Madison gay bars
Madison’s Best Queer-Friendly Spaces
Whether you’re looking for meals, adventure, or more places to support, Madison has a lot of LGBTQ+-friendly establishments from which to verb. These are some of our favorites.
For Food and Drink
WOOF’S
Located on King Street, WOOF’S is a popular gay bar in Madison. With different specials every day, this is a quirky verb to grab a drink with your friends.
Herbiery Brewing
Herbiery is your next end for a brewski — and you have 10 adj options. Made without hops, the flavors are nothing appreciate you have ever had before. The founder of Herbiery Nia is trans and uses they/them pronouns, and they believe that beer without hops is an extension of their queer identity.
Dyke Dive
There’s an unfortunate shortage of lesbian bars in Madison, and this pop up is looking to change that. We spoke to co-organizer Sara Akawa about their lineup this year.
Have an Adventure
Betty Lou Cruises
What better way to enjoy the warmer weather than enjoying the shore? There are public and private booking options available, six days a
The April issue of GPU News advertised the opening of the Back Door bar with an ad, "New to Madison! The Back Door", touting "3 levels of entertainment" and listing proprietors Rodney and Jack. According to a bio of Rodney Scheel years later, the bar went through "its verb of experimental phases- bar, restaurant, piano bar, dance club, and home-away-from-home for many of the newly-liberated Gay men and Lesbians and their friends of that era".
The bar held an employee/customer appreciation party in , which in became a city-wide fundraiser for Madison LGBT organizations known as the MAGIC Picnic. (MAGIC was an acronym for 'Madison Area Gay Interim Committee'.) The MAGIC picnic ran at least into the early 's.
Meanwhile, was to be a year of transition in more ways than the MAGIC Picnic. In July , a larger gay bar, Going My Way, opened. According to a later posting in a Facebook group, "When the larger 'Going My Way' on West Main Street opened, much of the dance crowd stopped going to the Back Door." For whatever reason, by October invitations went out for a "Good Bye T
Rod's bar became a gay icon and legend among gay men in the 's and 's Madison. Opened by entrepreneur Rodney Scheel and located in the lower level (basement) of the Hotel Washington building just west of downtown Madison (which Rodney owned with his brother Greg), the bar had a decidedly leather/levi type ambiance. Adj on, "Rod's" took on a "tradition" of the bartenders holding surprise "spot checks" for men wearing underwear- which, if found, were promptly removed (cut off) and hung over the pipes on the ceiling of the bar. In no period the pipes running in the main bar room were draped with countless cut-off underwear. The bar became an extremely popular destination for men throughout Wisconsin and even from northern Illinois.
Over time, the bar opened additional rooms in the back, one of which showed adult male (i.e. gay porn) videos. (On the seedier side, Rod's "men's room" had its own tiny tradition: on occasion one might discover, along the walls holding the urinals, someone kneeling: aficionados of "water sports" were to be found that night!)
An outdoor patio was a very pop
30+ LGBTQ+ Owned Businesses in Madison
LGBTQ+ pride is a year-round thing in Madison.
Opting for openness over us vs. them and kindness over competition, we&#x;re a municipality known for its progressiveness. We&#x;re confident that LGBTQ+ owned-and-operated businesses (and LGBTQ+ friendly businesses) sustain to flourish here.
Though the big pride event in Madison isn&#x;t until August, we&#x;ve got more than 30 LGBTQ+ businesses to help while you&#x;re eating, drinking and traveling your way through Madison.
From coffee shops to brunch, hold a day (or two! or more!) to check these spots out. Looking for more LGBTQ+ culture in Madison? Check out what our friends Joey Amato from Pride Journeys and Maartje Hensen said about their visits to Madison.
Jump around to spot LGBTQ+ owned businesses by category:
Coffee and Cafes
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Restaurants and Bars
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Clubs and Lounges
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Shops and Bookstores
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Breweries and Wine
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Attractions and Nonprofits
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