Facebook Live: Fridays, 8pm Instagram: Saturdays, 10pm. DJ Chorizo Funk The "Best of Austin" award-winning DJ's cumbia beats are so nice, you should rock your body to 'em to twice. Lizzy Caroloke Log into the Zoom meeting, mute yourself until your turn, then sing yer a$$ off from your living room and out into the interwebs. We've lost a tangible testament to Austin's queer legacy, y'all. So, in honor of keeping the Gay Place's " barchive" tradition alive, send your memories of BT2 to From the nights you can't forget fast enough to the wee hours of the morning that came too fast, I want it all – the glitter and the gristle. While BT2 joins the ranks of gay bars this city has loved and lost, we can still do our part to preserve its history.
Still, if you were to combine both of 'Bout Time's iterations, then the BT family line would clock in at 36. The honor of "oldest continually operating gay bar in Austin" belongs to OCH at 30 years. There were the annual T-Day dinners drag artists caught first breaks you could lose yourself (and maybe find somebody else) on the dance floor. Since opening in 2012 as 'Bout Time II, the second incarnation of 'Bout Time (1984-2012) did what gay bars do best: It gave Austin's qmmunity more than just a watering hole. At a time when gay bars nationwide are already disappearing, BT2's closure reminds us what's at stake when we lose these institutions. With COVID-19 measures compounding preexisting money matters, including a bankruptcy filing last fall, making rent wasn't viable, BT2 co-owners Ray McDermett and Tino Calderon told me in a weekend interview (see our extended Q&A soon). The North Austin gay bar, which had temporarily closed back in March, announced its permanent shuttering on May 7. Check the website to see who’s playing and buy tickets in advance.BT2 has closed. Even when drag is off the menu, the space caters to SLC’s alternative crowd with a range of live events to suit almost everyone’s taste. Leave the long Mormon garments at home, this event is more Andrew Christian than Joseph Smith.Īlthough this midsize concert venue isn’t explicitly gay, Metro hosts the city’s best drag shows (it’s the number one place to find the girls of RuPaul’s Drag Race when they’re in town). The local crowd gets rowdy on the third Thursday of every month after checking their clothes for the Underwear Party.
This laid-back bar is famous for cheap drinks, Thursday night karaoke, and Sunday BBQs on the patio between Mother’s Day and Labor Day. Expect live DJs, drag queens, go-go dancers, and a weekly party theme inviting you to dress up so you can get down in style. This straight lounge becomes a queer dance club once every week for Revolution Fridays. The city is chock-a-block with hip coffee shops, international food options, artistic offerings, and enough outdoor activities to make you feel you’re living in a Patagonia clothing ad. You’ll find queer folks congregating in neighborhoods like Sugar House, the Marmalade District of Capitol Hill, and in the Avenues near Temple Square, but there’s no true gayborhood of which to speak. In some ways, Salt Lake City is so gay it’s post-gay. That’s higher than both New York City and Los Angeles.
A whopping 4.7 percent of the population identifies as LGBT. The same year Biskupski was elected, Gallup released a poll naming Salt Lake City the seventh gayest city in the United States. SLC is so queer-friendly that officials renamed a street in honor of the politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk in 2016. She currently serves with three openly gay city council members: Amy Fowler, Derek Kitchen, and Chris Wharton. In 2015, Jackie Biskupski became the city’s first openly gay mayor.
Nowhere is this change more pronounced than in Salt Lake’s flourishing LGBTQ+ community. Photo: Austen Diamond Photography/Visit Salt Lake