Gay Nightlife Baltimore: Bt Bars, Clubs, & More

Contents:

• GRAND CENTRAL, POSSIBLY BALTIMORE'S LARGT GAY NIGHTCLUB, TO CLOSE UNR NEW OWNERS
• THERE GO THE GAYBORHOOD
• ONE OF BALTIMORE'S LARGT GAY NIGHTCLUBS SOLD, TO CLOSE
• GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE
• GRAND CENTRAL, LONGTIME MOUNT VERNON GAY CLUB, TO PERMANENTLY CLOSE AFTER RONAVIS VLATN
• 'WHERE DO WE GO?' BALTIMORE'S GAY NIGHTLIFE TAK A H WH GRAND CENTRAL'S IMPENDG CLOSURE
• ONE OF BALTIMORE'S LARGT GAY NIGHTCLUBS SOLD, TO CLOSE
• MAPPG THE CLOSG OF GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE

GRAND CENTRAL, POSSIBLY BALTIMORE'S LARGT GAY NIGHTCLUB, TO CLOSE UNR NEW OWNERS

Central markets self as an LGBTQ+ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer and others)-affirmg dance and night club that wel everyone. Baltimore will lose s largt gay nightclub when new owners start nvertg Grand Central at 1001-1003 N. Gay St.

Along wh the Hippo, was an anchor for Baltimore’s gayborhood and served as a backdrop for the annual Baltimore Pri Block Party and other events. Davis has argued there is ls of a market for gay bars and nightclubs nowadays, bee gay people are now wele more plac than before. In recent years, he has creasgly promoted Grand Central as an “alternative” club, rather than a gay club.

“Everyone is wele everywhere–the need for a specific gay tablishment/bar is not as necsary any longer, and after an amazg 30 years, ’s time to turn the page. The sale  three years after another large gay nightspot, Club Hippo, closed when longtime owner Chuck Bowers retired. It also jt as the Baltimore Eagle, a gay leather bar on Charl Street, is preparg to reopen unr new management.

THERE GO THE GAYBORHOOD

Other gay bars still open clu Leon’s and the Drkery Mount Vernon and the Gallery Statn North. Grand Central, possibly Baltimore’s largt gay nightclub, has been owner Don Davis nfirmed the sale of the 15, 000-square-foot property at 1001-1003 N.

Prevly, he owned another gay club, Allegro, which he opened clubs and bars, once a staple the gay scene, have been renred ls relevant recent years, acrdg to Davis, who believ that the bs mol fac an uphill battle throughout the untry. “Gays are now fortable hangg out wh their straight iends, ” he said. Wh gay bars closg Baltimore, brgs up the evable qutns: Can we expla this?

ONE OF BALTIMORE'S LARGT GAY NIGHTCLUBS SOLD, TO CLOSE

“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.

“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.

GAY NIGHTLIFE BALTIMORE: BT BARS, CLUBS, & MORE

“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. BALTIMORE (AP) -- One of Baltimore's largt gay nightclubs is closg. Ne months after the gay-iendly Grand Central nightclub closed Mount Vernon, a new gay club lled Central is openg several blocks away.

GRAND CENTRAL, LONGTIME MOUNT VERNON GAY CLUB, TO PERMANENTLY CLOSE AFTER RONAVIS VLATN

“Bee we are central, between Leon’s and The Drkery, ” two other gay bars Mount Vernon, he said. And even though he’s llg a gay bar, he said, “I don’t see genr or race anybody. ” He scrib himself as genr fluid and Yordanov as an ally of the gay muny.

Even though many gay bars have closed around the untry durg the panmic, cludg Gallery One on Maryland Avenue, Hay said he believ there’s a market for another one Baltimore. 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.

If you're on the lookout for somethg different om the stereotypil gay bars, then this cy will likely appeal to you.

'WHERE DO WE GO?' BALTIMORE'S GAY NIGHTLIFE TAK A H WH GRAND CENTRAL'S IMPENDG CLOSURE

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. 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.

ONE OF BALTIMORE'S LARGT GAY NIGHTCLUBS SOLD, TO CLOSE

Leon's of Baltimore: A leather bar that's been servg the gay muny Baltimore sce 1957. 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.

MAPPG THE CLOSG OF GAY BARS IN BALTIMORE

(Photo by Ed Gunts)The COVID-19 panmic claimed another LGBTQ-oriented bs Baltimore this week, when owners of Grand Central nightclub announced their cisn to close the bs permanently, as of four months after the gay-owned Cy Cafe shut s doors a block away, the Grand Central management team posted a farewell msage on the club’s webse:“After over 30 years of servg the muny, Grand Central sadly has shut s doors, ” the msage read part. 4 closg leav Leon’s and The Drkery as the only two gay bars left Mount Vernon, long known as the cy’s gayborhood.

The cy’s largt LGBTQ-iendly club, terms of square Hippo, a gay-owned dis and saloon at 1 Wt Eager St., the same tersectn as Grand Central, closed 2015 after more than four s of operatn. ”The bar’s sale followed the closure of several other proment gay bars Baltimore, cludg Club Hippo nearby, The Baltimore Eagle Old Goucher and Club Bunns near Lexgton Market, ntributg to a notable crease gay nightlife optns downtown. Baltimore's Bt Bars 2012: "Grand Central has expand multiple tim, makg the cy’s premier bar for the cy’s gay and lbian muny.