Greggor Mattson

Greggor Mattson

Photo of me, a white man with greying beard wearing thick blue-grey rimmed glasses and a grey and black Western shirt against a pink background.
Photo by Tanya Rosen-Jones

I am Professor and Chair of Sociology at Oberlin College and Conservatory and member of the Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Program. I teach courses on cities, sexuality, social control, and inequality, informed by my research about LGBTQ+ communities, gentrification, and sex work. My CV is here.

I’m the author of a book about changes in gay bars in the United States over the last 25 years from Redwood Press, Who Needs Gay Bars? I have published on the topic in venues like the Washington Post, Slate, LitHub, Urban Studies, Socius, and Gender Place & Culture.

Previously I published a book on prostitution politics in the European Union, and am working on another one on the topic set in early 19th-century Paris. I went viral once for a blog post about artificial intelligence and gayface.

I grew up in a small town in the Pacific Northwest and earned degrees at The University of California, Berkeley; Oxford University; and The George Washington University. I live in small-town Northeast Ohio with my demon-sized chihuahua.

Colorful illustration of two bearded white men sitting on stools in front of a pink wall. The speech bubble reads "Gay bars aren't closing everywhere, they aren't closing for the same reasons, & they are changing in surprising ways that serve old audiences and cultivate new ones.
Illustration by Ryan Hartley Smith

I can be reached at greggor.mattson [at] gmail.com or:

Recent updates:

  • Cover of a book featuring two sexy men of color dancing together under fuschia and magenta lighting overlaid with the title, cover of the book Who Needs Gay Bars? Bar-Hopping Through America's Dwindling LGBTQ+ Places by Greggor Mattson
    Gay bar writings
    Since 2015 I have been writing on the role of gay bars in urban processes including gentrification, LGBTQ+ community development, and social inequality. This forms the basis of my forthcoming book with Redwood Press, Who Needs Gay Bars? It is based on interviews with more than 130 gay bar owners and managers, site visits to… Read more: Gay bar writings
  • Washington Post
    From a piece I wrote for The Washington Post’s Made by History column: “Gay bars are disappearing. Their past holds keys to their future.” Gay bars are often assumed to be relatively common places by, and exclusively for, LGBTQ+ people, but that is a mid-20th-century invention. Today, as debates continue to surface about the need… Read more: Washington Post
  • Photo of a low-slung building painted with rainbow panels, with a sign reading "Club Q" under a large flapping rainbow flag
    Club Q
    From a piece I wrote for Contexts in the wake of the mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs: The public only takes note of gay bars when something bad happens. It makes being a gay bar expert utterly depressing. I feel an obligation to share my knowledge, but I also feel like a… Read more: Club Q

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