Gay/Lesbian Entertainment Nightlife
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Masken
You’ll find a pretty mellow, easy-going atmosphere in this mainstream gay bar, with cheap beer and good snacks. It’s mainly a hang-out for gay men, but Thursday is Ladies Night.
reviewed
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El Gato Lounge
If it's a louder ambience you're looking for, you'll find the pink party at the mega clubs and gay bars in Torremolinos. That's right, the 'in crowd' goes to Torremolinos for fun!! What had turned into a decayed symbol of a better past is now making a comeback. New bars, restaurants and clubs are opening and the area is becoming one of the major gay holiday destinations in Spain.
La Nogalera (close to Torremolinos train station) is the centre of BLGT - bi, lesbian, gay and transgendered - tourism in the province. Here, the variety of bars, pubs, clubs and discos guarantees a good time. Check out the new and trendy El Gato Lounge, where cool cats chill over a beer and a…
reviewed
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Mado Cabaret
Mado is a flamboyant celebrity who writes a column in Fugues, the gay entertainment mag. Her cabaret is a local institution, with drag shows featuring an assortment of hilariously sarcastic performers in eye-popping costumes. Shows take place weekend and Tuesday nights.
reviewed
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Masquerade Bar
There's no discernible gay quarter in Liverpool, with most of the gay-friendly clubs and bars spread about Dale St and Victoria St in Ropewalks. The Masquerade Bar attracts a real mix of gays, lesbians and bi's looking for a few laughs and a sing-song.
reviewed
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New Wally Matt Lounge
The name comes from the old Waltzing Matilda pub, which was one of the daggiest gay watering holes in creation. But New Wally Matt is an upbeat and busy place and actually more a pub than a lounge.
reviewed
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Bar Creation & Club Eden
One of the biggest gay venues in Wales, this bar and club combo stages a packed programme of club nights, drag acts, film screenings and cabaret shows.
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Rice Bar
Rice is a popular gay bar in Sheung Wan with a lounge area that sees a bit of dancing as it gets later. It can get very crowded at the weekend.
reviewed
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Men's Factory
This wildly popular gay club west of Old Town draws plenty of straight club-goers, too.
reviewed
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Gay Bars & Clubs
What Cherry Grove is to its neighbor the Fire Island Pines, Fort Lauderdale is to South Beach - a little more rainbow-flag-oriented and a little less exclusive. And for the hordes of gay boys who flock here, either to party or to settle down, therein lies the charm. You don't need to be A-list to feel at home at any of the many gay bars, clubs or restaurants, and you won't have any trouble finding 'the scene'.
Fort Lauderdale is home to more than 25 gay bars and clubs, about a dozen gay guesthouses, and a couple of way-gay residential hubs including Victoria Park, which is the established gay ghetto, and Wilton Manors, more recently gay-gentrified and boasting endless…
reviewed
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La Cotorra
One of the city's first gay bars, La Cotorra is a dark, old-school pub with a barricaded door and a conspiratorial air, appealing to a mature crowd who'd rather hear Wham! or Gloria Gaynor than electronic beats. To find it, take the escalator one level up from the cinema, turn into the parking garage, then left along the perimeter. Afterward, you could head over to the other end for the more youthful Royal Club.
Caracas has by far the most open gay community in what is still a relatively conservative country. When looking for gay-oriented venues, the code phrase to watch for is 'en ambiente.' For additional options, check the websites www.vengay.com and…
reviewed
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Grupo Venancio
When you tell your taxi driver 'Grupo Venancio,' three blocks east and three blocks south of Parque Morazán, he may ask why you want to hang out with lesbians and witches (brujas). But there are so many reasons! One of Matagalpa's best nights out, this women's collective runs an excellent bar and restaurant which shows movies, has live music and hosts all manner of woman-empowering events.
It's usually only open Fridays, with movies and a quieter crowd, and Saturdays, which get packed if the band is good; there's usually no cover. This is a good place to start looking for Matagalpa's thriving gay and lesbian scene, but respectful heterosexual men can and have scored…
reviewed
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Astoria
An extremely popular though not particularly salubrious venue, the Astoria's future may be cut short by plans to knock down the building as part of a programme to rejuvenate the area of Charing Cross Rd, to the general displeasure of Astoria's many fans. Still, until the final decision is reached, the venue is busy most nights of the week with indie, pop and rock acts before becoming a club later on in the evening.
The adjacent Mean Fiddler, at No 165 - a far more intimate venue that doesn't get used as much - is facing the same bleak future.
reviewed
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Royal Club
Entrance to this vanguard club is from the parking garage, up the ramp from the cinema level. Beyond an acclimatization zone with three bars, you cross a curtained threshold to reach the main attraction - a cavernous, strobe-lit dance space.
Caracas has by far the most open gay community in what is still a relatively conservative country. When looking for gay-oriented venues, the code phrase to watch for is 'en ambiente.' For additional options, check the websites www.vengay.com and www.rumbacaracas.com (in Spanish).
