I often see people use the phrase Blue Oyster Bar as a generic name for a gay/lesbian bar, I think this came from the Police Academy movie series where in film there is a gay bar named that(or it was an existing term before the movies).
Then of course there is the band Blue Oyster Cult, whose debut predates Police Academy.
Looking online I can’t find an explanation of the origin of this term or how it relates to gays or lesbians.
The name of the band supposedly comes from their manager, Sandy Pearlman (according to Wikipedia and many other sites). It comes from poetry in which the “blue oyster cult” was a secret group of aliens that help to guide the development of humans here on earth.
Back in the 70s, though, it was commonly believed (at least in the area where I grew up) that “blue oyster” referred to eating oysters to improve your virility. There wasn’t any homosexual element associated with it that I ever remember hearing about, but there was definitely a sexual element to it.
Considering that the band members themselves apparently weren’t all that happy with the name (there’s a reference to that on the Wikipedia page) I have to wonder if the virility rumor was actually started by the band members, either to have a more “cool” origin for the name or so that they could get more chicks backstage after the shows or whatever.
The producers of Police Academy may have chosen that name for their gay bar simply because of its association with male virility. Just a wild guess on my part though.
(bolding mine)
By ‘often’, how frequently are you meaning, and where exactly are you seeing this? :dubious:
And just who are these ‘people’ that you’re referring to?
Probably at least ten times in the last few years, the most recent time being on this board in this post(which is what inspired me to make the thread).
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14855791&postcount=33
Raw oysters as an aphrodisiac predates the Blue Oyster Cult band by several centuries.
And here’s why:
Cut and paste the link to see the photo. It’s not super work safe, but it truly is just a picture of an oyster, however.
But that ain’t blue! (Not in the literal sense, anyway.)
If it’s blue, you need to see a doctor.
Heh. I’m currently growing mushrooms at home. Shitake, Phoenix Oysters, and Blue Oysters. Heh.
I ate a dozen oysters last night and only 6 of them worked!
You gave me idea that “oyster” stands for “a girl/woman” and she IS blue because men in that bar aren’t interested in her.
We used to have a bar around here that had “blue” in the name (here being GA). Being out in the boonies, it was the only tavern around. So business clients were very often taken to it. Many times, clients expressed surprise that it wasn’t a gay bar. Apparently, bars with colors in their name, was/is commonly code for a gay bar. At least this was the impression of many of our clients who came from the WI-OH-MI region.