour to have a drink and hear some music before getting lured onto the WS bridge & up to Capitol Hill.
We keep saying, have been saying, tired of hearing ourselves say…West Seattle Needs A Gay Bar. Now, I am partial to the female variety of “alternative lifestyle establishments”, but god knows there are plenty of suburban gays tucked away in our WS paradise. We had heard the rumors about this place. Was it true? A secret girl-girl bar? Maybe.
Long-short….We found Lesbians!!!! True, we were highly outnumbered by our hetero brothers and sisters, but Thar-Be-Gays-In-That-There-Tavern.
So Ladies. I emplore you…lets join together and make this charming bar a gathering spot for all. (But especially gal loving gals;+)
*The parking situation es no bueno, but better than on the hill. (We Love Cap. Hill still.)
*Decent bar fare, nice tap selection, great service, no cover(standard?), rockin’ bands every weekend.
My girl and I will see you there?
April 19, 2009 at 6:38 pm #664682
WSBKeymasterCan’t speak to your main topic but wanted to point out two things:
*Skylark Cafe and Club is a WSB sponsor (they sponsor the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, published each Friday) and we appreciate that, as our sponsors enable us to work 24/7 on West Seattle news/information/discussion via WSB
*Skylark has no-cover LIVE music EVERY night (except Mondays). The calendar is always linked high atop the WSB Events calendar pages (see the Events tab) or you can bookmark it from the Skylark site
Sunday nights are all-ages, but other nights I believe it goes to 21 at 9 pm.
April 19, 2009 at 6:57 pm #664683
c@lbobMemberI prefer that the Skylark stay as it is, a place where everyone is welcome, even fat old guys, like me.
No doubt, lots of all kinds of people there. Are you wishing for more exclusivity?
April 20, 2009 at 1:01 am #664684
ToddinWestwoodMemberSkylark is NOT a dive and it should be open to any and all colors, race, persuasion, genders, and hairstyles.
It is a decent place with good food and music.
Never in my life have I heard of someone “turning a bar gay”.
April 20, 2009 at 1:25 am #664685
trensuelaMembergilkiesan,
You seem to have stirred a hornets nest.
People who like the Skylark really don’t like it being called a dive bar, that is a label which is much more appropriate for the Redline.
The reason West Seattle is lacking in gay bars is that we are more progressive than Capital Hill and as such don’t sense a need to marginalize our gay brothers and sisters by forcing them into shiny metal boxes called gay bars. We love and accept you into our darker dens of iniquity as equal members.
April 20, 2009 at 6:35 pm #664686
villagegreenMembertrensuela, – I love the Skylark and I don’t mind it being called a dive bar at all (and I think the owner would agree). There are dive bars and there are DIVE bars. Redline is a sh*thole, while Skylark is purposely a dive bar (albeit with a great sense of interior design). Skylark will never be a gay bar, though. It’s a music venue first and foremost. All comers welcome.
gilkiesan – I agree, WS needs a gay bar (and I’m not even gay). When I moved here from Capitol Hill I lived pretty much across the street from Guppy’s on California. Even though I never went there, it gave me the sense that WS was a diverse and happening place and made the lifestyle change a bit easier. There’s no getting around the fact that WS nightlife is a lot slower and laidback than other parts of the city – and that’s also why I’ve grown to love it.
However, WS really should have at least one gay bar. It’s not about “exclusivity” or being “more progessive,” it’s about having at least one place where you know you can meet others like you and that you’ll feel safe. What’s wrong with that?
Also, anyone know what happened to the owners of Guppy’s. Did they ever try to find a new location? What went wrong?
April 20, 2009 at 6:48 pm #664687
WS4funMemberWhat’s next…a bar for those of us single people age 50 and up? I’d love to go to bar where I didn’t feel “old”—cause I’m not! How will we ever learn true diversity if we keep segregating ourselves.
April 20, 2009 at 7:37 pm #664688
KBearParticipantAlso, gilkiesan, depending on what night you go to Skylark and who the entertainment is that night, you may find that you’re not outnumbered at all.
April 20, 2009 at 8:01 pm #664689
cjboffoliParticipantWS4fun: I hear what you’re saying but I think you might be reading it the wrong way. gilkiesan wasn’t trying to exclude everyone else. Wanting to get together with other like-minded people isn’t necessarily anti-diversity.
Sometimes when you’re a member of a minority group you just want to be around other people like you. As a straight, white guy I can’t say that I know EXACTLY how it feels. But I imagine it is similar to the way I feel when I’m around other Italians. There is a common background. A language of its own.
Even though you may have an enlightened view of the gay community, there are still a lot of places in this country where they’d just as soon tie our gay brothers and sisters to fences and leave them to freeze in the dark. So I won’t take it personally if gilkiesan just wants my breeder butt to stay home so she can pack the room with cute baby butch girls :-)
April 20, 2009 at 9:14 pm #664690
BayouMemberI can’t walk into Ama Ama without a hazy memory of Guppys coming to my mind. I wish their was a LGBT bar on the west side but I don’t think Skylark will ever be “that” bar. Precisely because it is a diverse music venue that everyone loves. I think most bars fill some specific niche.
