Banned in Boston · STOP 12 · Bay Village
Jacques has been a gay bar in Bay Village since the 1940s, through the raids, and Boston's first Pride march started at its door in 1971.
Boston's first Pride march, in 1971, started at the door of a Bay Village bar, and its first demands were for the bar itself, cleaner bathrooms included. The bar had already outlasted years of vice-squad raids. It's still open, on a quiet street of small brick rowhouses south of Park Square. Go read the door, and keep your voice down; people live here.
This is stop 12 of Banned in Boston. Walk it - any two stops are free.
The plate
Collected on site
When the lights flashed, the same patron remembered, 'You had to switch partners (on the dance floor) in one second, woman to man.'
More footnotes on the story card, in the app.
In these collections: After Dark
Near Tufts Medical Center · Near Arlington · Near Boylston
Sources (3)
- The Boston Equality TrailBoston Preservation Alliance · accessed Oct 2026
- Pride and Progress: A Journey Through Boston's LGBTQ+ Safe SpacesNorman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center · accessed Oct 2026
- Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society's Crusade against Books, Burlesque, and the Social EvilNeil Miller (Beacon Press) · 2010