It's Pride Month, and it's complicated.

We have an administration that is increasingly hostile toward queer people, and even within

the queer community, there are still some very real tensions.

But nonetheless, queer people are still celebrating themselves and each other in finding joy

and solidarity, especially when times feel tough.

So where is everyone gathering? The corporate pride events are only getting cornyer.

City-sponsored parades are getting shorter, and the $80 per ticket pride month raves are not

for everybody. The way that queer people congregate has changed dramatically. And with the

rise of social media and the apps, queer people are finding new spaces to gather, third spaces

that are connecting people who are sometimes the only or first in their areas. So this Pride month,

we're taking a loving step outside the bar and into the queer diners, bookstores,

knitting groups, tennis clubs, choirs, and all the other places where people are finding community.

To talk about those spaces and where to find them, I'm here with Eric Hebenberg, offer of dining

out, first dates, defiant nights, and last called disco fries at America's gay restaurants,

and Lucas Hilderbrand, author of The Bars Are Hours,

Histories and Cultures of Gay Bars in America, 1960 and After.

Lucas, welcome to It's Been a Minute and Eric, welcome back.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

So happy to have you both.

Hello, hello.

I'm Brittany Luce and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.

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