which quickly attracted an international following and highlighted a different dj each night. the bars in toronto later participated in the city's new caféto program, which permitted the creation of temporary outdoor patios at street level. in june, singer-songwriter safia nolin announced saint-jeanne, an lgbtq-inclusive saint-jean-baptiste day livestream scheduled for june 24. the event was hosted by kiara, a montreal drag queen who was also featured in the first season of canada's drag race, and the performance lineup included comedians tranna wintour and karl hardy, actress and writer gabrielle tremblay, songwriter and producer annie sama (apigeon), rapper backxwash, singer jeremy dutcher and drag queens matante alex and gisèle lullaby. on june 24, cbc gem and buddies in bad times collaborated on queer pride inside, an online event hosted by elvira kurt and featuring performances by beverly glenn-copeland, teiya kasahara, yovska, ivan coyote, les femmes fatales, gay jesus, cris derksen, luna dubois, pearle harbour, tawiah m'carthy, stewart legere, alexis o'hara, trey anthony and ryan g. hinds. a virtual edition of we're funny that way!, toronto's annual lgbtq comedy festival, was also produced for streaming by cbc gem. performers included maggie cassella, katie rigg, carolyn taylor, gavin crawford, lea delaria, colin mochrie, kinley mochrie and deb mcgrath, who were all collectively nominated for best performance in a variety or sketch comedy program or series at the 9th canadian screen awards. the special won the award for best performing arts program. toronto's annual hallowe'en street party on church street was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021; in 2021, however, some small-scale events, including drag shows, a drag brunch at glad day and a hallowe'en party at the storm crow manor pub, were staged. a feature radio documentary on cbc radio one's the doc project in may 2021 centred on the effects of the pandemic on canadian drag icon michelle dubarry, now believed by many to have abandoned her drag career entirely. with pride toronto again cancelled in 2021, the second "virtual pride" was hosted by canada's drag race season 1 winner priyanka, with performers including allie x, iskwē and gary beals. despite the lack of an official pride celebration, some small-scale pride events were casually organized by their own participants, including a dyke march and a no pride in policing rally. united states health clinics specializing in lgbtq related care are utilized by approximately 13% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals in the u.s. nearly 40% of transgender people reported using an lgbtq clinic for healthcare in the past five years. many of these clinics have struggled amid the pandemic. the callen-lorde community health center is one such clinic. they have had to shift to virtual healthcare. revenues for the center reportedly plummeted by 60%. lgbt+ asian-americans have reportedly faced increased discrimination in line with xenophobia and racism related to the pandemic, described as a 'double whammy' of homophobia and racism by hieu nguyen, who founded viet rainbow in orange county, california. shuttering of gender-sexuality alliance clubs in schools during the pandemic caused many lgbt students to lose connection with their local lgbt community. however, moving these clubs online increased interaction with lgbt students from other parts of the world. research indicates that gsa clubs reduce discrimination against gay students, and also reduces suicidality. the san francisco department of public health published a news release called "trans care during covid-19", which noted the higher proportion of transgender people with hiv/aids. new york's callen-lorde community health center considered extending hiv medication prescriptions and reducing in-person visits to practice social distancing. in florida, several attendees of miami's annual winter party festival tested positive for coronavirus, according to event organizer national lgbtq task force. shannon bennett, a gay man and deputy sheriff with broward sheriff's office, is "believed to be the first such line-of-duty death from covid-19 in florida". in early july, a beach party on fire island reportedly attended by many gay men, received criticism for violating social distancing and masking protocols. american drag queens incorporated their performance into volunteering for charities such as meals on wheels amid the pandemic causing club shows to go on hiatus. lgbtq+ bars and restaurants lgbtq+ themed bars, nightclubs and restaurants already faced difficulties prior to the covid-19 pandemic, and have been in decline since approximately 2002. in the 1980s, there were more than 200 lesbian bars in the us, and as of november 2020 there were about 15. bars of various backgrounds across the united states have faced especial difficulties during the covid-19 pandemic. lgbt bars often carry additional sentimental or historical value to their clientele, and are often used as a cornerstone of lgbtq+ community building and social support for people who disproportionately may not receive that support elsewhere. some bars have permanently shut down due to financial difficulties amid covid-19. others have managed to survive, often through restructuring of how they serve clients or through fundraising, grants, and government loans. a study indicated that businesses run by women or minorities may be on the receiving end of discrimination when trying to receive ppp loans, which would uniquely affect many lgbt themed bars and other businesses. the historic stonewall inn was among those poorly affected by public health restrictions, leading to closed doors and outstanding bills. a fundraiser raised money for the bar's staff. a lesbian bar, henrietta hudson, hosted zoom calls to cheer up regulars and raised money through gofundme in order to keep the bar afloat. manhattan and brooklyn gay bars faced similar problems. ginger's bar, one of the last of three lesbian bars in new york city and the last one standing in its brooklyn neighborhood, faced potentially permanent closure. various other gay bars across new york city experienced difficulty. black-owned gay bars, also faced financial adversity in the face of the pandemic, including two in harlem. the alibi lounge was affected by city mandates in march 2020, applied for government assistance, and