Just recently, an institutions of the Bay Area's LGBTQ+ world announced that it will be making a comeback. The Stud, an iconic queer bar in San Francisco, with an over 50 year long history, closed up shop in 2020 during the pandemic shutdown. Many feared that the venue itself would stay closed. But the collective who runs the bar have found a new location and are in the mist of raising funds now.

This news has opened up a sense of hope for the queer spaces here in the Bay area, and beyond, wont just fade away. So why are queer spaces, and in particular queer bars, so important to hang on to?  

To answer this question and more, KCBS Radio's Mary Hughes spoke with Greggor Mattson,  Professor and chair of sociology at Oberlin College and Conservatory, and author of 'Who Needs Gay Bars?'