The lesbian and gay bar was a central pillar of these communities. It offered space for socializing, hearing community news, and meeting new friends or sexual partners. Boston’s gay bar scene in the late 1940s ranged from the upscale Napoleon Club in Bay Village, where jackets and ties were required, to the Lighthouse in the city’s notorious Scollay Square, which catered to sailors and gay male civilians.30 Not far from the Napoleon Club was Vickie’s, a lesbian bar in the Hotel St. Moritz, and Cavana’s, a tough bar
