Atlantic Canada's LGBT bars/clubs

jeddy1989 · #1 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 4:20 PM**

I'm curious about the LGBT nightlife in different cities in Atlantic Canada.

I will repost a post from a St. John's thread about our nightlife.

Share pics and videos and tell us a bit about your city's LGBT night life

JHikka · #2 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 5:44 PM**

I'm fairly certain the only gay bar in Saint John is closing or just recently closed.

SignalHillHiker · #3 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 5:59 PM**

I assume it's gay-friendly there still, though, JHikka? I remember (learned this on SSP) that Halifax's pride parade is a huge deal, especially for a city it's size.

*****

The only thing I'd add about St. John's is that it is very tolerant - extremely tolerant. There are several bars that aren't officially gay or even gay-friendly but that have an almost entirely gay clientelle.

Then the majority of bars are perfectly fine. The clientelle is mostly straight but you can be there with your boyfriend/gay friends, dancing or whatever, with no problem at all.

And then there are the small handful of douchey sports bars/Ed Hardy-style clubs where I wouldn't make our with my fiance on the dance floor... but still wouldn't really have a problem, 9 times out of 10.

Bishop2047 · #4 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 6:30 PM**

I guess Boom! in Freddy is that best, wile I would say all the bars in a tannery are gay-friendly. Through I can't think of any gay-unfreindly bars in the city. Rest in peace the North Star Sports bar hahahah

JHikka · #5 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 6:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I assume it's gay-friendly there still, though, JHikka? I remember (learned this on SSP) that Halifax's pride parade is a huge deal, especially for a city it's size.

Saint John has a decent Pride Parade but I honestly know nothing of the culture here at all. Given that SJ is a blue collar industrial town i'm sure there are many places where LGBT wouldn't exactly be the most welcome, but in saying that i'm sure there are also places that would welcome them. Again, i'm not in that community, so i'm really not at liberty to speak for them.

jeddy1989 · #6 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 6:56 PM**

So what are your officially gay clubs?

In St. John's the official one is Velvet club and Lounge which isn't a year old yet and is very nice

Other hotspots would be martini bar, Club V, Dusk, and Liquid

and like Signal said the rest are all open anyways and you could see same sex couples dancing/ making out pretty much anywhere

Velvet:

Here's an article from the Telegram when it first opened
'Industrial chic'
http://www.thetelegram.com/Arts---Li...ustrial-chic/1

here's another from the scene magazine

Quote:

St. John’s is a fair sized city and offers a wide range of bars, clubs and pubs. It also has a quite big gay community. Surprisingly enough the city was lacking a gay bar for a long time. Luc Viau recognized the need as well as the business opportunity. He implemented his idea by choosing former Headquarters as venue. It’s not only a great venue but one that has some history in the local gay scene. Rumours spread fast and St. John’s gay community got very excited about the idea of a new gay bar. The space got updated and on Friday April 20th 2012 Velvet Club & Lounge opened its doors.
The split-level space is spotless. While there is a bar and booths on both levels, a wide open dance floor is the center of the downstairs area. Multicolored lights flash over the dance floor and a huge disco ball hovers above it. The upstairs offers a great view over the dance floor.
The turnout on the opening night was amazing. The place was full and so was the dance floor while DJ OTG was spinning the turntables. A happy crowd of all ages celebrated Velvet’s opening and the friendly staff did its part to make it a fantastic night. Of course DJ Fabian is also part of the team and will be found behind the turntables regularly.
It’s hoped that there will a lot more fantastic nights at Velvet. If this weekend was any sign of things to come, the signs are certainly good…

http://www.thescenemagazine.ca/velvet-club-and-lounge/

All photos from the scene magazine

Also Velvet does a themed event every friday night
Here is their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2083...okmark_t=group

you can find out more about it at this website as well

http://www.partynl.com/clubs/velvet/

I will post about the other clubs as well

and I'm sure more on Velvet in future posts

SignalHillHiker · #7 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 6:57 PM**

Make sure you provide some numbers backing up the fact we were one of the first cities in Canada with a gay club - because that article about Velvet makes it sound like we just got our first last year,

.

SignalHillHiker · #8 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 6:58 PM**

P.S. - My fiance is in one of your photos. Second-last one, purple-plaid shirt (NOT the red/black-plaid shirt), right under that chick's elbow.

Taeolas · #9 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 7:06 PM**

I don't follow the bar scene period (Don't drink and too much of an introvert to go out), but as for the Saint John bar that closed/is closing, they cited the reasons as "The bar culture in Saint John is too accommodating". Basically the new generation feels welcome anywhere in SJ, so they weren't able to survive as just a gay bar.

CBC Article

How true that is, I don't know. But all in all, if that is the real reason, then I'd say it says good for the Saint John bar scene in general.

