The uprising changed the power dynamics in the struggle for LGBTQ rights, which, despite some prominent protests in Washington, D.C., and militant actions in Los Angeles and San Francisco, for the most part had been confined to quiet pushes for incremental changes.ĭuring those two nights 50 years ago, a modern movement was born.
Johnson and Sylvia Rivera among the vanguard, continued on and off for two nights. The street riots, with transgender women of color like Marsha P. As such, the Manhattan Club encouraged queer people to network with fellow queer Austinites, freely express their sexuality without immediate repercussions, and forge social and political alliances.In the early hours of a torrid June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a scruffy LGBTQ bar in Greenwich Village.Īlthough such raids were routine in New York City and across the country, this time the bar’s clients and onlookers fought back. Nevertheless, the Manhattan Restaurant, with the small Manhattan Club located in back, maintains its legacy as one of the few gay-friendly spaces for the Austin queer community during the late 1950s through the 1960s. The Manhattan closed its doors in 1969, and the building, located at 911 Congress, stood vacant in 2021. After his passing, Flo Robbins was negotiating for a new lease at 911 Congress Avenue when she discovered the space had been sold for next-door business Photo Processing Inc. On February 15, 1969, David Robbins, at the age of sixty-one, suffered a fatal heart attack. The grand opening advertisement proclaimed luxurious lounge booths, delicatessen and kosher-style food, the best American and imported table wines, and nightly music and entertainment.įor unknown reasons, the Robbins then moved several doors down to 911 Congress Avenue and on June 23, 1957, opened their new updated establishment-what they deemed “Austin’s only modern delicatessen restaurant.” The Manhattan Restaurant expanded in this new location and offered three separate menus of kosher dishes, charbroiled steaks, and Mexican food in the restaurant soft drinks and beer at the bar area and a wide array of take-away foods at the “Kosher delicatessen.” A small bar located in the backroom of the restaurant was known to the LGBTQ+ community of Austin as the Manhattan Club, one of the only public places where queer individuals could gather and socialize outside of their homes. The Robbins were natives of the East Coast and patterned their new restaurant after the delicatessens common back home. From 1952 to 1957 The Manhattan operated in this building and served up an array of kosher foods to its loyal customers. After the building’s demolition in 1950, Dave and Flo Robbins moved to a new location at 905 Congress Avenue and became owners of The Manhattan, which held its grand opening on August 22, 1952. A favorite joint for local students at the University of Texas, Dinty’s was also known for being a remarkably safe location, and the Robbins gained a reputation as welcoming, fun-loving business owners. The establishment was known as “one of the most fun spots Austin ever had” by patrons and was packed to capacity on any average night. Of these, the Manhattan Club at 911 Congress Avenue is the earliest documented gay-friendly social outlet open to the public.ĭavid and Flo Robbins moved to Austin from New York City after World War II and opened Dinty Moore’s Café and Bar at 123 West 6th Street in 1947. Throughout the late 1950s through early 1970s, Austin was home to only a handful of gay bars, including the Cabaret (3010 Guadalupe), the Red River Lounge (900 Red River), Pearl Street Warehouse (17th and Lavaca), and The Apartment (29th and Rio Grande), all of which were long closed by the end of the twentieth century. The small storefront of the Manhattan Restaurant blended into the scene of commercial storefronts, passing vehicles, and wandering pedestrians on the ever-bustling Congress Avenue. The club operated out of a small backroom of the Manhattan Restaurant and fit approximately eighteen people, according to a patron. Although no official sources document the advertisement of the space for this purpose, several witnesses have verified the Manhattan Club as a gay-friendly establishment in Austin throughout these years. Operated by Jewish couple David and Florence “Flo” Robbins, the Manhattan Restaurant at 911 Congress Avenue opened in 1957 and closed in 1969.
The Manhattan Club was Austin, Texas’s, earliest documented gay bar.