The notion of the "safe space" dates back to the women's and gay liberation movements of the 1970s. They presented opportunities to celebrate and honor a part of our culture that we might otherwise take for granted. Our conversations were something good that emerged from something horrific. We talked about the clubs that have come and gone, and the ones that have persisted. We discussed how our communities were built and sustained in these spaces. In the aftermath of last month's attack on Pulse in Orlando, many LGBT people took time, amid our grief, to reflect on our experiences in gay bars, the spaces we'd always thought of as "safe." We wrote or posted on social media about our first gay bar, about the thrill of being suddenly surrounded by people like us, about dancing until 4:00 a.m. This article is dedicated to the memory of Jeff Montgomery, longtime Detroit LGBT activist and founder of the Triangle Foundation, which worked to combat anti-LGBT crime and discrimination nationwide.
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