set up a community fundraiser, which raised $165,000. black lgbtq+ americans were disproportionately affected economically by the pandemic according to a survey released by the human rights campaign. black lgbtq+ bars provide a space for people who may have faced racial prejudice in other gay bars. therapy, a hell's kitchen gay bar, closed in march 2020 due to financial difficulties following from the pandemic. las vegas lounge, a trans bar which was the target of a 2018 shooting, applied for a loan through the ppp, but were denied. the bar, which had been open since the 1990s, subsequently closed permanently in may 2020. at least four gay bars in west hollywood and one in north hollywood were closed permanently. two gay-themed latino nightclubs in greater los angeles hosted live-streaming shows to support performers who couldn't normally perform their jobs due to shutdowns. a queer bar, the stud, organized resources to keep the local nightlife community in san francisco afloat. fundraising in portland, columbus, seattle, and chicago was also set up to support local nightlife communities. grand central, an lgbtq nightclub in mount vernon, baltimore, was permanently closed after 30 years of business. the portland location for cc slaughters closed indefinitely, though hoping to one day reopen. portland's local lounge closed in late 2021. guava lamp, a houston bar and nightclub, closed. its space was to be occupied by a latin gay club, papi’s nite club. badlands, a 45-year old san francisco gay bar and nightclub closed permanently and claimed it would be replaced by a new bar. austin, texas bar bt2 closed permanently. albuquerque social club of albuquerque, new mexico originally planned to close forever, but made a comeback after aggressive community fundraising. the lesbian bar project was established to save and celebrate the 15 or so remaining bars in the united states catering to queer women, regarding them as important landmarks for the community. lea delaria and jägermeister have partnered with the project. among other bars to benefit from the project has been seattle's the wildrose, the last lesbian bar standing in washington state. my sister’s room, a lesbian bar in atlanta, had four employees test positive for covid-19 and temporarily shut down. they have since reopened, overhauled the bar, and received grant money. houston's only lesbian bar, the pearl bar, was among those who received emergency "queer to stay" grant money sponsored by the human rights campaign, allowing them to stay afloat. sue ellen's, a lesbian bar in dallas, was closed on governor's orders, but opted out of donations from the lesbian bar project in order to lend that support to other businesses instead. in orlando, florida, a gay resort known as parliament house announced it would close after 45 years but had plans for the future and would reopen at some point (as a bar-only location). the resort site would be demolished, while its iconic neon sign would be saved with assistance from the city of orlando. mark robertson, who co-owns three gay bars across chicago, estimated he would lose $250,000 in march 2020 after illinois ordered bars and restaurants to close as a public health precaution. he estimated this would jump to $350,000 in losses if closures extended to two months out from that point. lgbtq themed dance parties have adapted by experimenting with digital events. gay bars outside of large cities often fared worse, due to having less of an audience to raise money from. bars in smaller cities are often the only lgbtq+ address for multi-county regions, according to the conversation. attitudes nightclub, the oldest gay bar in st. louis, missouri, closed permanently. the aut bar of ann arbor, michigan, shut down permanently. night shift 2.0, a gay nightclub in baltimore, announced it would not reopen. stonewall gives back "stonewall gives back! a live-streaming concert for the lgbtq+ nightlife community", or simply "stonewall gives back", was a fundraiser held on april 23, 2020. the event was organized by world of wonder and the stonewall gives back initiative, a charity affiliated with the stonewall inn, and hosted on the wowpresents youtube channel. it was announced on april 20 and benefited "lgbtq nightlife industry professionals" applying for emergency assistance as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. beneficiaries were granted to "us residents who have worked for at least 12 months in lgbt+ nightlife and for whom it is a main source of income". hosted by michelle visage and tyler oakley, the event featured performances and appearances by allie x, shoshana bean, betty who, greyson chance, kristin chenoweth, alan cumming, todrick hall, carlie hanson, darren hayes, cyndi lauper, leland, lorna luft, john cameron mitchell, muna, our lady j, nina west, peppermint, kim petras, matt rogers, troye sivan, pabllo vittar, and rufus wainwright. erich bergen served as executive producer. oceania australia in march 2020, australian gay pride event known as the rainbow on the plains festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. new zealand in new zealand, some rules for blood donations from men who have sex with men were eased due to shortages resulting from the covid-19 pandemic. lgbtq+ support organizations in new zealand have expressed concern about isolation and unsafe homes during covid-19 lockdown. a survey revealed that about 9 percent of respondents had a family member who was violent towards them. south america some countries in south america are considered extremely dangerous for sexual and gender minorities because of the high amount of transphobic violence and hate crimes. for example, brazil reported 124 murders of trans people in 2019. covid-19 measures have brought new challenges to the lgbtq+ community, such as a gender based curfew aimed at controlling covid-19 cases, which has led to police abusing trans people. also, there are significant barriers to changing gender on ids. in peru, for example, individuals must go in front of a judge and may require gender affirming surgery in order to request id changes. policies with these requirements often exclude non-binary individuals. police harassment towards trans people has been prevalent while enforcing gender based curfew covid-19 restrictions. trans women have been harassed and detained by police for going out on a women's day as set by the curfew.