Dupont circle gay bars

But D.C.‘s evolving gayborhood has shifted towards Logan Circle and U Street, with newcomers like Bunker, Licht Cafe, and Crush Bar joining the fold in recent years. They ushered us into adulthood; they provided sanctuary to be ourselves. Before it became beloved dive bar Wonderland Ballroomthe two-story Columbia Heights establishment was home to one of the oldest and longest operating Black gay bars in the country.

Gay bars. Dupont Circle is long one of the centers of D.C.’s LGBTQ community, with neighborhood institutions like JR’s, the Fireplace, and Larry’s Lounge still going strong. Dupont Circle is long one of the centers of D.C.’s LGBTQ community, with neighborhood institutions like JR’s, the Fireplace, and Larry’s Lounge still going strong. Good ones, bad ones, wild ones, emotional ones—because for decades, these spaces have been homes to a community.

Like all histories, these are complicated. Best Gay Bars in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC - Last Updated - Sinners and Saints, Bunker, Larry's Lounge, The Fireplace, JR's Bar & Grill, Green Lantern, Number Nine, Trade, District Eagle, A League of Her Own. Along Dupont Circle 's 17th Street, JR’s is a mainstay, as the bar has been serving patrons for three decades.

And in D. Of course it happened at a bar. So if everything is ephemeral, what makes gay bars so special? But D.C.‘s evolving. They doubled as meeting spaces and activist hubs. Best Gay Bars in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC - Last Updated - Sinners and Saints, Bunker, Larry's Lounge, The Fireplace, JR's Bar & Grill, Green Lantern, Number Nine, Trade, District Eagle, A League of Her Own. A staple of DC’s gay scene, this Dupont Circle bar has been serving since Showtunes (aka Musical Mondays) brings crowds to the bar to belt out classic Broadway hits and toss back $4 draft beers and Truly’s.

A popular cruising spot, Budd remembers the long bar running down one side of the narrow room where patrons, often trans women, would perch. You met them in bars.

Logan Circle (Photo Credit: Number 9) (Photo Credit: Trade) Most LGBTQ+ bars in DC are located in Northwest DC, including the Logan Circle area. In fact, it is one of the areas where gay bars started to pop up, especially after more moderate to high-end restaurants opened along 14th Street.

DC's gayest street is 17th Street, and here, you will find a host of gay spots ready to open their doors. Despite the “Grill” in the title, the popular happy hour spot only serves a few small bites, making it a casual retreat with impressive drink specials and daily events. Other bars barred entry to trans people. Nob Hill began as a private social club for Black gay men inand opened its doors to the public in Still, Nob Hill remained important to the community through to its closure in It was not only a site for leisure and entertainment, but for organizing and activism.

A staple of DC’s gay scene, this Dupont Circle bar has been serving since Showtunes (aka Musical Mondays) brings crowds to the bar to belt out classic Broadway hits and toss back $4 draft beers and Truly’s. Spread throughout D.C, and concentrated around Dupont Circle, is a bountiful collection of gay bars and clubs, representing the city’s diverse population and historic gay culture. Carding, in which bars targeted people of color by requiring them to show multiple forms of ID, was all too common at predominantly White spaces.

Nightclubs with foot ceilings have largely vanished. One street over on 18th Street, you'll find Duplex Diner. It covers the rise and fall of gayborhoods, and ends in a city that, while more out and proud than ever, has some asking: Where did all the gay bars go? One street over on 18th Street, you'll find Duplex Diner.

DC's gayest street is 17th Street, and here, you will find a host of gay spots ready to open their doors. A lively LGBTQ+ bar in the Shaw district of Washington D.C, Kiki hosts live drag shows, weekly events and exclusive deals. Cobalt/30 Degrees offers a plush lounge-style bar serving cocktails and an upstairs dance floor that plays pumping tunes.

Would you like to dance? Cobalt/30 Degrees offers a plush lounge-style bar serving cocktails and an upstairs dance floor that plays pumping tunes. The stories of these spaces are interwoven with our individual and collective histories. They played host for political events and fundraisers, and helped raise money to fight AIDS and fund gender-affirming care.

Our spaces may be temporary, but our words are forever. Prince recalls dim lighting, greasy food, soul music, multiple dance floors, and male strippers, though he spent most of his time there talking with older guys.