RE: “How will we ever learn true diversity if we keep segregating ourselves.”
Gay bars are not about segregation. They are about giving people a safe place to meet with at least a little less of a chance of getting their face bashed in for hitting on the wrong person. And yeah, where I grew up, there were a lot of fence posts.
April 20, 2009 at 9:22 pm #664691
WS4funMemberPoint well taken cj! I guess I think it would be kinda nice to have a bar in West Seattle that I could go to that had a “more mature” crowd (meaning 45+)in it. It’s sort of a bummer to go out and it’s all young people and couples! Hey…maybe I should start a new post!!!!! LOL
April 21, 2009 at 9:26 am #664692
WSBKeymasterYou saying 45+ isn’t young? Hmph!!!!
April 21, 2009 at 1:45 pm #664693
cjboffoliParticipantWell I’m not yet in my 40’s. But something tells me that when I am I still might not mind having the 20 and 30-something ladies crash the party.
April 21, 2009 at 4:03 pm #664694
cruiserMembersorry o/t guys.. Villagegreen, I pm’d you about your upcoming trip abroad:)
April 21, 2009 at 4:17 pm #664695
CallMeAlMemberI always thought the Locker Room near West Seattle (in White Center) was the pick up spot? No?
April 21, 2009 at 4:19 pm #664696
miwsParticipantHeh, you won’t mind, Christopher! (I’m 50)
It’s just dang scary when you realize you’re old enough to be the Father of some of the young, adult, women! ;-)
Mike
April 21, 2009 at 4:40 pm #664697
gilkiesanMemberWow! I dig all the response.
Re: “dive bar” -I say this with the most respect and affection. I grew up in a small southern Oregon town were “dives” abound. I would classify most of my favorite places as dives. Welcoming, comfortable, unpretentious, and without a social dress code. Not only that, when traveling; the best local food is almost always found in such places. I LOVE a good dive!
Catlbob: Exclusivity? No way! I don’t want Skylark to change, maybe I wasn’t clear ( It was 1:00 am, and I HAD partaken of a few…) Love it the way it is. But why not fill those empty seats with butts?(even breeder butts, cj!)And support local business & local bands to boot. I am not asking anyone to stay home or steer clear.
It can be uncomfortable for a gay couple to walk into a typical “straight” bar. We’ve been to Skylark several times, once with kids in tow, and never felt that spotlight effect. I want to give this bar the props it deserves and alert LGBT W-Seattlites who maybe want a place to get out to that isn’t such a meat market. I think we all want to go to a social place where we see ourselves reflected somewhat in those around us. It’s nice for there to be a place where I can see that reflection without the incessant techno and fog machines. eh? §:^P
April 21, 2009 at 6:05 pm #664698
JanSParticipantgilkiesan..amen about the incessant techno music, etc. What’s up with that, anyway?
I brought this up to my friend, Todd, who is gay, and he seemed to feel that it’s the exclusivity that’s needed, so one can feel “safe” going out. He lives on Capitol Hill, hangs at the Madison Pub at least 3 nights a week. He said “Well, you go there, and you’re straight”..and I explained that I only go there with him, not just to socialize with friends or a date. I think that perhaps on Capitol Hill there does need to be exclusivity just for that reason, but we’re a bit different here, in places, and Skylark does seem to be the kind of place where it simply doesn’t matter who you are…and great food besides :)
April 21, 2009 at 6:10 pm #664699
AnonymousInactivejanS are you lesbian? what kind of food do they make?
April 21, 2009 at 6:16 pm #664700
JanSParticipantno…not lesbian here, as stated in my previous post…and food? great food..
they list their menu :)
April 21, 2009 at 6:46 pm #664701
charlabobParticipantParticularly good — mac and cheese and the Philly cheesesteak which is remarkably like the real thing.
April 21, 2009 at 8:01 pm #664702
cheyenneMemberI haven’t been in Skylark since it replaced “the Delridge” or any interim place. Back then it was a true dive, but I liked it. Now I just don’t go out as much especially since Guppy’s closed. Boy do I miss Guppy’s!
April 21, 2009 at 8:10 pm #664703
AnonymousInactiveI am sorry jans i am like a lesbian and wanted only to make a question. I want go there for the good food one time.
April 21, 2009 at 8:57 pm #664704
charlabobParticipantTigre, if you go for the good food once, you’ll go back. Weekend “brunches” (breakfasts, if you love dives as much as catlbob and I do) are also spectacular. Pancakes with bananas and peanut butter and amazing combos of omelets.
BTW,catl and I are overweight gimps of a certain age (OLD!) and we always feel welcome. Even when we stay for music, played by people who could be our grandkids (and especially when we stay for vinyl, selected by WSB salesguy.)
April 21, 2009 at 9:22 pm #664705
JanSParticipantjiggers…another thought provoking and sensitive post…thanks…
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