Your guide to the best Des Moines gay bars, LGBT venues and events
Iowa, United States
Des Moines hosts United States presidential candidates' debates every election cycle, but there's no arguing that this city is a welcoming place to visit!
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 capital of Iowa, Des Moines offers American Midwestern hospitality and big city entertainment options. Downtown Des Moines gay bars and pubs offer up some classic Americana—think jukeboxes, tiki cocktails, and retro stylings—alongside the usual community faves, like drag shows and leather or bear subculture nights. Craft cocktail lovers will be thrilled with the offerings here! Karaoke is extra-popular in Des Moines, maybe because it’s more fun to belt out the classics than watch politicians shout at each other. The Des Moines River separates the two downtown neighborhoods with the most LGBTQ+ nightlife, East Village and the Court District, but it’s easy to get from one side to the other. From the Court District, Locust Street, swarming with watering holes, turns into E Locust Street in East Village. If only presidential political divisions were this easy to bridge…
You’ll notice that nightclub shows look like performance art and venues’ walls are lined with local artists’ work. In the daytime, Des Moines keeps showing off its artistic side. In the Court District, the Des Moines Art Center houses paintings by renowned American artists like Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Jasper Johns. The Pappajohn Sculpture Park outside the center is as walkable as its 28 sculptures by American and international sculptors are Instagrammable. Even politics have a pretty face here: the Iowa State Capitol building, crowned by a central roof dome lined with 23-carat gold, is anything but drab!
Hoping to buy some artwork? The Des Moines Arts Festival in late June offers visual art for sale, plus you can take in film screenings and theater performances. As the state’s capital, Des Moines hosts the Iowa State Fair for ten days in August. Des Moines has a very full social calendar: Capital City Pride hosts galas, speeches, and events year-round. So does the Des Moines Pride Center, which also runs a lending library for members. The First Friday Breakfast Club, a club for trans, bisexual, and gay men (but welcomes their allies and offers a one-time option for tourists), meets on—you guessed it—the first Friday of every month for breakfast with a speaker. Look forward to a big Midwestern welcome when visiting the Des Moines gay bars!
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