The regulations were based on ABC’s moral mandate, as expressed in 1955 by Commissioner Davis, “It is clear that homosexuals may well have a harmful effect on some members of the public. From Rules and regulations, effective July 1, 1950,
ABC Agents who had witnessed people being queer in public provided testimony that described clothing, posture, and timbre of voice to assign charges of “female impersonation” and “male impersonation”, often in combination with other violations, but occasionally the presence of queer people was enough to bring a case and penalties against bar owners. Conduct of Licensees and Use of Licensed Premises. Then as now, a liquor licensee had requirements to uphold state regulations.īar owners who tolerated customers perceived by ABC agents as gender non-conforming broke Rules 4 and 5 of the ABC State Regulations No. Post-prohibition legislation led to establishment of the ABC, whose director was empowered by law to create regulations for consumption of alcohol. How and why did the ABC Bulletins document queer public life? Notably, the ABC Bulletins contain significant descriptions of queer culture and LGBTQ people’s relationships to the law and each other, in a time in which being one’s authentic self in public involved significant personal risk. Additional background information about the ABC collection can be found in Alcoholic Beverage Control Bulletins reveal social history of New Jersey by Caitlyn Cook. The Bulletins of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) are an important primary source for the social history of nightlife, entertainment, law enforcement, crime, and bar culture in New Jersey. These include the State Asylum reports, documents and publications on Black New Jerseyans’ history, documents on women’s suffrage, and documents on civil rights. Part of our commitment to preserving New Jersey history involves identifying, digitizing, and making available State publications relating to marginalized and disenfranchised populations.
The State Library Information Center has a large and growing repository of digitized State Documents, preserving and making them available free online for lawmakers, lawyers, State employees, and the general public. See the Attorney General’s press release and the directive with an appendix listing the bars.ĪBC Bulletins in New Jersey State Library Digital Collections This map has been updated to note when licensees were included in the Attorney General’s directive, and also includes seven locations that were not issued a pardon, locations in which the charges were dismissed, bars accused of lewdness between queer people after 1967, and appeals and court challenges to decisions, for a total of 150 decisions. Update: On 29 June 2021, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal vacated the decisions of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) that resulted in penalties against bar owners serving LGBT patrons in the 1930s-1960s. These are historical documents and do not reflect current social norms or acceptable language. Trigger warning: Bulletins linked in this post and on the map may contain homophobia, descriptions of mistreatment, and slurs. This map is considered comprehensive, but corrections and additions are welcome. All locations have been added to the map above.
Research in the ABC Bulletins collection digitized by the State Library Information Center identified 150 bulletins in which the presence of a queer person was noted.
Use this map to visualize locations of pre-Stonewall New Jersey bars serving LGBTQ patrons, as described in ABC Bulletins from the 1930s to 1960s.