Boston historically boasted a vibrant LGBTQ nightlife scene, but then the AIDS crisis hit, and the scene never fully recovered. Boston has played a key role in the LGBTQ rights movement - home to influential publications, including Gay Community News, and the first openly gay elected state legislator in the country, Elaine Noble. An estimated 40 percent of LGBTQ people work in industries where they face more potential exposure to infection as well as economic insecurity, and roughly 2 million LGBTQ people work in restaurants and food service, according to the Human Rights Campaign.įor LGBTQ nightlife and restaurant industry workers, economic precarity has been the norm throughout the pandemic, but it only represents part of the devastation brought on by COVID-19, and doesn’t account for the profound loss of community. “It’s like taking my therapy away.”ĬOVID-19 has disproportionately affected marginalized communities, including the LGBTQ community. “There’s been a lot of depression over the last year, because DJing is really therapeutic,” he says. When nightlife shuttered last year, Stevie lost more than his paycheck - he lost his artistic outlet, and his connection with other people. Nowadays, Stevie’s only connection to the music he loves comes when he puts on his headphones at home. Finally, Stevie was pursuing his passion.īut that pursuit was put on pause when Club Café shut down. With lines of eager revelers stretching down Columbus Avenue every weekend, the career change seemed like a safe bet. A year beforehand, Stevie quit his office job to work full-time as Club Café’s entertainment manager and lead DJ. Stevie tried to lighten the mood with a tongue-in-cheek playlist that featured songs like Kelly Clarkson’s “Catch My Breath,” but with bouncers wearing makeshift personal protective equipment, it was difficult for people to ignore the impending catastrophe. There was plenty of empty space on the dance floor that night, and everyone seemed more fearful than euphoric. Charlie Baker would announce a statewide shutdown of all bars and restaurants, and eight days after that, order the closure of all non-essential businesses in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. In just two days’ time, Massachusetts Gov.
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Ordinarily, the dance floor would have been packed with sweaty bodies dancing to the sounds of Dua Lipa’s latest bop, but there was nothing ordinary about this night. It was the last Friday night before lockdown, and Stevie Psyclone was doing what he loves: spinning dance-pop hits from the DJ booth at Club Café.