"Of course, you couldn't be out in public," Bridges says, "there was just no way." It was a spot they stopped at before heading to The Warehouse on Franklin Road to dance the night away. John Bridges' first boyfriend took him to The Jungle in the 1970s.
![nashville gay bars gay cities nashville gay bars gay cities](https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/mMqVJSRTbM1gD7yuiyIQBiAcbyY=/2098x1429/filters:fill(auto,1)/GettyImages-185100443-59e8c0a9396e5a00100aa7b5.jpg)
"Gay people coming up today, they don’t know what it was like back then," says Peek, who is 76. "And this will give them a little bit of history." A place where gay men could be themselves
![nashville gay bars gay cities nashville gay bars gay cities](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ad8drDCN3AQ/hqdefault.jpg)
Though the bars have long since been demolished, the place where they stood on the corner of Commerce and Seventh will now be permanently marked for passers-by, remembering an era when police raids and arrests sometimes ended in violence against the LGBTQ community. On Friday, the Metro Historical Commission will unveil a plaque recognizing The Jungle and Juanita's as the city's first gay bars. "It was a rough time, but it was also a wonderful time for people like myself who were coming out." "They both gave our circle a place to go where you felt safe," Peek says. In the 1960s, at a time when same-sex relationships were considered unlawful, it was a welcoming place where gay men in Nashville could hang out together. It's also where he met his partner, Joe, 47 years ago.
![nashville gay bars gay cities nashville gay bars gay cities](https://assets.website-files.com/5cd5ba61631da1787d2efbe8/60dddef7fb5cd13833ad5eff_tribe-webcoverphoto-mobile-summer21temp.jpg)
It was the first bar Jerry Peek ever went into. Next door, Juanita's, a skinny, shotgun-style joint with only a handful of tables, served as The Jungle's sister establishment. The restaurant had a straight clientele during the day for lunch - but in the evening, it morphed into a gay bar. On a wild stretch of Commerce Street, next door to Ira's Barber Shop and just blocks from Ryman Auditorium, stood a pair of unique bars surrounded by a slew of beer dives.ĭimly lit and filled with cigarette smoke, The Jungle was a one-room club with a grill where cocktails were mixed and a piano often inspired a round of singalongs. Watch Video: Historical marker placed to remember Nashville's first gay bars