By By Sean Leviashvili, News Staff

Daniel Heller and Joshua Gerber, two gay men from Boston, decided in 2007 that separate was not equal when it came to ‘gay nights’ in local bars and clubs.
With only a handful of gay bars and clubs in the area, Heller and Gerber decided it was time to bring more options to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community.
‘There wasn’t really a whole lot of GLBT nightlife in Boston and there still isn’t, so we decided to go for it and bring Guerrilla Queer Bar to Boston,’ Heller said. ‘It was kind of a rash decision.’
Guerrilla Queer Bar nights are a monthly tradition of the GLBT community and their allies, where they essentially take over a bar or club traditionally geared to a straight audience.
‘Usually gay people will hang out with their straight friends during the day, but when night comes around, they go out separately and see each other the next day,’ Heller said. ‘Our events are inclusive, everyone can get laid.’
Heller and Gerber emulated Guerrilla Queer Bar, an organization that began in San Francisco nine years ago, Heller said.
After they met in June, Gerber and Heller spent about five months solidifying the plans and establishing a GLBT presence in Boston’s nightlife, Heller said.
‘We’re sort of an unofficial franchise,’ he said.
Initially, the group attracted about 80 members through word of mouth, Heller said.
More than a year later, close to 6,000 people are on four compiled lists, he said.
Heller and Gerber developed Boston Guerrilla Queer Bar, which held its first event in October of 2007, to expand the nightlife options for the GLBT community in Boston. The event was held at the People’s Republic in Cambridge, and attracted about 50 people, Heller said.
Heller said the group attracts about an equal number of men and women, and while the events tend to draw a more ‘professional crowd,’ college students frequent them as well.
One of those students is Paul Sousa, a senior mechanical engineering major, who receives e-mails and Facebook notifications each month from the groups organizers informing him of where the next venture will be the first Friday of every month.
During Guerrilla Queer Bar nights, participants wear pins depicting Latin American rebel Che Guevara, superimposed with singer Cher’s face, combining a revolutionary guerrilla icon with a GLBT community icon, he said.
‘The first time I went, we went at Liquor Store [a bar near Downtown Crossing], and I saw a lot of people wearing these buttons that signify the event,’ he said.
Members of Guerrilla Queer Bar have since frequented Liquor Store. Their latest event, which was held Friday, took place there. The group has also held events at Bell in Hand, The Kells, Estate, Tequila Rain and Honk Kong.
In addition to the monthly Friday night outing, Boston Guerrilla Queer Bar hosts local nights, which take place weekdays, and charity events, which are held every other month. Charity nights run on the third Thursday of every month, and take place at selected bars, as well. Money generated from those nights is donated to a charity that works to promote GLBT rights, including marriage rights, according to the organization’s website.
This initiative began in January, as did the launch of the local events, and the organization has since raised money for equal marriage rights organization MassEquality and will be working with the Boston Living Center, a non-profit for AIDS patients, later this month, Heller said.
Though the events are created mainly as an outlet for the GLBT community, Heller said all are welcome.