There Go The Gayborhood - Baltimore Magaze

Contents:

• GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE
• THERE GO THE GAYBORHOOD
• GAYETY THEATER
• MOVG TO LGBT BALTIMORE, MARYLAND? HOW TO FD YOUR PERFECT GAY NEIGHBORHOOD!
• THE BEST BALTIMORE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS BALTIMORE
• GAY BALTIMORE : THE CHARM CY – A CHARMG PLACE TO CALL HOME

GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE

Baltimore has a long history of beg a gay-iendly town and offers great optns to stay on your vatn. Recent shows clu The Folks at Home, a lighthearted portra of an terracial gay uple livg South Baltimore, and Thoughts of a Colored Man, an hont exploratn of what means to be Black and male the 21st century.

The olst ntuoly operatg gay bar the cy is Leon’s Of Baltimore, which has been open sce 1957. C., is a powerhoe of the gay nightlife scene on the East Coast, s unassumg and quirky next-door neighbor promis gay travelers an equally good time. It's the hometown of inic gay filmmaker John Waters and his drag queen me, Dive, and the Mount Vernon neighborhood is one of the longt-tablished gay districts the untry.

THERE GO THE GAYBORHOOD

If you're on the lookout for somethg different om the stereotypil gay bars, then this cy will likely appeal to you. Some of Baltimore's gay bars have been around for s, and ntue to attract patrons both young and old.

Mount Vernon is the gay neighborhood Baltimore, and many of the bars are ncentrated around that central area. However, other LGBT spots are sttered throughout the cy and even if you don't go to an explicly gay place, the majory of bars Baltimore nsir themselv gay-iendly. The Drkery: One of Baltimore's olst gay bars, The Drkery has a laid-back pub feel wh daily drk specials and weekend drag shows.

GAYETY THEATER

The Rowan Tree: A sual neighborhood bar South Baltimore, The Rowan Tree ters to a diverse crowd but leans toward gay ctomers on the weekends. Leon's of Baltimore: A leather bar that's been servg the gay muny Baltimore sce 1957.

MOVG TO LGBT BALTIMORE, MARYLAND? HOW TO FD YOUR PERFECT GAY NEIGHBORHOOD!

In the early years, ctomers were asked if they were a "iend of Dorothy" before enterg, a reference to Judy Garland's "The Wizard of Oz" character and mon lgo om the era to furtively ask if someone is gay. Mastream gay dance clubs are glargly absent the Baltimore area, wh the largt one shut down early 2020.

Factory 17: Prevly known—and still sometim referred to—as Club 1722, Factory 17 is the after-hours gay dance club Baltimore. Club Orphs: This unrground dance spot is technilly a self-scribed "goth club, " but the alternative vibe attracts a nsistent gay crowd as well. 1351 North Gay Street,.

THE BEST BALTIMORE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS BALTIMORE

One the rner of East Hoffman and Gay Streets the Palace Theatre was built 1912. The theatre had betiful staed glass wdows all along the ont of the theatre that greeted the morotists as they head south on Gay. Wh gay bars closg Baltimore, brgs up the evable qutns: Can we expla this?

“Years ago, gay bars were safe zon when gays were fear of beg beat up, ” says Don Davis, who owned Grand Central for nearly 30 years until new owners took over earlier this year. Beyond matchmakg webs and LGBTQ-iendly datg apps, the movement to legalize same-sex marriage 2015 also played a part curtailg gay-bar bs.

GAY BALTIMORE : THE CHARM CY – A CHARMG PLACE TO CALL HOME

“Most of the owners of the bs were olr, whe gay men that entered to their goln years, ” says Shele Greene of the Pri Center of Maryland. “I’m not sayg there’s no more gay-bashg, but certaly people are more cent now than they were. “Whether was Grdr or gentrifitn that killed gay bars, ’s our job to explore new optns, ” Keens says.

Built the aftermath of the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, the Gayety Theatre opened on Febary 5, 1906—makg this buildg the olst remag burlque theater Baltimore. While the theatre terr was subdivid to three separate spac 1985, the Gayety still boasts an elaborate, eye-tchg, and fanciful faça (signed by archect John Bailey McElfatrick) that is a wonrful example of the exuberance of theater sign the perd. The Gayety is the venerable keystone of “The Block” on Baltimore Street long known as a statn for adult entertament.

The Gayety began after the Great Baltimore Fire stroyed the offic of The German Corrponnt. While some downtown theatr moved to Howard Street after the fire, The Gayety, Lub’s Nickeloon and Vville “duplex” directly across the street, The Victoria (later known as The Embassy) and The Rivoli all remaed the area and fed this stretch of Baltimore Street as a “popular entertament” center, wh an emphasis on burlque and vville. By World War I, the Gayety’s neighbors had ma the swch to showg movi.