A cozy, all-inclusive atmosphere and hospitable bar staff round out the experience. You’ve already seen the Stonewall Monument, but now its time to pay tribute to the landmark spot that launched the gay rights movement with a drink at The Stonewall Inn. Embrace the ethos of ‘the city that never sleeps’ by barhopping in Greenwich Village-home to some of NYC’s most time-honoured gay bars and nightclubs. It’s no secret that gay New York City comes alive after dark. The six-day event features stunning LGBTQ film and media from around the world-one of the most comprehensive cinematic experiences of its kind. Or, visit New York in October for the New York LGBTQ Film Festival. Celebrations take place across the boroughs throughout the entire month. Time your gay New York City visit over the last Sunday of June to join millions of others in one of the largest Pride parades in the world. NYC’s Pride March is a legend for a reason. Regular workshops and events also make the BGSQD a lively spot to meet and mingle with locals and travellers alike. With a mission to “excite and educate a self-confident, sex-positive, and supportive queer community,” the BGSQD is a warm and welcoming space to peruse queer books, publications, and artwork. You don’t need to be a bookworm to appreciate The Bureau of General Services-Queer Division (BGSQD), an independent, all-volunteer queer cultural center and bookstore. Grab a coffee in the leafy courtyard or peruse the online calendar for upcoming events and volunteer opportunities. The Center is an important resource for NYC’s LGBTQ+ community and provides support groups, health check-ins, events, and art exhibits. And when we found our location, I said to myself, ‘I want to make this place feel like I did when I was in my early twenties partying.’ That’s why in the new location, with it being 5,000 square feet, we’ve made one of the areas hip-hop, and one of the areas house music, as well as an outside garden.The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center-more commonly referred to as The Center-is easily recognizable for its billowing rainbow flag waving proudly above its doors. There was one particular club that I went to called The Edge that had a hip-hop room, it had a house music room, and then it had an outside area. “With me being from Virginia, in my early 20s I would party a lot in Washington, D.C. We are still pretty new in this industry…so I would have to say just the size, and increasing the staff, and things of that nature has made it very challenging for us.”īut Hughes says he found a model for success in his own past. Lambda Lounge in Harlem was only opened about two years when we decided to open this new location.
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It’s kind of like we jumped into the deep end with this.
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we acquired a location that’s 5,000 square feet. “The first location is about 1,600 square feet.
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But that success obviously isn’t assured with Club Lambda, Brooklyn’s only Black-owned LGBTQ+ nightclub, where Solomon says the biggest challenge is one of scale. Indeed, the couple acknowledge, the lounge’s popularity has surpassed that of the vodka.
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New York City’s second Black-owned LGBTQ+ bar drew a wide range of patrons including Lil Nas X, and actresses Meagan Good and Jerrie Johnson from the Amazon Prime series Harlem. Hughes and Solomon say an incident in a New York Black club where the DJ screamed, “Men don’t dance with men here!” that was another factor in their decision to open Lambda Lounge. That’s where the idea of, ‘Well, let’s open a location and sell our spirit ourselves!’” “With so many spirits on the market and with us being a small brand and not having a marketing budget and distribution budget, we weren’t able to maximize our sales. Solomon explains that the clubs are part a natural progression, arising from their efforts to promote their spirits as minority business owners. It was such a success that the couple is now opening their second queer bar, Club Lambda Brooklyn. In 2020, Charles Hughes and Richard Solomon, the gay married couple behind Lambda Vodka launched Harlem’s hip, upscale LGBTQ+ bar Lambda Lounge.