Inside Erie's Beloved Queer Club, The Zone

Contributed

The Zone Dance Club recently celebrated 25 years of serving the Erie Queer community, providing a space that prioritizes the safety, well-being, empowerment, and visibility of the LGBTQIA+ population.

Amidst the slow decline of gay and queer bars nationwide, The Zone Dance Club in Erie has been a lively hub for the LGBTQIA+ community since 1998. Well-known for its welcoming aura, The Zone provides safety and entertainment, including drag performances and weekly programming. "We are the only Queer social space in the area," manager Anthony Gressley said. "While we target the Queer community, we welcome everyone."

Erie has been home to many gay and Queer bars throughout our history, including The City Squire, Embers, the Silver Slipper, Washington Grill, and the Midtown Lounge. "Erie has had its share of gay bars, usually three at a time. It's only since The Zone that there has been only one," said Harry Miller, a contributor to the Erie Gay News.

The Zone has a deep history in Erie, beginning when former owner Bob Regan, who passed away in 2018, opened the club in Nov. 1998. Regan transformed The Embers into The Zone, which was originally located on State Street in Downtown Erie. Six years later, after outgrowing the space, The Zone moved to its current location at 113 W. 18th St.

"The Zone is important because it has stood the test of time. So many Queer bars have come and gone but The Zone has remained," show director Tom Widdowson said. The Zone celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023.

The Zone is the only Queer bar between Cleveland and Buffalo and serves a wide audience, playing a crucial role for those in the rural areas of Northwestern Pennsylvania. "Within city limits, it's very welcoming," Gressley said. "You venture outside of the City of Erie and it becomes questionable. That's why The Zone plays a key role — because we don't discriminate."

Widdowson has been performing drag at The Zone for seven years. In addition to his role as a show director and bartender at the dance club, he performs as one of Erie's premier drag queens, Rebecca Mae, most Friday nights and in additional shows like during trivia night.

"Rebecca Mae is a huge part of the drag community here," said show director Josh Smolinsky, who has performed drag for over 15 years.

"Drag is a very important part of the [LGBTQIA+] community as it's pretty hard to miss a drag queen," Widdowson said. "It's one of the most visible things to say, 'Hi! We're here and we aren't going anywhere!'"

Queer spaces are essential for the well-being, empowerment, and visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community — providing safe havens, fostering supportive networks, celebrating Queer culture, and driving positive social change.

The Zone does just that. The club partners with various community organizations, including the Greater Erie Alliance for Equality and the NWPA Pride Alliance to support the LGBTQIA+ community and other worthy causes. The club also plays a crucial role in local Pride celebrations, with deep involvement in the Erie Pride Parade and Pridefest. The bar hosts Pride-related programming throughout June.

"Pride and The Zone have a history of working together," said Gressley, who has hosted Pridefest since 2014 and has been on the NWPA Pride Alliance's board since 2015. "Since I took over, we've always been involved in Pride."

This year, The Zone and the NWPA Pride Alliance are hosting Pride on the Bay on Saturday, June 29 at Liberty Park and the Highmark Amphitheater. "We all basically live here during Pride," Gressley said, noting that Pride is The Zone's busiest weekend of the year.

With a core staff of about 12 employees and an additional auxiliary staff, The Zone operates like a close-knit, albeit "dysfunctional," family. "We're all rather close. Most of us have been friends for years," Gressley said. "Even new people that have recently come on board, whether it be performers or staff, they're immediately part of the family."

The Zone is open 365 days a year to serve Erie's Queer community, not just on a hopping Saturday night, but also on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas – offering an authentic space to belong for those whose families may not be as welcoming.

While The Zone frequently hosts national title holders from RuPaul's Drag Race like Raja Gemini and Erie native Alaska Thunderf*ck, most shows feature local performers and former winners of the highly anticipated Miss Erie pageant. "All of the local queens and kings here, we're like a family. It's a sisterhood," Smolinsky said. 

Grace Siwinski, also known as Rocky, has been performing drag for two years. They made their debut at The Zone in December 2022. After moving from Buffalo to attend Mercyhurst University, Siwinski found a sense of community at The Zone, which they describe as a "safe haven."

"The Zone is such an important space for Queer and straight-identifying community members in Erie because of how safe a place this is for everyone," Siwinski said. "It's the safest bar in Erie, and the most welcoming."

Siwinski also emphasized that The Zone is open 365 days a year, offering an "authentic" space for those who don't have somewhere to go on holidays, a common situation for many LGBTQIA+ community members.

After closing down due to COVID-19 restrictions, The Zone made a triumphant return with its famed "What The F*ck Party'' in July 2021. The event combined the missed holiday celebrations from the shutdown, including Halloween, New Year's, Christmas, Saint Patrick's Day, and Mardi Gras. "It was huge. Best/worst idea I've ever had," Gressley jokes.

Greggor Mattson, a sociology professor at Oberlin College, wrote Who Needs Gay Bars? Bar-Hopping through America's Endangered LGBTQ+ Places in 2023 after visiting more than 30 gay bars. He was driven to write about the significance of Queer spaces after his favorite gay bar, A Man's World in Cleveland, closed in 2013. Mattson identified the culprit for the decline in Queer bars as accessible online communities and dating apps like Grindr paired with gentrification that "pushed gay bars out of the neighborhoods they helped make hip."

Between 2012 and 2021, 50 percent of gay bars in the United States closed their doors. Overall, there are 45 percent fewer gay bars than in 2002. This decline underscores the importance of accessible Queer spaces like The Zone that serve as vital community hubs, offering not only entertainment but also support and safety.

Unfortunately, Mattson didn't stop at The Zone during his expedition. Mattson suggests that we can learn valuable lessons from the history of gay bars, such as Seattle's Garden of Allah, which opened in 1945 as a cabaret.

The Garden of Allah illustrates a common characteristic of gay bars: their ability to attract clientele diverse in sexual orientations and gender identities. The Garden of Allah MC famously opened shows in the '40s and '50s with the greeting "Ladies, gentlemen, and the rest of you."

While The Zone's original mission was to serve Erie's gay and lesbian community, the club has always welcomed a range of clientele. In 2023, The Zone rebranded to be more inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

"We created a new logo and we also rebranded as a Queer bar. That way we're more accepting of everyone — the B, the T, the Q, the I, the A, the rest of the alphabet," Gressley said. "We've seen such an influx since the rebirth."

Employees at The Zone have noticed a shift, with more younger customers frequenting the club. Both Widdowson and Gressley agree this trend reflects a positive change, with younger generations openly embracing Queer culture in public spaces — a freedom that earlier generations didn't always have.

"We've become a mainstay for the younger generation," Smolinsky said. "They're a lot more accepting because they grew up in an era where they felt more safe. Whereas, when Tony and I were growing up, we didn't have many places we felt safe. We see the younger crowd more often now — they're the future."

The Zone faces "the same challenges as every other bar," Gressley said. "Because we're targeting the Queer community, we do get protesters every once in a while — I find it hysterical we only have two protesters." In the words of Rocky, on protesters of drag: "We are stronger than those who despise us."

The most important things, Gressley says, are patience, safety, and acceptance: "That's the driving message of this bar — everyone is safe here."

Whether it's during Pride weekend in Erie, Thanksgiving, or a casual weeknight, The Zone keeps its doors open, offering community members drinks, entertainment, and simply a third place to exist outside of home and work.

"I know the impact because whenever I tell people I work here, nine times out of 10 the response is, 'Oh my God. I love that place.' And I'm like, 'Me too!'" Gressley said. "Everyone needs somewhere safe."

Julia Carden can be reached at juliacarden91@gmail.com