From an article for New York City Tourism:
Meryl Meisler says: “I came out in 1975 and began immersing myself in New York’s nightlife a couple of years later, just as the disco scene was taking off. What drew me to it was that it felt like live theater—music, performance, spectacle and an incredible mix of people of different ages, races and backgrounds. The queer-friendly atmosphere was especially important to me because those spaces felt open and expansive.”