I Went to a Gay Bar Once

I’m starting to get the hang of title creation, but my titles always turn into click bait. Nonetheless, here’s the story.

In September of last year I visited Seattle with my sister. This was my first time visiting the Pacific Northwest. Growing up, I was a fan of the Seattle music scene and couldn’t wait to see where these musicians lived and got their creative influence. I was excited.

Upon my arrival, it was just what I thought it would be, coffee shops as far as the eye could see, street musicians filling the air with their music, and hipsters camping on the sidewalk waiting for the latest iPhone release (I would later find out these were not hipsters, they were just homeless people).

When we met up with our cousin and his boyfriend we agreed on going to a bar. We were all above the age of 21, so what else is there to do socially? It was suggested we go to their favorite bar called “Queer/Bar” (I thought the title was a little on the nose).

After walking a couple blocks from their apartment, we finally made it to the bar. I had never been to a gay bar before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know the culture either. Are there different rules? Do I give the bouncer a housewarming gift in lieu of cash for the cover? Was I supposed to bring a pie? All of these questions filled my head, but there wasn’t time to ponder, it was time to enter. The new question entered my mind. What was going to happen when I walked through the doors of “Queer/Bar?”

It turns out; it was just a bar, nothing to it. This was just a bar full of people drinking and singing karaoke. Nice decor inside, friendly patrons who were welcoming, and a kind bartender that was patient with me even though I only ordered water. In fact, it was the most normal experience of my trip out west. I was kind of disappointed. That was until the main event of the evening began.

We happened to have visited the bar on “Burlesque Karaoke” night. This is a Wednesday night event were people dress up in burlesque outfits and sing karaoke (the title kind of gives it away). For me to say it was crazy would be an understatement. Everyone was singing karaoke and getting the same energy from the crowd, it didn’t matter how inexperienced of a singer they were, everyone was going insane.

One of the events of the night I remember was when I saw an individual wearing knee high Doc Martens, with really tight short jean shorts (I swear to god I wasn’t looking), a tank top, and police hat. Another was dressed as a cheerleader and five others were dressed as burlesque dancers. I was wearing a flannel and jeans (I thought this was the Seattle look, apparently it wasn’t, at least not for this establishment).

After we left the club, we went to another bar. This one was pretty dead, which was okay with me. The low volume was the perfect opportunity to catch up with my cousin and ask the question “what did I just see?”

It turns out we were in the Capital Hill neighborhood of Seattle where most of Seattle’s LGBTQ+ community live. Despite it being a Wednesday, everyone was partying like it was a Friday. According to my cousin, this was normal as every night is a party night in Capitol Hill. Personally, I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience. At first, I was a little nervous as to what to expect, but everyone was cool and welcoming even with me being straight. I thought I was going to stick out in an awkward way, but I couldn't have been more wrong. This was one of the most fun, welcoming and accepting groups I had ever met.

On a side note, the bar we went to after “Queer/Bar” was also a gay bar. I knew this because they had a special “half off all drinks for those wearing leather.”

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This week I tried to write about something current, but couldn’t think of anything besides being in quarantine. I think until I’m allowed back out of the house to do normal people stuff I’ll just write stories about my adventures within the last five years.

Once again, thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions for future posts let me know. If you enjoyed the post, please feel free to share it.

P.S. Sorry about the long read. There was just no way to condense this story into 300 words.