Denver, CO
Denver’s best LGBTQ bars: A guide to the long-standing gay clubs and a few newbies
Merely putting a Delight flag in a single’s window doesn’t an LGBTQ bar make, however it’s at the least heartening to see the rainbows winding their approach into increasingly more mainstream institutions.
For queer bars, Denverites typically need to look a bit nearer, as town’s LGBTQ cultural scene will not be all the time matched by the prominence or quantity of our golf equipment. We misplaced promising spots corresponding to Sir and seemingly steady venues like Delight and Swagger in latest months, so the remaining names are all of the extra vital.
We’ve additionally seen quite a lot of spots grasp on throughout unimaginable, pandemic-related challenges. Some, such because the Denver Eagle on West Colfax Avenue, even reopened after a six-year closure. In that spirit, right here’s a fast roundup for Delight month and upfront of Denver PrideFest (June 25 and 26), together with legacy bars and a few new(er) names, so that you don’t need to do all of the work your self.
Additionally try our take a look at evolving, post-pandemic queer areas and the altering LGBTQ cultural scene from The Denver Publish’s Tiney Ricciardi.
Tracks Denver
Indisputably Denver’s largest and most vital LGBTQ membership, the present incarnation in what’s now the RiNo Artwork District has over the past 17 years made its title with national-quality drag performances, touring artists and raucous, themed events. Moreover nurturing Denver-based “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winners corresponding to Yvie Oddly and the latest season’s champ, Willow Capsule, it’s bought open mics and hip-hop nights (18 and up!) and three of one of the best dance flooring and DJ setups within the metropolis. The gold customary. 3500 Walnut St., 303-863-7326 or tracksdenver.com
X Bar
Inside strolling distance of downtown Denver in addition to Capitol Hill’s quite a few venues and bars, X Bar is a robust magnet with its enormous patio events and palpable camaraderie. The one-story, dance-friendly house stays busy with karaoke, DJ nights and a wild weekend environment, however Delight month will generate even larger strains down the block. Get there early, or not, and be able to sweat (particularly if it’s at one among their lingerie or leather-based events). Search for #partyyoncolfax on Instagram for a few of the costumed revelers and occasion flyers, from brunches and sing-along nights to queer proms. 629 E. Colfax Ave., 303-832-2687 or xbardenver.com
Boyztown
Lengthy a late-night stop-off on the bustling size of Broadway within the Baker neighborhood, Boyztown payments itself as Denver’s Hottest Male Revue (RIP the previous Compound Basix close by). And you understand what? Most nights they’re not improper, with limber, lower dancers, deft DJs, and a typically high-energy environment that runs till final name. It’s the one solely-male strip membership in that space (or the complete metro space, final I checked), so you will have to endure straight-girl bachelorette and birthday events, even because the bar retains it actual with its loyal workers and clientele. 117 Broadway, 303-722-7373 or boyztowndenver.com
See additionally: The low-key Li’l Devils Lounge on South Broadway. It doesn’t determine itself as an explicitly homosexual bar, however it’s a preferred hangout for older homosexual males occupying the previous Barker Lounge house. fb.com/lildevilslounge
Tight Finish
Queer sports activities bars could seem area of interest however they’re most definitely not, which is why it’s unusual that Denver solely boasts of the sports-focused Tight Finish. Nonetheless, the Metropolis Park West bar — which opened final yr within the gritty Streets Denver punk bar — provides glorious people-watching on its patio, playoff nights on huge screens, trivia, ingesting video games, karaoke and extra. As different guides are fast to level out, it’s simply throughout a busy stretch of East Colfax Avenue from Blush & Blu, a lesbian, queer and trans-centric house with programming galore (see beneath). 1501 E. Colfax Ave. 303-861-9103 or tightendbar.com
Blush & Blu
This busy house has helped fill the hole of Denver’s long-closed Detour, a former lesbian bar, and developed a few of the metropolis’s greatest drag queens, poets, singer-songwriters and stand-up comics on its small stage (see additionally the Mercury Cafe). It’s socially aware and has a stable menu, with the aforementioned, and nationally uncommon, concentrate on lesbian, queer and transgender clientele. Sure, there are vacationers and curious pedestrians, given its proximity to hashish dispensaries and Denver’s first Voodoo Doughnut location, however they’re welcome, too. It’s additionally nice for espresso and chai, because it previously hosted the LGBTQ house tHERe, which had the same menu. 1526 E. Colfax Ave., 303-484-8548 or blushbludenver.com
Charlie’s
Like Tracks Denver, Capitol Hill bar Charlie’s — a part of a Nation Western-themed chain with areas in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Chicago — predates Denver’s inhabitants and building increase by a long time, proudly holding court docket on East Colfax Avenue with indoor and outside occasions starting from beer busts to pull reveals, line-dancing classes and horny go-go boy performances. Cowboy hats and leather-based chaps are all the time welcome, however definitely not mandatory, and the falafel-and-gyros menu might be surprisingly welcome after an evening of themed cocktails and dancing. 900 E. Colfax Ave., 303-839-8890 or charliesdenver.com
