5 p.m.-3 a.m., cover varies, up to $5), but it’s become far more mixed as a younger crowd has cycled in. The leather scene congregates at the Atlanta Eagle (306 Ponce de Leon Ave., 404/873-2453, Mon.-Fri. 4 p.m.-3 a.m., no cover) remains a longtime favorite for African-American men.
2 p.m.-midnight, no cover) is full of the blue-jeans-and-ball-cap crowd it shares a parking lot with Felix’s on the Square (1510 Piedmont Ave., 404/249-7899, Mon.-Fri. Mary’s in East Atlanta has been cited as one of the best gay bars in the country, drawing an eclectic clique of hipsters and bears. My Sister’s Room in East Atlanta deserves major props for outlasting the odds.ĪtlantaFor gay men, the bar and club scene in Atlanta offers several options on any given night of the week. The city has had less luck keeping a girls-only nightlife scene afloat over the years. Charis Circle, its programming arm, hosts a vibrant assortment of events and workshops. Lesbians in Atlanta have an enviable resource in Little Five Points with Charis Books and More, a fixture that’s served the feminist community for three decades. Recent years have found Midtown becoming more mixed and gay Atlantans less confined to any one part of town, with queer bars and businesses popping up from Decatur to Marietta. While one of the city’s much-loved gay landmarks, Outwrite Bookstore, has since closed, local favorites Blake’s on the Park and Gilbert’s Mediterranean Café remain as packed as ever. Out on Film, the gay film festival, takes place each spring, while the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival presents sporadic programming throughout the year.įor decades, Atlanta’s most visible gay neighborhood was Midtown-especially around the intersection of Piedmont Avenue and 10th Street-with its concentration of bars and gay-friendly shops and restaurants. Atlanta also hosts one of the world’s largest Black Gay Pride festivals each year over Labor Day weekend. The city’s enormous annual Pride celebration began in 1971 and today brings in hundreds of thousands of revelers to the city, with a deluge of events happening around Piedmont Park each autumn. Photo © Jason Reidy, licensed Creative Commons Attribution.Ītlanta has long been recognized as the gay capital of the Southeast, a tolerant oasis that draws queer residents and tourists from all over the country.