History of Edmonton’s Gay Bars, Part 1: The Begng | Edmonton Cy as Mm Project ECAMP

Contents:

• THE BEST EDMONTON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS EDMONTON
• GAY NIGHTLIFE EDMONTON
• THE BEST EDMONTON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS EDMONTON
• GAY NIGHTLIFE - BARS, CLUBS, SNAS - NEED ADVICE - EDMONTON FOM
• HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 5: INTO TODAY
• HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 4: THE EXPANDG SCENE
• HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 2: A FLASHBACK TO FLASHBACK
• HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 1: THE BEGNG
• EDMONTON GAY MAP
• THE BEST EDMONTON GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS EDMONTON
• EDMONTON GAY SNAS
• HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 5: INTO TODAY
• NEW FILM PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON LEGENDARY EDMONTON GAY CLUB FLASHBACK
• THE BEST EDMONTON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS EDMONTON
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS EDMONTON
• GAY ALBERTA TRAVEL GUI
• OWNER OF WELL KNOWN GAY BAR TO RETIRE AFTER TWO S BS

THE BEST EDMONTON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS EDMONTON

Text 'GAYTRAVEL' to 1-800-GAY-TRAVEL (1-800-429-8728).

— Travel Guis wh a Gay Perspective. There are plenty of gay bars and nightclubs throughout Edmonton so you shouldn’t have any trouble fdg a good time. However, don’t thk that you have to go to a gay nightclub or a gay bar specifilly as Edmonton is very welg and every bar and club the cy n be the scene of a great time.

GAY NIGHTLIFE EDMONTON

Our clientele range om gay to bisexual, trans, qutng, straight. Gay Nightlife - bars, clubs, snas - need advice.

Re: Gay Nightlife - bars, clubs, snas - need advice.

THE BEST EDMONTON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS EDMONTON

And nothg has ever been wrten this magaze for an overview of the gay life.

Buddy's and Woody's ter predomantly to a male clientele, whereas I believe that The Junctn and Flash ter to both lbians and gay men. The mise of Boots was very sad as had been open for over 30 years and was the longt nng gay tablishment Canada.

It’s difficult to terme when exactly this strip of downtown beme known as a place for gay men to meet, but by 1969 the short strip of road already had a reputatn, dited by a unique document that was makg the rounds Canada – a gui to beg gay Canada, created and piled by Roedy Green, lear of the Vanuver chapter of Gay Alliance Towards Equaly. The Naive Homosexual was an unofficial handbook to assist gay men stgglg wh qutns about beg gay. Gay travellers stayg at the Hotel Macdonald, the Chate Labe, Edmonton Hoe or even the adjacent Greenbriar, found that the opportuny to discretely sample the lols was simplified by the proximy to an active cisg area right across the street.

GAY NIGHTLIFE - BARS, CLUBS, SNAS - NEED ADVICE - EDMONTON FOM

In the 70s, the reputatn of this strip grew, beg not only a place for cisg for and sellg sex, but also a gatherg place after the only gay bar town – Club 70 – closed for the night. In the late 1980s, 104 Street was where the straight men cised, and The Hill was where the gay men cised, but – all thgs beg relative – all kds of cisg occurred all the alleys between those lotns. By 1978, Edmonton had 3 gay bars and many gay anizatns.

That was also the year that the Pisc Spa opened, addg another all-night optn for the socializg gay male.

HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 5: INTO TODAY

Gay Alliance Toward Equaly (GATE) was askg gay men not to hang out at The Hill anymore, or at least utned vigilance, bee cinc of antigay vlence were on the rise. There are reports of van-loads of gay-bashers arrivg on the scene, pourg out of vehicl, armed wh chas or baseball bats, sendg cisers stterg to the dark alleys, away om the danger.

There are also reports of the queers fightg back, chasg homophob away. It was kd of like a ngregatn spot for all gay people.

HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 4: THE EXPANDG SCENE

That may have held off the gaybashers for a spell, but the vlence wasn’t over.

In 1981, the cy had been regaled wh nonstop negative media verage of the gay muny bee of the hysteria surroundg the Pisc bathhoe raid.

This heightened visibily led to an adverse reactn, and September of 1981 the Edmonton Journal ran a story lled “Gays On The Hill” which told of a seri of gaybashgs volvg men swgg baseballs bats, leadg to 9 cisers and sex workers requirg hospalizatn for the juri staed durg vlent attacks. Thgs were still active the mid-80s, although the party had gone doors to the three gay bars that Edmonton now boasted, one of them open as late as the after-hours party spots that peppered downtown. In 1986, the gay muny learned that a staff member at Flashback had been murred by a trick that he had taken home after his shift at the bar.

HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 2: A FLASHBACK TO FLASHBACK

By the mid-1990s, anti-gay vlence was one of the many reasons street cisg began to wane. There uld still be htlers found on The Hill, and homophobic vlence still occurred – sometim reactn to big news stori about gay rights – but cisers found other ways to mgle. See also: ECAMP Podst S02E01 | Herage Tre & Gay Cisg the 1980s by ECAMP podst | Listen onle for ee on SoundCloud.

Before we look at the most recent of gay bars Edmonton, let’s explore some honourable mentns. Outlastg the first attempt at a gay bar on Whyte Avenue (Club Aquari), Chigo opened s doors at 10838 – 82 Avenue.

HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 1: THE BEGNG

Gay bars outsi the downtown area were rare, but one attempt was ma 1999 to open a lbian-focsed space on Calgary Trail. Operatg between 2001 and 2002, they looked to ter to a more sophistited gay crowd though they never really achieved this goal.

In the sprg of 2005, Dennis Cambly (the owner of Pri Vio on the send floor of 10121 – 124 Street) ma his entry to the gay bar scene wh DiNovi’s Marti Lounge. Another lotn home to two different gay bars was the basement space at 10220 – 103 Street.

By 2017, Evolutn was the only gay bar Edmonton, and remas that way 2020.

EDMONTON GAY MAP

There had always been those rare “straight” spac that were “gay-iendly, ” om John Reid’s Rebar to spac like the now-closed Emprs on Whyte. Ongog rtrictns around COVID-19 leave a very different feel, but what feels the same is the celebratn of queer space and art, and the credible muny support which is what will keep Edmonton’s last gay bar alive and thrivg.

List of Edmonton’s Gay Bars.

When nsirg Edmonton’s gay bar history, there were over thirty venu almost half a century. After about a year and a half of operatn, they cid to rename the bs and gear toward the gay muny. The venue altered between gay and straight dienc throughout the years.

THE BEST EDMONTON GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS EDMONTON

For reasons nobody uld que put their fgers on, the space jt never appealed enough to the gay muny for any of the ventur to be succsful. For the send time LGBTQ history, a queer-based bs had been forced out of s space by homophobic owners. It took time, but their posns regardg homosexualy eventually changed.

EDMONTON GAY SNAS

One of the more unique gay bars Edmonton was a former Howard & McBri Funeral Parlor. Wh most of the gay bars to date primarily terg to the gay male populatn, the lbian muny felt the need to create spac that were appealg to them. When Jim Schafer passed away 2010, the historic gay bar lotn of Club 70 and Boots beme available.

HISTORY OF EDMONTON’S GAY BARS, PART 5: INTO TODAY

On September 22, 2012, the Junctn closed s doors, brgg to an end forty-two years gay bar operatn that space. Right: “A Ltle Gay Bar on 106 Street, ” closg night event at Junctn Bar & Eatery, September 22, 2012. Acrdg to owner John Reid, was to be “for gay people and their iends.

For the send time, a gay bar was a basement.

Gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, or straight were all wele as long as they rpected the right for same-sex activi to be the foc of an eveng’s entertament.

NEW FILM PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON LEGENDARY EDMONTON GAY CLUB FLASHBACK

Wh many LGBTQ muny members brgg along their iends (both gay and straight), the club regularly reached the pacy set by the ALCB. Though was not a gay bar, the crowds were very much a mix of people. When the landlord found out that gay people were g his buildg, he promptly put locks on the doors and nied further entry.

THE BEST EDMONTON GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS EDMONTON

Ias nnected to social pury activism that emerged the 1890s began impactg how society was expected to thk, and as the Send World War began, so did the persecutn of gay men.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS EDMONTON

It was beg difficult to meet other gay men, and Edmonton-based law enforcement were creasgly chargg dividuals wh crim such as gross cency, buggery, and posssn of obscene lerature. Bill C-150 opened the doors to the gay and lbian muny Edmonton, fally allowg for the opportuny to meet others a “public” place. Many tabl were filled wh gay men shortly after openg each day.

GAY ALBERTA TRAVEL GUI

In the evengs, the back sectn of the Mayfair Hotel tavern was a haven for members of the gay and lbian muny, often meetg to swill back untls draft glass, sloshg beer over the terry cloth table vers that were required by the Alberta Liquor Control Board (ALCB) which then dripped down onto the beer-soaked rpet (another requirement of the ALCB. The on clost to the back were for the “gays, ” and this ctom was rpected by hotel staff and ctomers alike.

OWNER OF WELL KNOWN GAY BAR TO RETIRE AFTER TWO S BS

There was a ph to create safe spac for gays only, where ls termglg wh other populatns lsened the chance of abe. In the fall of 1969, when homosexuals were no longer thrown jail for their sexualy, a small group of people cid to open a place dited to gay and lbian folk. In the later part of 1969, they opened the very first gay bar Edmonton.

This historic se was schled for moln Augt 2020, which wip away the begng of Gay Bar History Edmonton. This also meant that to be a member or a gut, one had to be gay or lbian.