Fusions Bar & Grill
This RiNo Artwork District watering gap is the place you go while you need stir-fried noodles and severe drinks, together with an estimable Mongolian grill menu and spectacular concentrate on tropical cocktails (with heaps extra to come back, house owners say). It bravely opened in the course of the pandemic and has sustained itself with a dog-friendly patio and unbelievable, evolving beer choice. An excellent stop-off, or vacation spot in itself. 3053 Brighton Blvd., 303-862-7376 or fusionsdenver.com
R&R Lounge
Traditional in feel and look, with beautiful classic signage and a comfy inside, the R&R is tucked alongside a vibrant stretch of East Colfax Avenue. Its house owners have claimed it’s town’s oldest homosexual bar, having opened within the Nineteen Fifties and gone overtly homosexual within the Seventies, in accordance with Westword, with its immediately recognizable, rainbow-painted door. Assume pleased hours, darts and Broncos video games. 4958 E. Colfax Ave. #1208, 303-320-9337 or yelp.com/biz/r-and-r-lounge-denver-denver (the bar doesn’t have its personal web site).
Commerce
Though it’s not an overtly bear bar — house owners describe it as Denver’s queer, underground fetish bar — it’s a favourite of the bearded, steadily muscle-bound class of homosexual males who describes themselves as such (notably within the absence of the late Denver Wrangler). Commerce additionally helps fill a clean spot in that specific space’s Denver’s homosexual scene, with a perch alongside Santa Fe Drive and numerous programming that ranges from drag reveals and DJ nights to leather-based nights and beer busts. 475 Santa Fe Drive, 720-627-5905 or fb.com/tradedenver
Denver Candy
Is Denver Candy the equal of Minnesota Good? In a approach, possibly, however it’s additionally town’s solely overtly bear-bar and one of many metro space’s greatest rooftop spots, LGBTQ or in any other case. Tasty bar meals and brunch, honeyed clientele and DJs combine for sunny afternoons and breezy nights on a pair of occasion flooring on the former Funky Buddha house, which by no means to appeared to have discovered its area of interest till Denver Candy took over in Could 2019. The house owners — each former DJs on the Wrangler — advised Out Entrance Journal that their aim is to make it a welcoming instance of the bigger bear-bar scene, which doesn’t precisely have a status of all the time being pleasant towards ladies and trans individuals. Thankfully, they appear to be reaching that aim. 776 Lincoln St. 720-598-5648 or denversweet.com
The Triangle Bar
Simply this week, Tasting Desk named this fashionable downtown spot as one of many nation’s greatest LGBTQ bars, having been open in its present incarnation since early 2018. The title stretches again to the Seventies when the slim brick constructing hosted a homosexual membership referred to as Triangle, and was a tryout spot for varied, unsuccessful bars and craft eating places after the unique Triangle closed within the early 2000s. Its resurrection has introduced again queer stand-up, big-name drag queens, “Actual Housewives”-themed brunches and a secure LGBTQ house to a central and glossy location. 2036 N. Broadway, 303-658-0913 or thetriangledenver.com
Hamburger Mary’s Denver
Lengthy a food-and-drinks vacation spot, the Denver outlet of this North American chain additionally provides reliably colourful programming and a comfortable environment for informal stop-ins and events, with plenty of gender variety (and cis-het allies) along with LGBTQ patrons. Having moved west on seventeenth Avenue awhile again to a smaller, extra good-looking house, it’s typically filled with wild partiers on drag-queen and different present nights. And but, it’s all the time pleasant and accessible. 1136 E. seventeenth Ave., 303-993-5812 or milehighmarys.com
Lucid
Barely a yr outdated, Lucid is one other upstart that’s managed to carry on by way of nightmarish challenges for the service trade. It’s a welcome addition to the scene, with a neon-spiked profile amid the standard programming (trivia, lip-sync battles, drag reveals, and many others.). It additionally provides curios corresponding to velocity courting, and a notable lineup of racially numerous performers which can be typically laborious to search out at different LGBTQ bars (Latinx Couture? Sure, please). Search for this “disco bar” above Kyu Ramen, because it’s a second-story house. 600 E. Colfax Ave., no telephone quantity is accessible. luciddenver.com
#Vybe
Like Lucid, #Vybe contains a bit extra variety than many homosexual bars, with drag queens of shade and high touring queens like Adore Delano swinging by way of often, along with stand-up comedy, sport nights, Denver Broncos events (the cheerleaders even stopped in for a present just lately) and plenty extra. It’s arguably the one overtly LGBTQ spot within the ritzy, gallery-heavy Golden Triangle neighborhood, though it strains the identical public-transportation hall as Denver Candy, Li’l Devils, Boyztown and others. 1027 N. Broadway, 720-573-8886 or 303vybe.com
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It was a youth league play. Only the youth leaguer sitting next to me would never have done it.
