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Partying with Pride: Three Las Vegas LGBT bars steeping the nightlife scene in character and connection

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The Phoenix
Courtesy

The LGBT community hasn’t always had the privilege of partying out in the open. So when the opportunity to do so does come, it’s a celebration of so many things. It’s a time of expression. A time of jubilance and pride. A time to revel in the freedom of identity.

Las Vegas’ LGBT bar scene has changed a lot over the years, but through it all, these three standouts haven’t wavered in their commitment to diverse nightlife.

The Phoenix

4213 W. Sahara Ave., 702-826-2422, facebook.com/thephoenixlv

When you’re the entertainment director and party host of a bar like the Phoenix, you kind of have to be ready for anything. And Keyska Diva is flexible.

“We’re a one-story building, but I’ve been lifted into the air as Elphaba [in Wicked],” she says. “I got lowered down as a disco ball for New Year’s.”

Shawn Hunt, an owner of the distinguished gay bar, nods enthusiastically next to her. “When we had her fly, a guy in the front row was like, ‘You better fly, bitch!’”

And that’s about as subtle as the Phoenix gets.

Since Hunt and his partners transformed Escape Lounge into the Phoenix eight years ago, it has become one of the hottest alternative bars in town. On any given night, patrons can catch a drag-lesque show or a fully casted Broadway production. Year-end ragers like the Fancy as F*ck fashion ball always pack the venue, as do WAP Wednesdays and karaoke nights.

“I’ve worked at almost every gay bar in town, and this is definitely my favorite,” says Diva, whose past involvements with Krave, Flex, Piranha and Sunkissed Sundays read like a CV of local LGBT hits.

The Phoenix tops her list for several reasons, chief among the way it champions inclusivity. The bar welcomes women regularly on ladies nights and has become one of the first to invite them to participate in underwear nights, a historically male tradition.

“We also have a lot of cross dressers that come in, and they can’t just go anywhere and feel safe when they’re dressed up, because a lot of them are straight men,” Diva says. “They feel that if they go to another venue, other people will judge them. When they come here, they feel very safe.”

Those who frequent the Phoenix know they belong. Some couples have even gotten married there and named their children after the place.

The Phoenix will celebrate this month with Pride-lesque dinners, an afterparty following Downtown’s parade and other events you can find on the Facebook page (facebook.com/thephoenixlv).

As for what to expect? It’s hard to say with a bar this whimsical. But, as Hunt assures, “We will bring a party.”

Fun Hog Ranch

495 E. Twain Ave., 702-791-7001, funhogranchlv.com

You won’t find any pageantry at Fun Hog Ranch. Nor will you find anyone lip-syncing for their lives. Folks don’t come to one of the oldest gay dives in Las Vegas for fanfare. They come for the warm welcome.

The Fun Hog

The Fun Hog

“Our selling point is always having the friendliest bartenders in town,” says general manager Will Glenn, who sees a healthy mix of tourists and locals due to the bar’s proximity to the Strip.

“We don’t do entertainment. We don’t do anything else. We just provide a safe environment for people in our community and people outside of our community who are advocates for us,” he continues. “We don’t turn anybody away.”

That’s been the motto of this rustic, no-frills dive for the past 15 years. Glenn, who previously ran the Western-themed Charlie’s, has been in the bar business for more than 20 years, and in that time, he’s learned a lot, most importantly how to treat a customer.

“It takes a special person to be a bartender, and a good one at that,” he says. “I can teach anybody to bartend, but I can’t teach them how to be a bartender. They’ve got to have a personality trait.”

Regulars often frequent Fun Hog just to chat with Glenn’s bartenders over cheap drinks and gaming. And though the bar might not indulge in spectacle, there’s no shortage of themed nights, like Bears Roam the Ranch and the Levi & Leather Social.

Dives like Fun Hog are reminiscent of historic West Hollywood bars like the Mother Lode, where cruising and meeting new people was possible in an unpretentious playground.

“These apps have pretty much changed dating life in the gay community,” Glenn says. “We always get those people who come in like, ‘Have you seen this guy?’ And they’ll flash a picture [on their phone], and I’m like, ‘Yeah, he’s sitting right over there. Why don’t you go talk to him like a normal human being?’ We encourage it!”

Fun Hog also encourages the LGBT community to take care of itself. The bar partners with the Southern Nevada Health District to offer free HIV and syphilis testing on-site, and works with nonprofits such as the Sin Sity Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who raise money for HIV medication, provide monkeypox educational materials for the bar and more.

“I truly love every single person in these charity organizations, and I love what they do for us in our community,” Glenn says. “I’ll never stop helping them.”

The Garden

1017 S. 1st St. #180, 702-202-0900, thegardenlasvegas.com

No Vegas gay bar hop would be complete without a tiptoe through the Garden. Two years ago, nightlife impresario Eduardo Cordova opened the Arts District venue, which had been on his mind for more than a decade.

The Garden

The Garden

Following the closure of Liaison, the Strip’s first gay nightclub (which Cordova opened with Victor Drai), Cordova vowed to make his next venture something purely his own. “I thought about what if it’s not on the Strip?” he says. “Would the gays still come?”

In droves, it turns out.

Las Vegas’ gay party prince helped put LGBT nightlife on the local map at a time when tension was at its highest. “There was no equality. Gays couldn’t marry,” Cordova remembers. “The whole gay thing in Las Vegas was a taboo. Vegas was pretty much created in the straight world.”

His ambition to see the city become the next gay party destination brought us illustrious events like Closet Sundays at Cat House, Bare’s gay pool party Heaven and Sunkissed Sundays, which still lives on as Temptation Sundays at the Luxor 14 years later.

The Garden is the culmination of all that and then some. Queens rule the roost at this chic and modern gem, putting on some of the most performative drag shows you can find while noshing on Strip-quality brunch with patrons of all orientations and generations. It’s the kind of place where you recognize people. Divas from RuPaul’s Drag Race and even Cher have made appearances.

“I didn’t want to just create one bar; I wanted to create a community and grow, no pun intended, with the Garden,” Cordova says. “Grow a little district where we could invite other gay-owned and gay-operated businesses into this destination.”

During the pandemic lockdowns, the Garden was one of the only bars allowed to remain open, because it had a kitchen. Cordova used that time to kick-start his communal vision, inviting workers from gay bars around town to visit.

All are welcome to lounge in the Garden, and Cordova is hopeful that one day that affirmation will apply to the whole neighborhood.

“This is where the gay district should be. So my mission that I’ve taken up on myself is that,” he says. “What’s the health of the queer scene right now? I feel we could do better. But I’m so happy that we have more. I feel like this is the best time to be queer.”

Pride-related and ongoing LGBT parties

Las Vegas Pride Parade October 7, 4th Street, lasvegaspride.org

Pride on the Cone After Party October 7, We All Scream, weallscream.com

Queer Circus with Eureka O’ Hara October 7, the Garden, thegardenlasvegas.com

Social Las Vegas’ Pride Weekend for Queer Womxn October 7-9, various locations, instagram.com/socialeventsent

Body Work Queer Dance Party October 7, 14 & 21, Cheapshot, bodywork.club

Las Vegas Pride Festival October 8, Craig Ranch Regional Park, lasvegaspride.org

Elevate Pride Pool Party October 9, Sahara, saharalasvegas.com

Starfire LGBTQ Party Every third Saturday, Starbase, starbaselv.com

Shade Thursdays Thursdays, the Garden, thegardenlasvegas.com

Neon Rabbit Variety Show Saturdays, Badlands Saloon, badlandsbarlv.com

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Amber Sampson

Amber Sampson is a Staff Writer for Las Vegas Weekly. She got her start in journalism as an intern at ...

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