Thgs to Do Oak Lawn: Visg Dallas’ Inic Gayborhood - Thrillist

Contents:

• GET TO KNOW OAK LAWN, DALLAS’ INIC GAYBORHOOD
• TOP THGS TO DO AROUND DALLAS' GAYBORHOOD
• DALLAS’S GAYBORHOOD IS MAKG A POST-PANMIC COMEBACK. MANY LGBT PEOPLE STILL DON’T FEEL WELE.
• MAPS: CRIME THE GAYBORHOOD
• ARE HIGH-RISE BUILDGS UPTOWN-FUNKG UP THE GAYBORHOOD?
• CEDAR SPRGS: EVOLUTN OF A GAYBORHOOD
• DALLAS' TOP 5 MOST FABULO BARS OUTSI THE GAYBORHOOD
• GAYBORHOOD B

GET TO KNOW OAK LAWN, DALLAS’ INIC GAYBORHOOD

Whether you’re lookg for a laid-back jazz bar wh craft cktails or a clubby spot wh mic perfect for dancg, Dallas-Fort Worth’s gay bar scene has a spot that will su your needs.

TOP THGS TO DO AROUND DALLAS' GAYBORHOOD

Many of the bars are loted Dallas’ famo "gayborhood" Oak Lawn, but you’ll also fd more off-the-beaten-path optns. And when ’s time to play, watch out—you’ll likely fd partyg up at the Crossroads, AKA the tersectn of Throckmorton Street and Cedar Sprgs Road at the heart of our own Oak Lawn gayborhood. As a proud gay man (Happy Pri, y’all!

Ined, I was young and naive back the mid-1990s, but spe beg warned that some Dallas gays were snobs, I managed to fd a tribe of lifelong iends and chosen fay, a partner of two-and-a-half s, and a nng bar tab that’s probably hoverg somewhere around $300, 000 (and untg). In fact, wherever you fd me the ‘hood, I’m typilly acpanied by a healthy dtg of glter, the latt on-trend cktail, and a soundtrack fueled by pop divas—and that’s jt when visg my chiropractor or droppg off shirts at the dry GayborhoodSure, I’ve wnsed first-hand the chang Oak Lawn and the surroundg areas have gone through over the years, but at s re, much has stayed the same.

DALLAS’S GAYBORHOOD IS MAKG A POST-PANMIC COMEBACK. MANY LGBT PEOPLE STILL DON’T FEEL WELE.

Though we’re probably never gog to see that same kd of hey-gurl hay day ever aga, we still have 24 waterg hol across North Texas wh 17 sttered about the gayborhood. Across the street, untry wtern dancg (cludg lsons) is the claim to fame of Round-Up Saloon & Dance Hall, a sprawlg venue wh multiple bars and a separate karaoke parlor near the entrance—not to mentn once beg voted the bt gay untry wtern dance hall the entire US of A.

MAPS: CRIME THE GAYBORHOOD

Outsi the gayborhood, out gay chef Abraham Salum’s namake Salum Rtrant offers exquise fe dg.

Atelier Barber CoLook great while you’re at Throughout the gayborhood, you’ll fd a variety of service provirs foced on makg you look as fantastic on the outsi as you do on the si.

And to add to the fabulo stockpile, the Universy of North Texas has created the Lbian, Gay, Transgenr and Bisexual Archive, a vast digal archive for llectg and prervg the history of the LGBTQ+ Daisy Polk Inn & Dickason CottageStay the weekend on the stripWhether you’re an out-of-towner visg Dallas or a lol lookg for a gay old time wh a close-to-home staytn, the Warwick Melrose Hotel and gay-owned bed and breakfast Daisy Polk Inn are both great optns that s steps om all the actn. Dallas, once the epome of social nservatism, holds now one of the largt gay ncentratns the US. Home to a vibrant gay muny, Dallas ranks number 8 among the natn’s most gay-iendly ci.

ARE HIGH-RISE BUILDGS UPTOWN-FUNKG UP THE GAYBORHOOD?

For nearly 30 years, trendy Oak Lawn neighborhood has been the epicenter of Dallas’s gay life.

Gay-iendly rtrants, bars, f, and nightclubs will help you make an ia of what Big D’s gay scene is all about.

CEDAR SPRGS: EVOLUTN OF A GAYBORHOOD

One of the biggt spots is the Round Up Saloon, nomated as one of the top gay bars the world by TripOut. No vis to Dallas is plete whout a day spent shoppg at “The Strip”, Dallas’s gay mercial Mec. Loted at the tersectn of Cedar Sprgs Road and Throckmorton Street, this is one of the noisit and popular gay mercial districts the untry.

One event you should fely attend is The Dallas Gay Pri – one of the biggt gay pris the southern half of the Uned Stat. Dallas' famo "gayborhood" ss at the tersectn of Cedar Sprgs Road and Oak Lawn Avenue, the cy's ma LGBTQ+ entertament district.

DALLAS' TOP 5 MOST FABULO BARS OUTSI THE GAYBORHOOD

Faryn Schwartz has lived the Dallas-Fort Worth area for more than 40 years, and has seen untls women go to bars that ter to gay men the neighborhood for a wi variety of reasons. “I do feel like there is some sort of judgment even wh our own muny among gay men to lbian women or gay men to trans or bisexual people.

Some people go to gay bars out of their own ner cursy for a eper reason, and e out later on, ” she says. Around the time she opened Sue Ellen’s, Jack was workg as a manager at the Village Statn and says that the gay bars were mostly set up to ter to cisgenr men.

Most of De La Rosa’s events wh Special K Productns take place outsi of the Dallas gayborhood, wh the tent to brg LGBTQ events to people who aren’t close proximy to Oak Lawn and Cedar Sprgs. “It’s all about givg them the same platform that we give to gay men, ” De La Rosa says.

GAYBORHOOD B

You won’t see walls becked wh photos of shirtls men or bumper stickers wh nuendos referrg to gay sex, but stead, rabow motifs and bright lights signed to cultivate a sense of welens for those who enter the bar. Wh a queer-iendly athetic, as well as regular events like drag bgo and “Hawt Gurl Summer” parti, Roy G’s manager Jam Keenan hop this environment will attract people all over the LGBTQ spectm, as opposed to exclively cis gay men.

Why only allow the spac to gay men? “Jt bee you’re gay, you thk you get , but you really don’t get . Although the Dallas neighborhoods Oak Lawn and Cedar Sprgs are technilly part of Uptown, the potential “uptowng” of the gayborhood is imment.

The "uptownizatn" of the gayborhood may soon be plete. Former Cy Council member Ed Oakley, who has prevly led nstctn projects the Dign District, led the meetg, tellg the crowd that the gayborhood would rema “a place for the muny to ll their own, like a mi Tim Square, if you will.