“That’s illegal,” Easton English said. The 8-year-old from Parker then rose higher in his seat in Section 126 at Coors Field. “That is Illegal!”
Sure is. When you’re on the express train to 100-plus losses, you’re going to come up with creative ways to lose over 162 games. The Rockies managed to find a new one on Saturday against the big, bad Yankees.
The Local Nine gave up a 10-spot in the top of the fifth that featured three walks, seven hits, 14 batters and a viral moment from second baseman Adael Amador.
As Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt looped a single over the infield and into short right, the sublime gave way to ridiculous. At game speed, Amador appeared to lose his glove in midair as the ball went whizzing over his head. Only on replay, it didn’t look as much “lose his glove” as “fling his glove at the ball during mid-flight.”
“I haven’t talked to him about that,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said after Colorado was smushed, 13-1, dropping to 9-43 in a season that’s still got 110 games left. “I’m not quite sure what that was. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Actually, young Easton already did. MLB rule 5.06 (4) (C) awards the batter and runner three bases if the fielder is adjudged to have deliberately thrown his glove at a live batted ball and said glove touches that ball. There’s no penalty if the ball is not touched or the removal is perceived to have been accidental. Amador told The Post’s Corey Masisak, through an interpreter, that the glove accidentally slipped. The umpiring crew agreed.
Amador stayed in the game. Goldschmidt’s single made it 9-1 Yankees. The Bronx Bombers plated two more after that to put the game away, so the airborne glove became a moot point.
But back in Section 126, where Easton was watching the game with his family, it became another Rockies learning experience. Another perfect example of what not to do.
Easton, you see, is a center fielder with the Parker Knights 8-and-under baseball team. His father, Kevin English, is one of the Knights’ assistant coaches.
“You ever see a flying glove in Parker?” I asked Kevin.
“Never seen it,” he replied.
“You ever teach a flying glove in Parker?” I asked.
“Never would teach that,” he countered. “Don’t think it would ever come up beyond t-ball.”
English brought the crew to 20th & Bleak because it was a rare Saturday matinee and because Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was in town. He expected some jaw-dropping moments. He didn’t count on a teaching one.
“I mean, that was like 8U ball, that one,” Kevin said. “That many runs (in an inning)? That’s what youth baseball is all about.”
Come for the party deck, stay for the life lessons. The Rockies are 2-10 since firing manager Bud Black, and Colorado finishes May with the Cubs and Mets on the road.
“Everybody knows it’s not Bud’s fault,” Kevin said. “That’s a good baseball guy right there.”
Kevin knows good baseball guys. In the English family, the pastime is more than a legacy deal — it runs in the blood. Kevin’s dad, Randy, was a pitcher at Oklahoma State in the late ’70s. As a Poke, his position coach was Tom Holliday — father of Rockies legend Matt Holliday and grandpa of next-gen baseball standouts Jackson and Ethan.
“Every now and then, (my dad messages me), ‘Hey, the Rockies, they just (stink), don’t they?’” Kevin chuckled. “I’m like, ‘Yeah.’”
Yet English wants to watch the games with his son, the way his dad watched games with him. Even if it means forking over $89.99 to the team directly for streaming access, or $19.99 per month.
“I like bringing my son out because I’m trying to teach him young,” Kevin continued. “It’s a game of failure, right? … You’re going to fail more than you succeed. ‘Watch them do the little things. Watch them hustle. Watch them just do little things over and over before the play.’”
Watch them chuck a glove at a single while it’s in the air!
“It’s kind of funny, because my son never really showed a ton of interest in baseball (before this year),” said Kevin, who, yes, named his Easton after the iconic baseball equipment company.
“I never made him play. I’m not going to be like that. But this year, kind of his first year at it, we’re going pretty good.”
