Phoenix - Guide for Gays, Lesbians and Queers

Most of Phoenix’s LGBTQ+ venues are in Central Phoenix. Several bars sit close together along 7th Avenue in the Melrose District. Stacy’s @ Melrose occupies a former church and runs drag shows, DJ nights, karaoke and a Sunday drag brunch. Down the street, Boycott Bar is a lesbian-owned, Latina-led bar that sees itself as a safe space and home base for the wider LGBTQ+ community. A little further west on West Camelback Road, Charlie’s Phoenix is one of the largest LGBTQ+ bars in Arizona, with a big dance floor and a patio with two outdoor bars.

For a lower-key night, Kobalt in the Park Central mall on North Central Avenue is a cocktail bar with drag shows several times a week, karaoke, trivia and a darts league. Cruisin’ 7th on North 7th Street has a lounge with a pool table, a covered patio and a separate show bar. The leather and Levi’s crowd meets at Anvil on East Thomas Road.

Phoenix has two men’s clubs. FLEX Spas Phoenix on South Black Canyon Highway belongs to a small chain with locations in several US cities and has a sauna, steam room, whirlpool, gym and private rooms. The Chute on East Indian School Road is a private men’s club with a gym, aimed mainly at the leather, bear and fetish communities. Both are for men only.

Outside the bars there are community organizations worth knowing. one·n·ten supports LGBTQ+ youth and young adults aged eleven to twenty-four with social groups, housing assistance, health programs, a camp program and job skills training. Its youth center is on Central Avenue in downtown Phoenix, and it also runs programs in Flagstaff, Yuma and other Arizona towns, plus a group for parents and trusted adults. Phoenix Pride organizes the October festival and the spring Rainbows Festival and funds scholarships and grants for other LGBTQ+ nonprofits.