“We fit a 10,000-square foot building into my basement garage. So, I'm feeling pretty proud of that,” said Tanner Efinger, owner of Wunderbar, a bar and event space focusing on the LGBTQ+ community. “Wunderbar is a queer bar and theater, and so no, there's nothing else like it in Syracuse or in upstate New York or anywhere."
They spent years in downtown Syracuse but had to close because their landlord wasn’t renewing their lease. They’ve been looking for a new space since. Reopening has been a challenge. And one reason has to do with the national conversation.
“But until recently, we've had to make a bit of a different plan. And that's because things have changed in the world and in the country. And as we are looking towards opening, we realized we were going to be opening pretty close to the November presidential election,” said Efinger. “Violence has been on the rise for a while. Gun violence. Anti-LGBTQ violence, anti LGBTQ-rhetoric ... The ACLU is tracking 429 bills in the United States ... against LGBTQ folks.”
As of publishing, the number of bills the ACLU is tracking is 513 nationwide, with 0 being tracked in New York.
Efinger says he wants to offer Wunderbar back to the community as a welcoming space, but he said he also must be a practical businessperson.
“I only have the opportunity to reopen once, I only have enough money to reopen once and I can't mess that up,” said Efinger.
When they can reopen, it will be made easier by a $10,000 Queer to Stay grant from the Human Rights Campaign and the television network Showtime.
“I was really honored to have gotten national recognition for the work we're doing in this community with the LGBTQ+ community in Syracuse and in the region,” said Efinger.
Michael Desalvo has spent his life in Syracuse. He founded Friends of Dorothy House, which has been supporting people with AIDS since the early 1990s.
“So, when I was growing up in the '70s, to be gay, we were still considered mentally ill. And so, it was very different,” said Desalvo.
Like some Americans, he isn’t thrilled about either presidential candidate on the ballot this fall, wanting a focus on younger people.
“I look at both parties as being incredibly dysfunctional and need to let go and bring in younger people that are invested in their futures. When you got 80-year-olds running for any government, I'm sorry, like you've had your time and your chances,” said Desalvo.
“And what we need to be looking at when we look at politics, as long as there is any group that's not being treated well or being oppressed, none of us are OK. And what the standard should really be is justice for all, which has never, ever existed on the occupied land that we live in.”
Despite what’s happening on the national stage, Efinger says there’s still room for optimism.
“That is a real regional phenomenon, where upstate New York is a place that LGBTQ folks are flocking because it is institutionally safer in many ways. Don't get me wrong, we still have a long way to go. Homophobia doesn't just disappear because the state isn't, you know, trying to rid you of your rights,” said Efinger.
He is excited to reopen Wunderbar in 2025.