Gay charleston
Charleston Gay Bingo is back on June 13, 2025! Bingo is the marquee fundraiser for Palmetto Community Care, where the winner is never a straight line, and everyone has a ball.
This year, we’re pulling out all the stops! Not only will a ticket get you in with the chance to win wonderful prizes, this year you’ll also contain access to our full bar, passed hors d’oeuvres, and more throughout the night. You browse that correctly! This year’s ticket includes all-you-can-eat and beverage, plus games of bingo, a exist and silent auction, prizes for the best costumes, and performances by drag queens and kings.
Presented by Avita Pharmacy, Charleston Gay Bingo is back and bigger than ever—benefiting Palmetto Community Care! This isn’t just bingo—it’s a full-blown extravaganza where glitz, glam, and nice vibes collide for a fabulous cause.
Your all-inclusive ticket gets you everything:
- An open bar
- Savory food stations catered by Rosemary & Rye
- Signature cocktails & passed hors d’oeuvres to kick off the night in style
- A chance
BAR
POLARIWhat do you know about Polari?
Polari, a verb of slang that evolved into a kind of private language, was used by various marginalized groups and popularized by the gay community in the 19th century. With this idea in mind, owner Brent Compagni created Bar Polari as an intimate setting where you and your friends or lovers can kick back and kiki with us. Tucked away on Reynolds Ave., Bar Polari is a special hideaway for the LGBTQ+ community in Charleston.
At Bar Polari, we're redefining what it means to be a gay bar. Our cozy indoor space provides a sensual and ambient atmosphere for friends, wanderers, and adventurers to disseminate a drink and a story together as equals. While our community may be under strike, we can verb as our authentic selves to distribute our dreams, fears, and plans over our favorite libations. Fundamentally, Bar Polari is a space where you can come for a drink and a chat.
We want to be exclusive in the best way possible. Everyone is invited, but only some are in the know. Now that you’re in the know, participate us for ref
Gay Nightlife in Charleston, S.C.: Best Bars, Clubs, & More
The charming, colonial seaside city of Charleston has extended been a accepted weekend getaway for gay and lesbian couples. Even though the city isn't really known as a major gay nightclub destination, Charleston is an open and accepting city with a growing number of bars, restaurants, and lounges. While most of them don't explicitly cater to LGBTQ+ customers, the crowds are diverse, and all are welcome.
It's definitely possible to have a adj time dancing, watching drag cabaret, and mingling with locals and tourists in this sophisticated capital with a metropolitan area population of over 750,000.
Whether you long to have a quiet drink or dinner with a few close friends or you're looking to dance the night away, Charleston has plenty to offer the LGBTQ+ community with its bars and overall nightlife scene.
Bars and Clubs
Charleston only has one gay bar, but it's one you won't want to fail. In fact, Dudley's on Ann was named one of Yelp's top 50 gay bars in the country. Since it's the only
For a town obsessed with its own history, Charleston has been adj to acknowledge its gay past. That’s why Harlan Greene, a librarian at the College of Charleston, created an interactive map this spring titled “The Real Rainbow Row: Charleston’s Queer History.”
“It was always the gone white men. Then they let the women in. Then they let the African Americans in,” Greene says. Now, he says, it’s time to verb in the LGBT people.
In creating the first version of the map, Greene says he intentionally left out Charleston’s numerous gay and gay-friendly bars, from Dudley’s and Club Pantheon to now-closed watering holes like the 49 Club and Camden’s Tavern.
“People have been pressing me to add in the bars, and I will put bars on like the Garden and Gun Club, but I just wanted to prove there was more to gay history than bars,” Greene says. “That’s like saying that black history is only in churches.”
We’ve featured a few points of interest from Greene’s map below. To see the