Act Up and The Pyramid Club in NYC During The ‘90s
Check out my digital zine about The Pyramid and Crisco Disco:
What follows is an interview with my uncle, Clay Hunn, who lived in Bushwick from January to September 1990. During that time, he was a member of Act Up and visited various LGBTQ+ clubs in the city, including The Pyramid. (His answers have been edited slightly for grammar and clarity.)
When were you part of the NYC club scene?
“I lived in Bushwick from Jan. — Sept. ’90, and I definitely went to lots of clubs.
On prior visits, I had been to Boybar and Dean Johnson’s Rock and Roll Fag Bar, among others. While living in New York, I frequented The Pyramid, and bigger bars like Mars, Limelight, Sound Factory, and The Suzanne Bartsch events.”
I read in my research about The Pyramid that besides just music there were also exotic dancers, drag performers, and plays. Do you remember any of the performers that you saw there?
“Drag queen Kenny Kenny was a glamorous door person in those days whose evaluation of you meant in or out. The Pyramid was less of a strict door-person scene. [It was] more of an East Village dive and cabaret. Legendary go-go boys like Aner Candelario danced on those nights. The drag queens were second to none: Rupaul, and Lady Bunny being the most famous of the scene and famous to this day.”
There was also: Connie Girl, Miss Guy, Lypsinka, Linda Simpson, and Happi Phace.
“Some were comical and satirical, often political. Others were real and glamorous, serving up supermodel glamour.” [..] “Linda Simpson and Happi Phace had regular nights with go-go boys and girls. My friend Trash was a regular lesbian go-go girl. She dressed like a gay boy: Doc Martin’s, cut-off short jeans, painted on side-burns, but top-less with quite nice breasts. It was a great look that blurred boundaries!”
Why do you think clubbing was such a big part of LGBTQ+ culture?
“Gay bars have always been a safe space for the gay community, though, before Stonewall, the police often raided gay bars, arrested people, and published their names in newspapers which was life-destroying in the pre-liberation days. The clubs were the one place you could go and be in the majority, a rare thing in a straight world. There we found music, dancing, entertainment, community, love, and yes… sex.”
How did the club scene in NYC compare to other cities you went to like San Francisco?
“At the time, I knew the bar scene in San Francisco only somewhat, but it was never as glamorous as New York. That city was hit very hard because it is actually much smaller than New York and so gay. All the sex venues were closed, and the vibe was pretty sad. Act Up eventually sprung up there, but I think its most important actions took place on the East Coast, at the National Institute of Health, and other government agencies.”
“The coolest bar in San Francisco in those days (sort of the analog of The Pyramid) was The Stud. It had theme nights, hosts, and a mix of gay and lesbian folks.”
In your opinion, how did the AIDS crisis change gay nightlife?
“There was a revival of sex positivity with safe sex being key, emphasized by Act Up and the Gran Fury art collective. The posters for safe sex produced then were incredible, sexy, and empowering. Clubs began to skirt the rules and open sex rooms in basements and back rooms. They were always popular but constantly under threat of being shut down by the city’s health department. So it was ephemeral but important that sex positivity was claimed as part of Act Up, Queer Nation, and other activist groups.”
“The Pyramid did have a sex basement for a period of time then but it didn’t last very long.”
“The AIDS crisis was a major factor in everyone’s life in New York. The gay community had organized, and the weekly Act Up meetings at the Gay Community Center was packed with a mix of gay guys and lesbians. AIDS brought gay men and lesbians together in a common cause like never before. This political scene took place at the GCC, in actions on the street (that included civil disobedience), and in clubs like The Pyramid. Political involvement, cabaret drag performances, house music from places like The Sound Factory, all blended together into a distinctive vibe.”
“Lesbians were a part of the club scene in a way that was kind of new in the ’90s. Before AIDS, the bars were very sex-segregated. That changed especially for alternative gay bars like The Pyramid. At the same time, there were new lesbian spaces that kept the same vibe as The Pyrmaid with go-go dancers. The Clit Club comes to mind. It was cool.”
“I think the biggest change for gay nightlife was the closing of many gay sex spaces at the gay clubs, partly because of new laws. The baths were closed in many cities, and sex rooms at bars were closed down. New York was no exception. The wild scenes of ’70s New York and San Francisco were also impacted by frightened gay men who no longer felt comfortable with easy random sex. At the same time though, the clubs continued to be a place for us to meet, socialize, organize, and find entertainment and laughter in a dark time. They were critical support spaces.”
