Accompanied by five reporters, the group visited a number of bars until they were denied service at Julius’, a longtime Greenwich Village gay bar. On April 26, 1966, four homophile activists staged a “sip in” at Julius’ to challenge the NYS Liquor Authority’s regulation that prohibited bars and restaurants from serving homosexuals. Julius’, now the oldest gay bar in New York City (and also one of the oldest bars in the city in continuous operation), is a bar and restaurant that dates back to the nineteenth century, with its current design probably dating from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. It started to attract a gay clientele in the 1950s and it is surely the oldest gay bar in the city and the oldest bar in the Village. The Mattachine Society was founded on November 11, 1950. It was built in 1826 on the corner of Amos Street (West 10th) and Factory Street (Waverly Place).ĭuring Prohbition it was a popular speakeasy and, along with Nick’s at the corner of Seventh Avenue South and the nearby Village Vanguard, was frequented by many of the jazz and literary legends of the era. 1966 April 21 Gay Rights Sip-In at Julius’ Bar, NYC Three years before the Stonewall Inn Riots ( J), which spurred the growth of a national lesbian and gay rights movement, gay rights activists with the Mattachine Society held a sip-in on this day in support of gay rights.
This structure has been welcoming folks since 1840, first as a grocery store and then, in 1864 as a bar. The bar is mostly recognized for the 'Sip-In' staged there in 1966 to promote gay rights, an event that preceded the Stonewall riots by three years. New York’s oldest Gay bar and Greenwich Village’s oldest bar. After pouring their drinks, a bartender in Julius's Bar refuses to serve John Timmins, Dick Leitsch, Craig Rodwell (1940 - 1993), and Randy Wicker, members of the Mattachine Society, an early American gay rights group, who were protesting New York liquor laws that prevented serving gay customers, New York, New York, April 21, 1966. Features: Widely regarded as the oldest continuously operating gay bar in NYC, Julius NY is a small, inexpensive tavern located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan.