Though there are gay people and gay businesses throughout Seattle, Capitol Hill is traditionally the gay neighborhood, and it’s where you’ll find most of the gay bars, the city’s only lesbian bar, and a few zany crosswalks painted the colors of the rainbow.
BARS
Pony
CAPITOL HILL
Pony has an outdoor fire pit, fantastic bartenders, clever DJs, and vintage gay porn (i.e., huge dicks) wheat-pasted to the walls. Plus, there’s a photo booth. Plus, a glory hole in the bathroom. Once I showed up on a Tuesday for karaoke, and the entire cast of a touring production of The Book of Mormon was there, singing their hearts out.
Madison Pub
CAPITOL HILL
A sports bar for men who like men, with TVs, darts, pool, video games, and pull tabs. It’s popular, crowded, and unpretentious.
Diesel
CAPITOL HILL
Just steps away from Madison Pub and Pony, this bar caters to bears and the cubs who love them.
Wildrose
CAPITOL HILL
The only bar in the city for women who date women has bingo, trivia, and queer songwriter showcases every week.
Queer/Bar
CAPITOL HILL
This bar is trying to do something unique by being a bar for the entire queer community including trans folks, nonbinary people, lesbians, and good-old-fashioned gay men. They also have regular drag performances on the weekends.
The Cuff
CAPITOL HILL
A leather bar that’s frequently crowded with kinksters, jocks, pups, poz socials, and subs willing to shine your shoes, it also has a large outdoor patio. Seattle Men in Leather meet at the Cuff, and lots of gay sports teams have their social functions there. There are several different areas to hang out in, which makes hiding from your ex much easier.
The Eagle
CAPITOL HILL
They have underwear parties on Saturdays, a urinal trough, video projections, an outdoor patio, and screamingly fun parties.
Neighbours
CAPITOL HILL
This is where the dancing happens. Raised platforms, disco lights, etc. Once a stalwart testament to enduring gayness, Neighbours these days welcomes more and more bachelorette parties. But with more than 30 years under its belt—the place is older than most of its clientel—Neighbours still hosts plenty of queer nights.
CC’s Seattle
CAPITOL HILL
The best night to visit CC’s is the first Saturday of the month—kink night. Guys dress up in the most amazing stuff (or sometimes almost nothing at all). On other nights, go for the slide show of naked men on the TVs, the pool table, and the darts.
Union
CAPITOL HILL
This gay bar and cocktail lounge features outdoor seating and a menu of appetizers, flatbread pizzas, paninis, burgers, salads, and sandwiches, along with spirits, wines, and beer on tap. (EVEROUT STAFF)
Kremwerk, the Timbre Room, and Cherry Nightclub
DOWNTOWN
Kremwerk, located downstairs, is sometimes like a Berlin techno club and sometimes like a punk drag performance venue. Go on the drag nights—but be prepared to get a little blood on you if you sit in the front row. Upstairs is the tiny, fun Timbre Room, and there’s also Cherry on the ground level, which culture writer Jas Keimig called the “most spacious and femme-iest club of the bunch.”
Changes
WALLINGFORD
This is North Seattle’s gay bar and the closest gay bar to the University of Washington. They have pool, darts, Seahawks parties, and karaoke multiple nights a week.
The Lumber Yard Bar
WHITE CENTER
This White Center gay bar is lumber-jack-themed. They’ve got tacos and trivia on Tuesdays, lesbian karaoke on Wednesdays, and kink night on the first Monday of every month.
SHOPS
Babeland
CAPITOL HILL
Vibrators on display, classes on everything from rope bondage to strap-ons to erotic massage, and a friendly staff, Babeland is perfectly suited to women who date women—but gay guys, straight couples, and folks across the spectrum are also welcome.
Doghouse Leathers
CAPITOL HILL
This place has handmade leather apparel, pup supplies, bondage toys galore, dirty magazines, and a sexy staff.
PUBLIC SEX & BATHHOUSES
Most people who want sex right now just get it through their smartphone. Nevertheless, if you want to tromp around an outdoor setting making eye contact with strangers for old time’s sake, Volunteer Park is your best bet. (Note: Being naked in Seattle is not illegal, but “lewd conduct”—touching yourself or someone else who is naked—is.) For sanctioned public indoor sex, there are two bathhouses in town: Steamworks caters to a slightly younger crowd than Club Z, but both are for filthy men and the filthy men who love them.
