Stephanie M. Skier ’05, president of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgendered and Supporters Alliance, said that ManRay played an important role for Harvard’s gay community.

“It would be really unfortunate if it closed or moved out of Cambridge, because it’s a gay club that’s not 21-plus and it’s walking distance from Harvard,” said Skier, who is also a Crimson editor.

“It is the one place that people who don’t enjoy really cheesy, awful, mainstream techno music can go, and enjoy really unique takes on old-school 80s music and really unique genres of electronica,” said Julia C. Davidson ’05, who said ManRay is closer to the Harvard community than other dance clubs, almost all of which are in Boston. “There’s really interesting people—a whole different subculture really—that you don’t normally find in Boston.”

Rivers said the club’s physical space, which comprises two large rooms with professional light systems, television monitors and bars, rivals that of Avalon—but serves a unique scene.

“Even if there are other venues that have a similar scene, it’s a far way to second place,” she said. “They’re not even close. ManRay is far and away the most distinctive of any of its competitors.”

—Staff writer Ryan J. Kuo can be reached at kuo@fas.harvard.edu.