In fact, Dad says, their Knights had more wins (12) than the Rockies (nine) as of Saturday night. Must be the coaching.
“Are you rooting for the Rockies or Yankees?” I asked Easton.
“Yankees.”
“How come?”
“Aaron Judge.”
“What advice would you give Rockies players right now?”
“They should pretend it’s a scrimmage and have fun. Don’t worry if people are on base. Just do what you do.”
Please don’t.
“You know, (Easton) asked me, ‘Are the Rockies any good?’ It’s like, ‘They’re not that good, no. But, you know, they have been good. They have been to a World Series. Rocktober, that was fun.’
“But you just tell them, like, ‘Hey, you’re going to be on teams that aren’t always the best, right? They’re not always good, but your attitude and effort is what you can control when you go out there and you play hard, right?’ So, yeah. You know, (the Rockies) are not going to be bad forever.”
He chuckled again.
“At least, you hope not.”
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Originally Published:
A metro Denver man kidnapped four women at gunpoint and sexually assaulted them after he found them on hookup websites, according to an arrest affidavit.
Glen Orion Meridith, 36, was arrested May 13 on suspicion of eight counts of sexual assault, three counts of kidnapping and menacing and one count of assault related to drugging a victim.
Aurora and Denver police identified Meridith while investigating four assaults across the two cities in December, January, February and March, detectives wrote in the affidavit.
The assaults followed a similar pattern — Meridith would meet the women, some of whom were escorts, through websites or apps for personal ads, including the site “Mega Personals.”
He would then pick up the victims in his red Jeep and, in some cases, give them money before he pulled out a gun and pressed it to their necks or temples. He threatened them and forced them into the back seat, where the doors were locked with child locks, then took their phones and sexually assaulted them multiple times.
Meridith would sometimes snort or smoke cocaine and drink during the assaults and record them on his phone, investigators said. He forced one of the women to take cocaine during an assault.
Several of the women reported choking, struggling to breathe and vomiting during the assaults, police wrote.
With two victims, he accused them of being responsible for him being robbed after previous “hookups,” but the women told police they had never met Meridith before. In one incident, Meridith kept the victim in his car for 13 hours after the assault as he drove around Denver before she was able to escape, investigators said.
After the other assaults, Meridith would drive to a different location and threaten to kill the women if they didn’t leave immediately.
Investigators believe there may be other victims in the case, and anyone with information can contact the Denver Police Sex Crimes Unit at 720-913-6040.
Meridith is in custody at the Denver County Jail on a $1 million bond. He’s set to appear in court on June 12.
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Denver, CO
Denver sues Trump administration over threat to withhold $600 million in transportation funding
Denver this week sued the Trump administration over its threat to withhold as much as $600 million in federal transportation funding if the city refuses to align its politics with the president’s stances on issues of immigration and diversity.
Denver joined nearly three dozen other cities and counties in the 105-page lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
The cities and counties take issue with U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s April memo that warned local jurisdictions they could lose access to federal transportation funding if they do not comply with the Trump administration’s positions on both immigration enforcement and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Any program or policy “designed to achieve so-called ‘diversity, equity and inclusion,’ or ‘DEI,’ goals, presumptively violates federal law,” Duffy warned in the memo. Localities receiving federal funds must also fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement or risk losing the money, he wrote.
The cities and counties that sued argue the new federal conditions on awarding the funding are unconstitutional and that the Trump administration does not have the authority to set conditions beyond what Congress has established.
“The Trump administration is willfully breaking the law and, in ignoring the separation of powers between Congress and the White House, violating the bedrock constitutional foundation on which our country was built,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said in a statement Friday.
Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is the recipient of about $300 million in federal funding, while Denver International Airport received about $310 million between the 2022 and 2024 fiscal years, according to the mayor’s office.
The airport is expected to be eligible for an additional $267 million in grants from 2025 to 2028, a city spokesman said in a news release.
Across the almost three dozen cities and counties that are suing — including San Francisco, New York, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Nashville, Tennessee — almost $4 billion in awarded or soon-to-be awarded federal funding is at risk, the lawsuit alleges.
“Allowing the unlawful grant conditions to stand would negatively impact Plaintiffs’ committed budgets, force reductions in their workforce, and undermine their ability to determine for themselves how to meet their communities’ unique needs,” the lawsuit says.
The effort is Denver’s second lawsuit this month against the Trump administration. The city last week joined a lawsuit with Chicago after the Federal Emergency Management Agency refused to pay Denver $24 million in previously awarded grant money.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Denver and Colorado earlier in May over state and local laws that limit how much local police can cooperate with federal immigration officials.
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Originally Published:
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