Denverites looking for LGBTQ+ bars have to be willing to roam, since the city’s cultural scene is not always matched by the amount or concentration of LGBTQ+ clubs.
Over the last year or so we’ve lost a few spots, including Fusions, Lucid, and the 3 Kilts Tavern, so the remaining names are all the more important. But some newer spots such as Buddies on East Colfax Avenue are hanging on despite rising rents and other challenges restaurateurs face.
In that spirit, here’s a quick roundup for Pride month and ahead of Denver PrideFest 2024, taking place June 22-23 in Civic Center park.
People wait outside Tracks, one of Denver’s best-known LGBTQ+ nightclubs, Saturday, June 25, 2022. (Photo by Jintak Han/The Denver Post)
Tracks Denver
Indisputably Denver’s largest and most important LGBTQ+ club, the current incarnation in the River North Art District has over the last 18 years made its name with national-quality drag performances, touring artists and raucous, themed parties. Besides nurturing Denver-based “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winners such as Yvie Oddly and recent Willow Pill, it’s got open mics and hip-hop nights (18 and up) and three of the best dance floors and DJ setups in the city. The gold standard. 3500 Walnut St., 303-863-7326 or tracksdenver.com
The X Bar and Romantix mural on East Colfax Avenue on Friday, June 23, 2023. (Photo by Grace Smith/The Denver Post)
X Bar
Within walking distance of downtown as well as Capitol Hill’s numerous venues and bars, X Bar is a strong magnet with its huge patio parties and palpable camaraderie. The one-story space stays busy with karaoke, DJ nights and a wild weekend atmosphere, but Pride month will generate even bigger lines down the block. Get there early, or not, and be ready to sweat and dance. Look up #partyyoncolfax on Instagram for some of the costumed revelers and event flyers, from brunches, sing-along nights and queer proms. 629 E. Colfax Ave., 303-832-2687 or xbardenver.com
Boyztown
Long a late-night stop in the Baker neighborhood, Boyztown bills itself as Denver’s Hottest Male Revue (RIP the former Compound Basix nearby). And you know what? Most nights they’re not wrong, with limber, cut dancers, deft DJs, and a generally high-energy atmosphere that runs until last call. It’s the only solely-male strip club in that area (or the entire metro area, last I checked), so you’ll also find straight-girl bachelorette and birthday parties, even as the bar keeps it real with its loyal staff and clientele. 117 Broadway, 303-722-7373 or boyztowndenver.com
See also: The low-key Li’l Devils Lounge cocktail bar doesn’t identify itself as an explicitly gay bar, but it’s a popular hangout for older gay men and creatives. It occupies the former Barker Lounge space and now offers drag shows. 255 S. Broadway, 303-733-1156 or facebook.com/lildevilslounge
Todd Brown, left, Aaron Scoresby, and Seth Koonce, right, join other patrons at the newly-opened Tight End, Denver’s first gay sports bar on April 24, 2021 in Denver. (Kathryn Scott/Special to The Denver Post)
Tight End
Queer sports bars may seem niche but they’re most certainly not, which is why it’s strange that Denver only boasts the sports-focused Tight End. Still, the City Park West bar — which opened in 2022 in the gritty, former Streets Denver punk bar — offers excellent people-watching on its patio, playoff nights on big screens, trivia, drinking games, karaoke and more. It’s just across a busy stretch of East Colfax from Blush & Blu, a lesbian, queer and trans-centric space with programming galore (see below). 1501 E. Colfax Ave. 303-861-9103 or tightendbar.com
Parisse Flora vogues on the runway of the First Friday Ball at Blush & Blu, Denver’s sole lesbian bar, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (Photo by Jintak Han/The Denver Post)
Blush & Blu
This busy space has helped fill the gap of Denver’s long-closed Detour, a former lesbian bar, and developed some of the city’s best drag queens, poets, singer-songwriters and stand-up comics on its small stage (see also: the Mercury Cafe). It’s socially conscious and has a solid menu, with the aforementioned, and nationally rare, focus on lesbian, queer and transgender clientele. Yes, there are tourists and curious pedestrians, given its proximity to cannabis dispensaries and Denver’s first Voodoo Doughnut location, but they’re welcome, too. It’s also great for coffee and chai, as it formerly hosted the LGBTQ+ space tHERe, which had a similar menu. 1526 E. Colfax Ave., 303-484-8548 or blushbludenver.com
Charlie’s
Like Tracks Denver, Capitol Hill bar Charlie’s — part of a Country Western-themed chain with locations in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Chicago — predates Denver’s population and construction boom by decades, proudly holding court with indoor and outdoor events ranging from beer busts to drag shows, line-dancing lessons and sexy go-go boy performances. Cowboy hats and leather chaps are always welcome, but certainly not necessary, and the falafel-and-gyros menu can be surprisingly welcome after a night of themed cocktails and dancing. 900 E. Colfax Ave., 303-839-8890 or charliesdenver.com
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R&R Lounge
Classic in look and feel, with gorgeous vintage signage and a cozy interior, the R&R is tucked along a vibrant stretch of East Colfax. Its owners have claimed it’s the city’s oldest gay bar, having opened in the 1950s and gone openly gay in the 1970s, according to Westword, with its instantly recognizable, rainbow-painted door. Think happy hours, darts and Broncos games. 4958 E. Colfax Ave. #1208, 303-320-9337 or yelp.com/biz/r-and-r-lounge-denver-denver (the bar does not have its own website).
