Worcester - Guide for Gays, Lesbians and Queers

Worcester's queer infrastructure is small but well rooted. Two bars form the core, alongside organisations that have been around for decades and an unusually well documented local history.

The MB Lounge at 40 Grafton Street is the city's oldest continuously operating gay bar and is still LGBT owned and operated. It works as a neighbourhood bar with a large dance floor, dance party nights and weekly trivia, and entry is 21 and over with valid ID. Femme at 62 Green Street is a lesbian bar and restaurant open to the wider queer community. Founded by married couple Danielle Spring and Julie Toupin, it hosts drag shows, karaoke, trivia, a book club and live local music on Friday evenings, and it has become a go-to spot for watching women's sports. Worcester has no known gay sauna.

A key point of contact is AIDS Project Worcester at 165 Southbridge Street. It offers testing for HIV, hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as vaccines, counselling and practical support. It also houses SWAGLY, Supporters of Worcester Area GLBTQ+ Youth, a social support club for LGBTQIA+ young people aged 11 to 18 and their allies. The group has been running since the mid-eighties, meets weekly for games, films and conversation, and belongs to the statewide AGLY Network. AIDS Project Worcester is also the fiscal sponsor of Pride Worcester.

For local history, the Worcester County LGBTQ+ History Project is the place to start. It is a partnership between the Worcester Historical Museum, Digital Worcester, Clark University, the College of the Holy Cross and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The project produced the exhibition "LGBTQ+ Worcester For the Record" and a set of digital walking tours. One of them traces former gay bars around Main Street, from the cocktail lounge of the Coronado Hotel on the Common to Isaiah's on Thomas Street and Club 241 on Southbridge Street.