Providence - Guide for Gays, Lesbians and Queers

For a city its size, Providence carries an unusually dense set of bars. Mirabar on Elbow Street is the oldest continually operating gay bar in Rhode Island and among the oldest anywhere in the country — reason enough to make the trip.

Downtown you will find The Stable, the address locals name first, known for its weekly Sangria Sundays. A few streets over on Snow Street, The Dark Lady runs drag shows, karaoke and themed dance parties. Its smaller sister bar, the Alley Cat, sits right next door and offers the opposite: dark wood, a snug room, a mixed crowd, drag and trivia nights. EGO Providence is where people go to dance, and the Providence Eagle covers the leather end of things.

The venues cluster together. Most are walkable or a short bus ride apart, so an evening across three of them takes no planning at all.

The date that anchors the year is Rhode Island PrideFest in June, held at I-195 District Park: live music, drag, dance floors, vendor booths. Its signature is the Illuminated Night Parade, a procession through downtown after dark and a rarity among American Pride events. Drag trivia also turns up in rooms that are not scene venues as such, among them Moniker Brewery and Black Sheep. For anyone curious about how all of this came about, Rhode Tour offers a walking tour of the state's queer history.