I agree that no one really likes being turned down at the door. I also think that 'welcoming everyone' sounds like a good, all-embracing concept. I also imagine that significantly widening the customer base must look very attractive to the business owners, too.
I also have the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change.
Sadly, the experience of a few popular gay venues that opened up their doors to the general public in Europe suggests that only the very big venues survived the loss of their competitive edge. The small, intimate gay bars and clubs simply went out of business. The 'old' patrons did not like having girls and straight men around, no matter how well-behaved they may have been, and the new, general crowd discovered only too soon that there was nothing much really for them to see, so, they, too, moved on, cutting the business's lifeline.
I have also come to believe that small bars and clubs have very strict limitations when it comes to their growth. They cater to a specific public which is always limited in numbers but loyal. So, you have your steady flow of income which is more likely to stay stagnant. Open up for whatever reason, even if it is something beyond your control, and you lose everybody and your business, too.
Now, very big venues benefit from the open doors policy. The non-gay public enjoys the sights, the glam, the unusual. So, they keep coming. The gay guys still find quite a few other gay guys around to make it worth their while, so they keep coming, too.
I really doubt that there is any successful business plan that would universally keep the small venues going. Their income reduces their abilities to stage attractive entertainment desired by the guys these days, so the numbers are steadily declining. In the end, it is 'you'll be damned if you do, and you'll be damned if you don't'.
The expectations have really changed. In the 'old days', you went to a gay bar, had a drink, looked around, tried to hook up with a suitable dude, had a couple of more drinks afterwards over a convo, and moved on.
This concept worked well for years. Enters the modernity, and we are having a 'theme night' and we all have to walk around naked, or we all have to wear white tube socks only. Or we have to have black sneakers only or whatever. Because some folks think that this is fun. For a while, it IS fun for some. And then the game gets upped, and a bar has a theme night 5 out 7 nights, and the guys run for the hills. The cycle is over. The novelty is no more.
KD
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