Your guide to the best Baltimore gay bars, LGBT venues and events
Maryland, United States
D.C.’s little sister is a vibrant, spunky city populated with a friendly set of locals who, no doubt, give Baltimore its nickname: Charm City.
Explore the progress of LGBTQ+ rights across the world all in an easy to read charts, graphs, and tables. From public sentiment to protections find it all here so you know when holding hands gets you a look or a sentence.
Visit EqualdexThe community agrees that Mount Vernon is the city’s center for culture and kitsch. Mount Vernon’s north side is especially out and proud - hosting the hottest Baltimore gay bars. Karaoke is a special draw here! Another neighborhood worth visiting is Hampden, home to a hip set and host to some quirky alternative eateries, cafés, and shops. As if you’ll miss Hampden’s humongous pink flamingo sculpture in homage to John Waters, who set his legendary film Pink Flamingos in Baltimore.
For a city of just under 600,000 people, Baltimore has a range of cultural and historical offerings, from jazz music to outsider art to community theatre. You’ll learn a thing or two at the National Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center. Bibliophiles delight, because Baltimore has bookshops galore—which isn’t a surprise, since Edgar Allan Poe lived and died (under suitably Gothic mysterious circumstances!) on the city’s streets. The author’s row home operates as the Poe House and Museum. Getting hungry? Baltimore serves up succulent seafood, being set in the Chesapeake Bay—Maryland crab cakes, made with blue crab meat and Old Bay seasoning, are a must-try!
There’s no wrong time to visit Baltimore, but its summertime gatherings at Druid Park, including Pride, film festivals, and African American festivals like AFRAM, are total crowd-pleasers. The city’s population is predominantly African American, and Baltimore’s festivals and museums celebrate this fact. Baltimore isn’t as gritty as the locally set and produced crime drama The Wire might have you believe. The truth is stranger than fiction, and it can be a lot more thrilling, too. See if Charm City can charm you all on its own!
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