Vibe, and the handful of Cleveland gay bars and nightclubs in business before the pandemic, remain open.
Would the pandemic add to these closures? Not in Cleveland. Kevin Briggs and his husband John, owners of Vibe Bar & PatioGay bars and nightclubs in Cleveland and nationally had been closing at high rates for more than a decade before the pandemic, according to research by an Oberlin College professor. He and his husband John had owned Vibe Bar & Patio, a gay bar on Lorain Avenue near West 117 th Street, for only about a year.Įarly in the pandemic, they didn’t know how long the shutdown would last or if their fledgling business would survive it.
When Ohio Governor Mike DeWine ordered bars and clubs to shut down in March 2020 to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Kevin Briggs panicked.
