James Bond walks into a gay bar. But should he? - NBC News

"I’ve been going to gay bars for as long as I can remember,” Craig, 53, said Tuesday on the podcast "Lunch With Bruce." "One of the reasons: because I don't get into fights in gay bars that often.".

But others said Craig and other straight people going to gay bars “comes at the expense” of LGBTQ spaces.

"If gay bars are *full* of straight people then they aren't gay bars any more," one user wrote on Twitter.

The debate over straight people's place in gay and lesbian bars comes as masses of LGBTQ bars have closed over the last several decades.

During that time, the number of lesbian bars declined by 52 percent and the number of bars serving LGBTQ people of color dropped 59 percent, the study found.

Rose and Street advocate for lesbian bars to be safe spaces for everyone, including straight allies, but worry that sometimes straight people go for a "spectacle," they said

Mattson said that while he sympathizes with LGBTQ people who crave queer-only spaces, Craig's comments should also encourage straight bars to create less hostile environments. 

"Yes, the vulnerability of gay spaces, but how about the brokenness of straight bars that even a famous, buff guy doesn’t feel safe going out?"