Last call for Moncton’s only LGBTQ bar

Stella Fougere and Evie Lane sit at their bar and file through snapshots from the “good old days” as they reminisce about the end of an era.

“The bar was a safe haven for people you know,” said Fougere, who co-owns Moncton’s only LGBTQ bar called Triangles with Lane.

At the end of this month, the bar will close its doors after more than 23 years.

The pair met at the bar back in the early 80s.  Lane says it was a time when “most people were closeted except with their friends.”

But Fougere and Lane chose to be open about their relationship at a time when people feared coming out.

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The couple bought the night club and almost overnight became matriarchs for people living their lives openly.

“There were a lot of people who were afraid to come here. They would dash across the street and in the door in a flash,” said Lane.

Once inside their doors – amid the lights and music – regardless of their gender or sexual identity, Lane says people felt free.

Yet outside of the walls of the bar, their lives were often filled with judgement and even persecution.

“Years ago, we would get phone calls here late at night and people were beat up on the way home or hurt,” said Lane.

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The two women said they just wanted to run a bar together but unexpectedly became mother figures for people who could not come out to their own parents.

Some of  their patrons even struggled with thoughts of suicide

“This guy said we saved his life,” said Fougere.

“People have told us what a huge impact we have had in their lives,” said Lane.

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The couple said that slowly over the years, life and times changed and acceptance grew.

“Kids can go anywhere now and dance. They can walk down the street and hold hands. They can dance in any bar together,” said Lane.

That may be part of the reason the crowds at Triangles are not what they used to be. The women are hoping that someone else will take over and turn Triangles into a gathering place for the entire community.

“It is like home to me. It is also like my little baby. I took care of it,” said Fougere.

“It is going to be weird seeing somebody else behind the DJ booth.”

But knowing they’ve helped so many from the LGBTQ community find peace from behind this bar, they can say their last call with pride.