Rusty’s (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — early 1960s
In the early 1960s, when openly gay and lesbian spaces were still illegal and routinely targeted, Rusty’s stood as one of Philadelphia’s rare lesbian bars—a place of refuge, community, and quiet resistance. In 1962, it was raided by police, part of a pattern of harassment that defined queer life in the pre-Stonewall era, when simply gathering could result in arrest, exposure, or violence.
It was a landmark of the 1960s lesbian scene, located on the second floor of Barone’s Variety Room at the southwest corner of Walnut and Quince Streets. Today, that physical space is occupied by Moriarty’s Restaurant, an Irish pub.
This shirt features artwork from a local Philadelphia LGBTQ article discussing the 1962 raid.