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Alsina
Second only to Amerika as the capital’s biggest gay magnet, Alsina’s popular queer nights are Friday and Sunday (when a tea dance starts at 11pm to end the weekend). DJs crank up the house with dance, hip-hop and techno riffs, but on Saturday night – known as the ‘Big One’ – electronica entertains the mostly straight crowd. All nights are blessed with three floors of open balconies, chandeliers and thick drapes – along with plenty of pretty people.
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Good Friends Bar
A quintessential Quarter gay bar, where the scene can go from casual drink to debauchery unleashed at the drop of a hat. The crowd of regulars really are good friends, partly because the bar stools are so damn comfortable. Easy-on-the-eye bartenders make the bar's famous drink, the 'Separator' (Kahlúa ice cream, milk, brandy and coffee liqueur). The upstairs piano area, the 'Queen's Head Pub,' heats up with show tunes on Sunday night. The balcony is a good spot to chill.
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Underground Sf
Underground SF is made for being yourself (be it hippie-dyke, trannie, pretty boy or college kid) and letting said self go. Highly danceable sounds range from new wave to dark electro to drum 'n bass. The small dance floor can get overpacked, but no one'll push you out, and you can always escape to the smoking patio. In darker corners of the club things can get even steamier. Saturdays, the hottest boys in town head to its infamously messy dance party, Drunk & Horny.
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Chueca
An exclusively gay restaurant-bar, Chueca offers an upscale experience in the stylish atmosphere of an old refurbished house. There are drag shows nearly every night, and on weekends ‘pre-dance’ events keep things lively up until 2am, when the clientele start thinking about hitting those nightclubs. Wednesday is Chicas Chuecas – for lesbians. There’s a great little terrace upstairs; come early if you want dinner.
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Th Sarasin Gay Clubs
This quiet little street across from Lumphini Park has a tight cluster of intimate bars, ranging from non-orientational to gay-festive. There's disco fever at 70s Bar and karaoke at I-Chub, a bar dedicated to bear and their admirers. Bangkok has just started to develop a lesbian-only nightclub scene with two newcomers: Shela (Soi Lang Suan, Th Ploenchit) and Zeta. You'll find the clubs located between Th Ratchadamri & Soi Lang Suan.
reviewed
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Red & Blue
Bills itself as 'the biggest gay disco in Benelux' (that is, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). Saturdays attract hot-blooded gay boys from far and wide, while regular Café de Love parties are for lesbians 'and their male soul mates'. The website also links to the club's mixed-crowd fixtures, such as Studio 54, and We Love Thursdays. On Friday night it draws a mixed crowd to the sounds of house, techno, rap and soul.
reviewed
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Angels Club
Welcome to Guadalajara’s megaclub. Sure, it’s a gay venue, but chicks dig the mod acrylic tables, cool lounge, throwback beanbag room and the three dance floors blasting electronica, hip-hop and progressive rock, so heterosexual men should shed their inhibitions and mingle with the party people. Saturday nights get wild. Clubbers often leave for breakfast at around 5am and return for sun-drenched fun after hours.
reviewed
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Backstage Theater-Cabaret
Cancún is well known for its lively gay and lesbian scene (though there's more for gay men than women), meaning there's plenty to do most nights. Backstage Theater-Cabaret features drag shows, strippers (male and female), fashion shows and musicals. Terrific ambience, joyful crowd.
Other venues include Karamba which is popular with cross-dressers and Picante which is more for talkers than dancers.
reviewed
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Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Buddies in Bad Times is an innovative venue for Canadian lesbigay and alternative theatre that's been wowing crowds since 1979. Original plays here often weave together Canadian themes, contemporary dance and jazz. It's tiny – only 300 seats for the main stage, and there are even fewer in Talullah's Cabaret, a clubby performance space for comedians, writers and singers. So book early!
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Country Club
There's no golf course here. Down in the Bywater, this historic mansion has been converted into a gay frat house, replete with a large swimming pool in the back yard. It's a low-key hangout by day and more of a clubby scene by night. Clothing is not altogether forbidden on the patio, where guys and dolls tend to strip down and erase those tan lines. Indoors things are a bit more refined, with frequent shows.
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Glam
In an industrial area north of downtown, Glam proudly stands as the biggest gay dance club in the country. Saturday is generally the best night to go, when a wild and celebratory crowd fills the dance floor until late in the morning, though talented DJs spin house, drum 'n' bass, soul and Latin classics here every night. This place is best reached by taxi - it's located in front of the Club de Montana.
reviewed
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El Olmo
One traditional cruising area is at the intersection of Avs Santa Fe and Pueyrredón, where after midnight discount admission coupons get handed out on street corners (or check venues’ websites). If you need to load yourself up on caffeine for the night to come, settle in at El Olmo, right at the intersection; it’s a spot traditionally patronized by older gays, but everyone is welcome.
reviewed