Giving Back:
The Gay Spot
Detroit, Michigan 1941 - 1971
By Ruth Ellis
There wasn't very many places you could go when I came to Detroit, unless it'd be somebody's home.
In those days everything was hush hush. If you just knew somebody that had a home would accept you that is where you went. So after we bought our home, we opened it up to the gay people. That is where everyone wanted to come on the weekend.
One would tell another, "I know where you can go. Go to Babe and Ruth's." And then they would tell them were we lived an they would come.
The house would be full. We had two floors. We had a gay couple that lived downstairs in the little flat. The boys downstairs would open up their place when we had a party so we were downstairs and upstairs and all over the place. I had a big yard. In the summertime, they'd all be out in the yard. We'd have barbeque.
They would just come and hang out. We'd have a nice time dancing. Some of them played piano and sang. They'd bring drinks. And we'd have food. We'd just have fun.
They were all pretty nice children too. They were students, mostly students, you know. They went to college. Most of them turned out professional.
|
|
