The only way that you actually were able to come in is if you really knew somebody that was close to the owner, and the owner knew you, or if they had a drag show. Angela Raine remembers Murphy's as being unwelcome for transgender individuals, 'He just wasn't crazy about trans women being there. So it was just that type of environment,” (June Dowell-Burton 24).Īlthough, not all members of the queer community were welcome. You had the two sexy bartenders behind, male of course with no shirts on and you know. It was just a bar, you walk in the door and then there was this Ushape bar, old wood and there was paneling just 1970s. The Tavern was eventually demolished in the early 2000s.Ī former patron of Murphy's described it as, 'It was small. In 1967, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that so long as they were well-behaved, there could not be restrictions on homosexuals patronizing taverns. The bar also worked with other gay bars in New Brunswick and Asbury Park, New Jersey to challenge antigay regulations on bars and taverns. The Tavern is no longer present today, but it is an important and rich part to Newark's queer history. It was supposedly the only gay bar in Newark in the 1969s and 1970s. For decades, Murphy's Tavern was a popular gay bar in Newark, NJ.