SignalHillHiker · #10 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 7:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taeolas

I don't follow the bar scene period (Don't drink and too much of an introvert to go out), but as for the Saint John bar that closed/is closing, they cited the reasons as "The bar culture in Saint John is too accommodating". Basically the new generation feels welcome anywhere in SJ, so they weren't able to survive as just a gay bar.

CBC Article

How true that is, I don't know. But all in all, if that is the real reason, then I'd say it says good for the Saint John bar scene in general.

Excellent, thank you!

jeddy1989 · #11 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 7:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Make sure you provide some numbers backing up the fact we were one of the first cities in Canada with a gay club - because that article about Velvet makes it sound like we just got our first last year,

.

you're right! that refers to the fact that the longest lived and last going off was the only official gay club , the zone 216, closed and for about a year there wasn't an official club due to the difficulty in acquiring new space down town St. John's with the boom making it more desirable for building owners to rent their spaces as office space. Velvet previously had a night life location in it and the owner (who owned the building as well as the club) just took the space and redesigned it and opened it as Velvet.

we have a very long history of gay night life in St. John's, I'll post some pics from the older clubs in the past

we had a gay club in the 60s when the only other ones in Canada existed in Montreal and Vancouver or something like that .. there were very few ... I can get pics from the clubs in the 70s, I actually just saw some today online (a friend showed me)

CdnEh · #12 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 7:14 PM**

It's unfortunate to see the club go in Saint John.

As a "~straight acting~" member of the LGBT, going to the LGBT-targeted bars makes things a lot easier, whereas when you go to a "regular" bar, you have to sort of "announce" yourself in order to meet anybody because everybody would otherwise think you're straight.

jeddy1989 · #13 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 7:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CdnEh

It's unfortunate to see the club go in Saint John.

As a "~straight acting~" member of the LGBT, going to the LGBT-targeted bars makes things a lot easier, whereas when you go to a "regular" bar, you have to sort of "announce" yourself in order to meet anybody because everybody would otherwise think you're straight.

yeah even if you can go anywhere you still need a watering ground where to meet others even if it's just one club

SignalHillHiker · #14 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 7:19 PM**

Assuming you want to meet club people.

You need the gay-friendly book stores, cafes, sports teams, etc. as well - just so everyone has an outlet.

But that takes critical mass of community.

jeddy1989 · #15 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 7:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Assuming you want to meet club people.

You need the gay-friendly book stores, cafes, sports teams, etc. as well - just so everyone has an outlet.

But that takes critical mass of community.

true.. we have a lot of that stuff too

if you walk around DT you might see stores and restaurants with the pride flag sticker and of course there are a few hotspot cafes

SignalHillHiker · #16 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 7:30 PM**

Yeah, there are even a few gay B&Bs for tourists.

RyeJay · #17 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 11:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taeolas

I don't follow the bar scene period (Don't drink and too much of an introvert to go out), but as for the Saint John bar that closed/is closing, they cited the reasons as "The bar culture in Saint John is too accommodating". Basically the new generation feels welcome anywhere in SJ, so they weren't able to survive as just a gay bar.

CBC Article

How true that is, I don't know. But all in all, if that is the real reason, then I'd say it says good for the Saint John bar scene in general.

My gay friends in Saint John say the actual reason for that gay bar closing is because it was extremely boring, not because the other bars are so accepting.

RyeJay · #18 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 11:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I assume it's gay-friendly there still, though, JHikka? I remember (learned this on SSP) that Halifax's pride parade is a huge deal, especially for a city it's size.

Even though Halifax is very, very far from being the 4th largest city in Canada -- its pride parade is the 4th largest in the nation.

(Sorry, conservative Calgary and Edmonton...)

Source

The magnitude of the event is due to Halifax expanding the gay theme of the parade to a theme of pride for virtually everything: race, gender, religion, sexual orientation (of course), politics, etc...

There are churches that have floats in Halifax's pride parade. It has turned into a major family event.

Another reason why it's so large is because of the large number of gays from New Brunswick and PEI that travel to Halifax to support the event.

RyeJay · #19 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 11:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CdnEh

It's unfortunate to see the club go in Saint John.

As a "~straight acting~" member of the LGBT, going to the LGBT-targeted bars makes things a lot easier, whereas when you go to a "regular" bar, you have to sort of "announce" yourself in order to meet anybody because everybody would otherwise think you're straight.

I've never had to announce myself, per se. My eyes do the talking.

RyeJay · #20 Posted: **Mar 19, 2013, 11:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Assuming you want to meet club people.

You need the gay-friendly book stores, cafes, sports teams, etc. as well - just so everyone has an outlet.

But that takes critical mass of community.

"Club people"? ...

There's a book store in Halifax, called Venus Envy. But it also has sex toys, and a lot of them scare me.

As far as gay cafes?... Umm...like, every Starbucks?