LGBTQ nightlife Los Angel n be a b tached, but each separate 'gayborhood' has s own vibe and appeal. From Wt Hollywood to downtown L.A. to Long Beach and the Valley, we've provid nightlife guis to everythg for L.A. Weekly rears over the past uple years. But we saved the most historic for last: Silver Lake. On the eve of the Off Sunset Ftival on Sunday, L.A. Weekly put together a gui on how to have a great gay night (or day) out Silver Lake.
Contents:
- THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI
- BEYOND OFF SUNSET: A GUI TO GAY SILVER LAKE
- A MAN’S FIRST GAY NIGHT
- STEP-BY-STEP INSTCTNS FOR SHOOTG YOUR SHOT WH GAY GUYS
THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI
The downtown nightclub, loted at 18 E Universy Ave, beme Gaville’s first gay club after openg s doors more than 30 years ago. It’s wily regnized as the heart of Gaville’s LGBTQ+ nightlife. * feel it gay night *
Let’s take a look at some of the bt gay bars Ameri, om the open-air, vil-may-re spac Wt Hollywood to the neighborhood pub downtown St. The entrance is through an unmarked shed behd a Chipotle, and featur a blend but unexpected gay/not crowd which same-sex grdg is rigur. —Alfonso Fernanz NavasCourtyAt: Cheer Up CharliBack when I was a young gay, I saw the olt, most betiful woman the world at Cheer Up Charli.
When the bar fally reopened Sprg 2022, an entire borough’s worth of gays celebrated by floodg the new back pat all summer and Gger’s has been crowd wh queers ever sce.
BEYOND OFF SUNSET: A GUI TO GAY SILVER LAKE
* feel it gay night *
It began s life as a beer-and-we offshoot of the Metropolan Health Club, a gym that opened 1983 to serve the gay ctomers who’d been bullied out of other lol clubs at the height of AIDS hysteria. While you won’t fd any Pri flags at Farraguts, you will undoubtedly hear Cele Dn and Melissa Etheri blarg om the bar’s dty, old jebox and, hontly, isn’t that jt as gay?
A MAN’S FIRST GAY NIGHT
Beg Asian Amerin and LGBTQ+ n feel lonely, wh stutns such as ethnic church often disavowg non-heterosexual relatnships while tradnal LGBTQ+ spac such as gay bars n be unwelg. * feel it gay night *
CourtyDallas: Round-Up SaloonEqual parts wboy boots and dis ball, Round Up Saloon opened 42 years ago Dallas as a gay untry wtern dance hall. Live out your Brokeback Mounta fantasi at this verno club, where wboy stum are not nsired drag, and le dancg is not an explic exprsn of homophobia. A gay gatherg spot sce 1939, and gay bar sce 1963, and the Bar Complex sce the 80s, s unassumg exterr beli a triple-threat treat of lounge, performance space, and a mirrored dance club reportedly moled after Stud 54.
) The glorly lively bar and rtrant scene is enhanced by a black box theater downstairs, where farcil plays, lbian standup, and gay dance troup reign. If you want to get away om the typil scene at fellow gay bars Olly’s and Gregs Our Place, English Ivy is an ial place to meet iends: mature enough for a proper Ladi Lunch (or bnch or dner.
They are stars the makg and their rendn of Cele Dn’s “It’s All Comg Back to Me Now” will shatter your pt glass and break your ltle, gay heart.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTCTNS FOR SHOOTG YOUR SHOT WH GAY GUYS
Everythg you need to know about the cy's drag shows, gay bars, and safe spac. * feel it gay night *
It’s not a gay bar the tradnal sense, but a place where traed pianists play selectns om Broadway shows and all of the drama teachers and mil theater majors of the tri-state area nverge to sg along. It was the se of an early gay-liberatn “sip ” 1966, years before Stonewall, and has been a low-key haven ever sce, wh a diverse clientele, a small menu, classic cktails, and an extensive (and packed) 4:00-7:00 happy hour. It’s not que French-themed, ’s not que Mardi Gras-spired, feels as close as we have experienced this untry to a gay neighborhood pub.
The origal was burned down an anti-gay hate-crime a few years back, but the revival has jt opened across the street and is bigger and better, wh a new performance space. CourtyWashgton DC: TraIn a town where n feel like every other bar is crawlg wh Capol Hill staffers lookg to talk shop, Tra is the rare, glorly gay dive where absolutely everyone is wele to jt kick back.
Learn how to approach and flirt wh gay guys at clubs, bars, or other venuMeetg gay guys is hard. First you have to terme if the guy you're terted is gay or straight. Then you have to approach him and strike up a... * feel it gay night *
However, wh the progrsn of the natnwi gay rights movement, Gaville’s current nightlife scene is much more clive of the LGBTQ+ muny, and aterny members now e to Universy Club for a fun night out, Spangler said. Jianna D’Addar, a 22-year-old psychology senr, attend her first gay club and drag show at Universy Club sce livg nservative Panama Cy, Florida.
Like D’Addar, equentg UC sce the Sprg semter of sophomore year, Swarthman has noticed a change the club’s clientele sce enterg the scene.