Best black gay clubs in dc
Gay bars. Ask any member of the LGBTQIA community to tell you a story about one and they’ll regale you with memories. Good ones, awful ones, wild ones, emotional ones—because for decades, these spaces have been homes to a people. They ushered us into adulthood; they provided sanctuary to be ourselves. We mourn them favor family members after they’re gone.
But “everything closes,” as formerly local author June Thomas summed up at her manual talk earlier this month. So if everything is ephemeral, what makes lgbtq+ bars so special?
The stories of these spaces are interwoven with our individual and collective histories. And in D.C. that history runs deep. According to the Rainbow History Project’s archives, more than 200 gays bars have put up shop in the District since the 1920s—decades before June 28, 1969, when the Stonewall Riots marked an essential turning signal in the lgbtq+ rights movement.
“The reason Pride exists,” says Ed Bailey, a well-known local DJ and gay nightlife entrepreneur, is “because there was a bar where a thing happened. It’s not like it’s surprising it happened at a prevent. Of course it happened at a bar. Because that’s where everyone was, right?
Black Gay Nightlife and Black History Month
I’m a historian, so it’s not going to shock you that I yearn you to love history like I do. However, I’m going to take for granted that not everyone reading this (or even the majority) are going to share my passion (obsession?) with history. Part of this is because many understandably don’t see history as integral to our daily lives. Black History Month exists just because we were told in school that our past was important, right?
We’ll hopefully read plenty of inspiring tales this February of African American heroes, both familiar and unfamiliar. Granted, we ought not preserve our study of Shadowy history to twenty eight days, but Black History Month is a gentle reminder of the astonishing legacies made by people like Claudette Colvin, Ida Wells, Harriet Tubman, Marian Anderson, and Shirley Chisolm, not to mention Ebony LGBTQ+ Americans like Barbara Jordan, Laverne Cox, and Marsha P Johnson.
There’s nothing wrong with this considerate of remembrance of the past. After all, history is about actual people, so it makes perception that biography can be an effective way to analyze the past. But beyond thinking about Jet history as simply the retellin
About Number 9
Number Nine is a two story, indoor-outdoor, lounge and video bar in the heart of Logan Circle. We have been unwrap and and serving the LGBTIQIA society since 2010. Our cocktail menu is quite extensive with over 20 brands of vodka and multiple types of Mojitos. Our glad hours are quite popular and nighttime gets even busier with djs playing music videos on the second floor. Outside, we contain an expanded patio area that now includes a immense streatery and cocktail servers.
We are proud to tell that we were just named 2022 BEST GAY Block IN DC in the annual "Best of DC" competition in the Washington Blade newspaper.
General Information
All seating both indoor and out is first come, first serve. (We do not accept reservations for seating.)
Number Nine is 21 and over at all times.
DC's Best Happy Hour - All Drinks Are 2 For 1
Monday through Friday, If you buy your first drink before 7pm, your second imbibe is FREE until 8pm!
Buy ANY drink from the time we unlocked until 7pm, Monday - Friday, and vour second refreshment is FREE. And you can redeem your receipt for your free consume until 8pm.
This is good for any drink...from our signature
The History of DC’s First Gay Clubs
Recognize this facade? Nob Hill in Columbia Heights was one of the first openly lgbtq+ bars in both D.C. and the U.S. It is now home to Wonderland Ballroom.
When Nob Hill opened, D.C. was still very much racially segregated, and it catered mainly to gay Black men who were shut out of queer nightlife. It opened in 1953 as a private social club, but became a widespread bar just a several years later and remained in business for over 50 years. It is considered D.C.'s longest-operating homosexual bar.
The bar hosted everything from male dancers to weekly “Gospel Hours” with the local church. The low-key club was famous as “a house party that charged a cover,” and some of the longtime regulars even had their own personal glasses.
Nob Hill is known as the "granddaddy of Inky gay clubs” and kicked off a booming queer nightlife scene in D.C., which has only gotten stronger.
Wonderland Ballroom on a sunny afternoon. (Kaela Cote-Stemmermann/City Cast DC)
Nob Hill closed in 2004 after creature charged and fined with several alcohol code violations by the city. Today, the building has been revived as Wonderland Ballroom, an equally divey property par
20 LGBTQ+ Bars to Check Out in Washington, DC
The nation's capital is home to a lively LGBTQ+ nightlife scene with plenty of gay and lesbian bars just waiting for you to join in on the fun.
The diversity of DC’s LGBTQ+ people is growing by the day, resulting in a dynamic, exciting community with plenty of bars and clubs to choose from when it’s time to drink, dance and perform. Read up on some of our favorite LGBTQ+-friendly spots below.
Let’s have a … you get it. Gather all your girls, gays and theys to kiki all night on U Avenue. With four rooms of varied vibes, outdoor spaces and DJs that never miss, Kiki lives up to its name. Reach for the happy hour, stay for the weekly events.
At 14th and U, DC’s first booze-free Gay bar is lighting up the sober scene with mocktails, music and plenty of main-character energy. Spark kickstarts the day with coffee, pastries and cafe charm, then turns it up at sundown with DJs, drag trivia and zero-proof cocktails that pack a punch.
Next door to Spark Social House is Crush, a retro-inspired cocktail lounge and entertainment mecca for anyone and everyone. Event highlights include all-day happy hour Tuesday