#lgbtq-nightlife

#lgbtq-nightlife

Camden's legendary gay pub, The Black Cap, has confirmed its reopening date, a smidge over a decade since it was forced to close. The pub, which has been a gay haunt since the winter of 1965/66 was forced to close in 2015 when the owners decided they wanted to redevelop the site. The owners themselves closed in 2020, and the company's administrators sold the building to a new owner who has been working to reopen the venue once again as a gay cabaret pub.

The corner of 14th and U streets, Northwest, is now home to six LGBTQ bars, with just over 300 feet separating the nightlife options. The spots have all opened their doors over the past few years, bringing dramatic changes to a corner long associated with the District's bar scene. The recent wave began with 2023's opening of Bunker, a dance-focused space run by Zach Renovátes. He also operates a nearby bar, the District Eagle, that bills itself as "a home for DC's kink communities."

WILLIAMSBURG - WILLIAMSBURG GAY BAR Macri Park shuts abruptly after announcing on Instagram Jan. 13 that it is closing, leaving staff and performers without an explanation and canceling events that were still advertised on the venue's website, Gay City News reported. Drag performer Mambiche, host of the bi-monthly "Mambi Mondays" karaoke night, said the shutdown blindsided workers. "It took everyone as a surprise. It hurt a lot of people," Mambiche said.

"Remember what I said about the monologue!" emcee Mary Michael shouted into the microphone as professional hockey player Ilya Rozanov ( Connor Storrie) started to confess his affection to his Canadian rival and paramour, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams). "I have no one now," Connor says in Russian over the phone; Shane can't understand but listens regardless. "Well, not no one. I have Svetlana. She loves me and I love her, but not like ... not like I love you," Ilya says. Inside Boyfriend Co-op, hands covered mouths and a few patrons looked up at the ceiling, either wishing away or summoning tears.

It's impossible to say how many firsts were had within the walls of G-A-Y Bar on Old Compton Street. An innumerable number of LGBTQ+ people, young and old, will have flocked there from far and wide over the years to have perhaps their first experience of a gay bar, maybe even their first alcoholic drink, as well as their first taste of a different, brighter, queerer life.

Flora & Ferment, an Albany bottle shop focusing on ciders, has permanently closed without ceremony. Beverages like Mexican lagers, hibiscus mead and chocolate cherry cider were just some of the goods you'd find here, and the shop often hosted events like drink and draw nights and an annual hot dog fest. Flora & Ferment was located at 1122 Solano Ave. (at Kains Ave.) in Albany.

"My vision for Club Cumming has always been to create the ethos of old New York nightlife: A place for all ages, all genders, all colors, all sexualities, where kindness is all and anything can happen," Cumming said. "It's a cabaret club but also a dance club, a drag club, an art club, a community center, a safe space - it's whatever the LGBTQ+ community needs and wants it to be. I'm so happy that World of Wonder and WOW Presents Plus is making this show about our Club Cumming tribe and showcasing the talents and the stories and the lives of these queer icons of tomorrow."

The world's best cities for gay cruising have been revealed, and one UK city has unsurprisingly come out on top. The 2025 Global Gay Cruising Index, published by Erobella, scores cities out of a possible 40 points, with international metropolises being examined for how diverse and accessible their scenes are for spontaneous sexual encounters across four categories: gay saunas, cruising clubs, gay bars and public parks.

A few months after Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in August 2005, Jenna Jordan went on a search for other queer women. She was looking for camaraderie with people like herself who had returned to New Orleans after the storm. Some neighborhoods with sizable gay populations such as the French Quarter were largely spared from flooding, but areas with queer people of color and lesbians, such as Mid-City, weren't as fortunate.