Gay club night
Pride month: Past &#; Show Knoxville LGBT Gathering Places
(This is a second in a series of articles about Pride and Knoxville&#;s LGBTQ communities by guest writer Oren Yarbrough)
If you walk up to someone in Knoxville and request where the nearest queer bar is they may only be able to name one or two different options. Today, in Knoxville, if you desire to go to an establishment that caters exclusively to the LGBT society and allies then you are likely going to be visiting either Club XYZ or Edge Knoxville. Sassy Ann’s House of Blues is also another Knoxville institution that has not necessarily branded itself as a “Gay Bar”, but has in more recent years garnered a rather loyal group of LGBT patrons. These places are a part of a very large collection of Gay and Female homosexual Bars to have existed in Knoxville over the last half century.
The history of Knoxville Gay bars is fading and will be incomplete as it is written today. Each person I interviewed provided a small bit more detail than the person before on either a person or a lock. I hope to proceed to add to this material in the future. Some of you reading this may have your own fond memories of some of the bars I’ll mention
NIGHTCLUBS BARS BREWERIES
Knoxville LGBTQ Approachable Business Directory
Dance & Late hours Club, Gay Bar, Setting New & Higher Standards for Gay Nightlife in East Tennessee, Voted Knoxville's Best Gay Bar and N. Central Street. Knoxville TN ()
Bar & Grill, Gay Bar, Inhabit Music Venue, Live Shows Friday-Monday. Locally owned LGBTQIA+ bar and grill. Ages 21+ only. Kingston Pike Knoxville TN ()
CHATTANOOGA TN
Alan Gold's McCallie Ave. Chattanooga TN.
COOKVILLE TN
Club TemptationDance & Night Club, Recital & Event Venue, 18yrs old and over. Unite us every Thursday for Trivia, weekends we include Drag shows and Sundays Karaoke. We are a bar for everyone and there is no judgement, leave your drama and worries at the door. We have two pool tables, kitchen with prevent food and smoking patio. Millar Rd Cookeville TN
JOHNSON CITY
New Beginnings Bristol Hwy Johnson City TN @New Beginnings
bernadette's crystal lounge
Bernadette's Crystal Themed Lounge, 32 Market Square, Knoxville TN
Rooftop lock accessed from Bernadette's and Preservation Pub. (Sunday bedtime has been noted as a great night for lgbtq visits.)
Dancing is the ultimate way to heal, celebrate, and uplift yourself and others—and a gay club is more than just a place to dance. With the exhilaration of a pulsing beat and a dark dancefloor, you can meet others over a delicious cocktail or mocktail, and enjoy the help of community. Whether it’s a drag bar or a bear hangout, a lesbian-oriented venue or a fetish club, this roundup of queer bars shows great places to glide the pride flag and rejoice in your have body. Of course, cities like San Francisco and Providence are well-known for having multiple LGBTQ+ clubs to pick from, but small towns with maybe even just one club that you have to drive a few hours to reach make it worth the trip. Plus, where else are you going to gather to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race?
RECOMMENDED: The best LGBTQ+ warm small towns in the US
Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.
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Why it's 'a privilege' for Club XYZ to preserve Knoxville's LGBTQ+ bar scene alive for 20 years
- Club XYZ has been a pillar in Knoxville’s Diverse community for 20 years, providing drag shows and a welcoming atmosphere in Happy Holler.
- Richard Cameron, who started as show director before buying the business, is looking forward to further growing Club XYZ as owner now that his drag persona, Raz Yammers, has retired.
- Club XYZ is an anomaly, as LGBTQ+ bars in Knoxville and beyond have struggled to stay open amid changing social landscapes and challenges caused by COVID
Out loud and proud, Club XYZ is still standing tall after 20 years in the ever-evolving Cheerful Holler neighborhood – as if the bar itself were donning the head-turning heels of its queens – all while standing out as one of Knoxville’s few remaining spaces dedicated to an Homosexual clientele.
Celebrating the milestone in , owner Richard Cameron spoke extensively with Knox News about his Club XYZ journey, from applying as a bartender to being hired as exhibition director to now running the show on a larger scale as owner of the Knoxville homosexual bar. These types of bars are vital institutions in nightlife scenes across the country,
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