LGBT Las Vegas—The bt gay and lbian nightlife and culture

Contents:

• THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI
• THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW
• LBIANS CLAIM STRAIGHT WOMEN ARE DOMATG GAY BARS VIRAL VIO
• RSIA'S LARGT GAY CLUB HAS SHUT DOWN

THE 42 BT GAY BARS AMERI

Like the hog velopments and strip malls that ver the Vegas map like glter on a go-go boy, the lol gay and lbian muny is imprsively spread throughout the valley, all but screamg: we’re here, we’re queer, we’re, of urse, only fuels plats about disnnectn and a lack of a te gayborhood. And the latter reflects the cltered nature of gay bars Las UNLV-adjacent “F Loop, ” the origal gay hub, still draws boys to Piranha, the least pretent of the gay clubs Las Vegas, and girls to FreeZone, the cy’s honorary lbian club.

Over revalized downtown—home to the new $4-ln Gay and Lbian Communy Center of Southern Nevada—the only out-and-proud drkery is the 38-year-old Snick’s Place, though lively East Fremont piano bar Don’t Tell Mama and hip Arts District urban lounge Artifice are unofficial homo of downtown, the agg Commercial Center reprents the gay alternative, hostg everythg om poker bars (Badlands Saloon and Spotlight Lounge) to a trans-iendly dive (Las Vegas Lounge) to cisg facili (Entourage Spa and Hawk’s Gym) to a boys’ clothg/accsory store (The Rack) wh an attached performance space attached (Onyx Theatre) and ample LGBT programmg.

THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW

Krave, former kg of the gay clubs Las Vegas, is now back mid-Strip at the Tommy Wd Theatre after a failed attempt at a downtown expansn. The cy’s nizens talk about often: Nightlife tablishments, be they storied or new on the scen, have seen their rpective clientel grow to be clive of not jt gay, lbian, bisexual, and transgenr lols and visors recently. The word “gay” lls to md our special knack for fdg the light the darkns, for buildg the dance floor off to the si of the cel world.

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.

LBIANS CLAIM STRAIGHT WOMEN ARE DOMATG GAY BARS VIRAL VIO

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.

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. It gave the boys a place to gather the ‘80s, the first outpost that helped tablish the South End as the Boston gayborhood. While other gay bars of the time were basements or board up, Club Cafe faced by Columb Avenue wh floor to ceilg wdows.

Big Chicks serv a diverse crowd— ’s young, ’s old, ’s one of the only plac you’ll see gay men and lbians together! 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? 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.

RSIA'S LARGT GAY CLUB HAS SHUT DOWN

Thanks to Perez-Gallardo and their team, gay people who love the outdoors (most lbians) now have a iendly place to unwd after a hike. Billed as Wt Virgia's olst gay bar, the venue regularly brgs some of the biggt queer performg artists the game right now.

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.

Honey’s is sentially a sexy, gay speakeasy wh a DJ booth where queers of all strip n dance their hearts out until 2 am. Jt a uple of blocks om the beach, Twist brgs the whole breadth of the Miami gay world together to dance and flirt and keep movg. CourtyIndianapolis: English IvyEnglish Ivy advertis self as an “LGBTQ+-enthed” “gay-therg place” and that is not an overstatement.

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.

But this is Nashville we’re talkg about so the gays who perform at Lipstick Lounge aren’t your average karaoke queens. 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. 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. In December, Dave’s hosted a queer holiday market wh “live gay bands” and “cute queer vendors” at nearby Bohemian Beer Garn.

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.

Wh Thursday night dance lsons, Happy Hour all night long on Wednday, Thursday, and Sunday, Wednday game nights, Thursday karaoke, and plethora of gut performers and events, ’s no wonr that Neon Boots is a favore of the gay girls – and boys – when to dancg and playg and otherwise g a ck! The Montrose area, Hoton’s own gayborhood, is also a great area to fd hangouts that are perfect for hangg wh the girls. Micky’s WeHo has long been a staple on Wt Hollywood’s strip of gay nightclubs and bars on Santa Moni Boulevard, known for s open-walled two-story buildg where passersby n see the party ragg om the street.

The venue is the only Latx gay bar LA that explicly ters to a gay and Mexin dience every night, not jt as a theme once a week.

But ’s the perfect space to grab a workday bnch wh a lleague or for -workg ssns -hosted on Tudays wh Gay Asstrology. Though Sweetwater isn’t officially known as a lbian bar, the humble tablishment has long been the go-to spot for queer women the lol gayborhood, which featur nearly half a dozen gay bars that le Broadway Long Beach.

One of Long Beach’s few, if not only, three-level gay bars, Executive Sue boasts a karaoke bar, vio gam, pool tabl for rent, and regular drag shows. Dubbed by KCET as Montebello’s bt Lato gay bar, Chi is the sister to Club Cobra, servg as a groundg se for the queer Latx muny the suburbs of East LA. The natn's pal is home to a lively LGBTQ+ nightlife scene wh plenty of gay and lbian bars jt wag for you to jo on the fun.

Larry’s Lounge is a gay neighborhood pub, wh always-affordable drks, solid happy hour specials, mouth-waterg pub fare (see: sweet potato tots) and one of the cy’s iendlit pats (you n brg your dog, too! Number Ne to the btlg Logan Circle urty of -founr Ed Bailey, who helped DC’s gay nightlife scene to grow durg his days as a DJ. Suated right the heart of Adams Man’s btlg 18th Street is Pchers, a gay sports bar, and A League of Her Own, the adjacent bar for lbian and queer women.

Although the issue of straight people choosg to attend gay clubs for a night out is nothg new, a recent viral vio on TikTok has reigned the Mastroieni, known on the app as Sophiamastt, shared a clip of herself sat bed on September the footage she explas that "Last night I asked 5 different girls if they were gay at a GAY CLUB and every one of them were straight AT A GAY CLUB I give up. Another person, Tomi, add: "'Straight bars are terrifyg for woman' why then make GAY bars terrifyg for GAY PEOPLE.

"However, others did not thk that was unfair for a straight woman to attend gay bars, cludg TorixGalba who wrote: "Lerally sayg that there are only 21 bars and sayg ls people should go to them. Mattson, who has extensively rearched recent chang gay bars, veloped his report om the gay bar listgs the Damron Gui, the longt-nng and only guibook that documents LGBTQ plac the natn. So if you’re lookg at the pal of whe cis gay men vers the pal of whe, Black, brown, Asian, Lata, queer women, the dispary is huge.

“When Tanya [the origal owner] me out, was the 1950s, early ’60s, and the bar she ed to go to was always gay men and gay women together bee she told that wasn’t legal. [Tanya] always really enjoyed the pany of gay men and transgenr people, and even though she wanted the lbian space, she never unrstood why the whole gay muny uldn’t socialize wh each other. ’ The opportuny me along for a women’s night at Flix [a gay men’s bar] and I started that women’s night there 2001.

“When I was about 16 — my sister’s gay also — we had gone to this club San Anton, Texas, and was kd of the first time that I saw her like a peace a sense, like she was her own element. So then when they do e back out, they you know, they e out more sporadilly vers the sgle lbians or queers, gay men. Maybe gays are accepted more, but there’s nothg like the feelg of your own space where you know ‘I’m not gog to be judged if I e here.