WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – RAW VIDEO: HG Roosters’ past, present and future of reconstruction
RAW VIDEO: HG Roosters’ Past, Present and Future of Reconstruction.
HG Roosters, the LBGTQ bar that had to close its doors due to a fire in May, launches an effort to preserve its history.
AJ Wasson, the owner of HG Roosters, is asking the City of West Palm Beach for a historical designation for his bar for two reasons.
“They had a few challenges from a zoning and building standpoint, where historic preservation actually comes to their advantage,” said Friederike Mittner, the City of West Palm Beach historic preservation planner.
The preservation allows cock variations during rebuilding and tax exemptions for improvements. But it would also preserve the significant LGBTQ history in the Palm Beaches.
“It is the oldest gay bar in the state of Florida,” said Julie Seaver, executive director of Compass.
Opening as a gay bar in 1965 and serves as a closet gay sanctuary.
“They couldn’t be openly gay because they would be banned by the community,” Wasson said.
And to avoid hate crime and harassment, they relocated the entrance from the very busy Belvedere Road.
So Gene put in the side door [near the back], ”Wasson said.
“If you walked to Roosters, you would be harassed by people driving by people passing by, and things would be thrown at you,” said Rick Rose, a Palm Beach historian and author.
“That also points to the historic character of the windows. In a way, it may have provided a sense of security,” Wasson said.
“It was our safe place, a safe haven for LGBT people to get together and socialize and pray and mourn the loss during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and early 1990s,” said Seaver.
“It’s a great historic site. This isn’t an opportunity for every building,” said Mittner.
“The legacy of this building dates back to the mid-1960s, which is the same as the Stone Wall Inn in New York,” Wasson noted.
Stone Wall is where the gay rights movement began.
“The police attacked bars for being gay,” said Seaver.
This subsequently led to riots in New York.
“We have never been a business alone. We are part of the community,” said Wasson.
“[Roosters] has raised money for countless organizations, ”Rose said.
“We want to emphasize contributions to the community from a philanthropic standpoint and, of course, a cause of social justice,” said Mittner.
“We don’t want this to be part of the history that’s over. We want to keep Roosters,” Wasson said.
To get the historic designation, there are a few more hurdles to overcome. First, they have to go for the historic board on February 23. In March and April they will stand before the city commissioners where the measure is expected to succeed.
With the local designation, they join about 50 other historic sites in West Palm Beach.