Trade
Trade is modern classic thanks to its semi-niche theme, which embraces fetish and kink. It’s also a favorite of the bearded, frequently muscle-bound class of gay men known as bears (particularly in the absence of the late Denver Wrangler). It hosts diverse programming that ranges from drag shows and DJ nights to leather nights and Sunday beer busts. 475 Santa Fe Drive, 720-627-5905 or facebook.com/tradedenver
Denver Sweet
Is Denver Sweet the equivalent of Minnesota Nice? In a way, maybe, but it’s also the city’s only overtly bear bar and one of the metro area’s best rooftop spots, LGBTQ+ or otherwise. Tasty bar food and brunch, honeyed clientele and DJs mix for sunny afternoons and breezy nights on a pair of party floors at the former Funky Buddha space. The owners — both former DJs at the Wrangler — told Out Front Magazine that their goal is to make it a welcoming example of the larger bear bar scene, which doesn’t exactly have a reputation of always being friendly toward women and trans people. Fortunately, they seem to be reaching that goal. 776 Lincoln St. 720-598-5648 or denversweet.com
The owners of Buddies, a gay bar that replaced Prohibition Bar when it closed on East Colfax Avenue, on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. Front left, Drayvon Gonzalez, Andrew Glardon, front right, Jack Herrick, top left, and Phil Newlan, top right. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Buddies
Taking over the Prohibition Bar space on the corner of East Colfax and Pennsylvania Street, Buddies opened last fall with the goal of being a “come as you are” bar, not a dance-music space. Buddies has a pool table, darts, 12 beer taps and plenty of “gay water,” as the owners call vodka sodas with a splash of cranberry juice. The owners kept Prohibition’s chef, Ryan Smith, who is serving up “never-frozen” bar food, like bacon and gouda mac-n-cheese bites, chicken tenders, burgers and wings. 504 E. Colfax Ave. 720-769-4485 or buddiesdenver.com
Hamburger Mary’s Denver
Long a food-and-drinks destination, the Denver outlet of this chain offers reliably colorful programming and a comfy atmosphere for casual stop-ins and parties, with lots of gender diversity (and cis-het allies) in addition to LGBTQ+ patrons. Having moved west on 17th Avenue awhile back to a smaller, more handsome space, it’s often packed with wild partiers on drag-queen and other show nights. 1336 E. 17th Ave., 303-993-5812 or milehighmarys.com
#Vybe
The social media-friendly hashtag in the name trumpets #Vybe’s diverse offerings, featuring drag queens of color and top touring names like Adore Delano swinging through regularly, in addition to stand-up comedy, game nights, Denver Broncos parties (the cheerleaders even stopped in for a show) and lots more. It’s arguably the only overtly LGBTQ+ spot in the ritzy, gallery-heavy Golden Triangle neighborhood, although it lines the same public-transportation corridor as Denver Sweet, Li’l Devils, Boyztown and others. 1027 N. Broadway, 720-573-8886 or 303vybe.com