You’ll see pride flags hanging alongside the stars and stripes on the streets of Columbus, so get ready to let your hair down (or, on a bad hair day, hide it under a ‘Make America GAY Again’ hat)!

Short North and Clintonville are two of Columbus’s most popular LGBTQ+ neighborhoods. Short North is an arts district that, with its gallery hop tour, farmer’s market, and contingent of community-run small businesses, attracts a varied crowd. Nearby, the German Village packs excellent sausage and traditionally-made fudge. Clintonville is an emerging lesbian haven, with chic cafés, trendy gastropubs, offbeat clothing shops, and sprawling green spaces – including the Park of Roses – that draw a crowd of cyclists and pedestrians.

All neighborhoods converge for Columbus Pride, which Stonewall Columbus organizes, and always welcomes volunteers. Public opinion polls and institutes, along with academic researchers – and there are plenty around this city! – have noticed that Columbus’s demographics tend toward the out and proud. So come and do a little research of your own!

Are you a bit of the University type? Ohio State University – practically a city itself, with a student body numbering nearly 60,000 – has its main campus in Columbus. Ohio State University is famous for its university press (Any other Robyn Warhol queer feminist stans around, or just us?). The Ohio State Buckeyes excel at varsity sports, including golf, baseball, basketball, and football. The Ohio State University Marching Band is nicknamed The Best Damn Band in the Land, and we invite you to see if that superlative is true! 

Whether you’re a jock, a nerd, or somewhere delightfully in between, you’ll want to vacation (or U-Haul it) to Columbus!

View the index of more than just the best LGBTQ events + gay bars in Columbus, Ohio, United States

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A lesbian, gay, queer, and transgender crowd at a gay club dancing the night way after finding the club on Rainbow Index