Note: My weekend visit was hosted by the official tourism organization,, but all opinions here are my own.A Philadelphia gay bar posted a notice on Facebook last week that it was “officially closed due to hate.” The post was a photo of a flier that blamed its lack of a liquor license on a “well connected wealthy man" motivated by hate.Ĭomments poured in from customers and community members, who began looking into the man, real estate developer David Singer, who had no direct connection with the operations of Boxers PHL, an outpost of a chain of sports bars that serve an LGBTQ clientele. See some photos from my Philly trip below and make sure to follow me on Instagram for more from my travels. The work, created by Isaiah Zagar, was weird and wonderful, and the perfect escape from reality. A funky art gallery built out of a house and yard with colorful and eclectic mosaics set along mirrored pathways in a maze.
Nearby in South Philly, along South Street, the Magic Gardens were especially trippy. Located in the center of Philadelphia, the gayborhood is walking distance to a lot of the city’s best tourist attractions, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Inside Voyeur Nightclub (just before it got crowded)ĭaylight in Philly’s gayborhood was a bit more tame, but in the lovely spring weather, there were still plenty of distractions. Drag shows and themed parties make up the club’s calendar, though all I remember are a bunch of cute boys, pop music, vodka tonics, and losing my shirt in a sweaty dance-off. A runway and stage sit at the center of the club, complete with disco balls hanging from the ceiling. Tavern on Camac was a cute, fun bar with a piano lounge on the ground floor and an upstairs dance club that was unpretentious and just a little slutty.Īnd each night as the bars started to shut down at 2am, the crowds (and myself) made our way to Voyeur Nightclub-a three-level dance club, open until just after 3am. Throughout the weekend, I pretty much hit up as many of the gay bars as I could drink at, visiting some of my favorites repeatedly. Sunset over the Philadelphia skyline at the One Liberty Observation Deck And while the crowd was mixed, it was a good introduction to the Philadelphia gay scene. Every friend I had who has ever passed through Philly told me to go to Woody’s, so naturally, my weekend started there.īoth my Friday and Saturday nights started at Woody’s. It’s hard to miss.Īt the heart of the area is Woody’s -a gay bar that’s expanded to two levels and multiple bars taking up almost an entire chunk of a single city block. Since 2017, the Philadelphia gayborhood has had a rainbow crosswalk and the streets of the neighborhood are all adorned with rainbow-colored street signs. I spotted gay and lesbian couples across town, but most of my weekend was spent in about a 5-block radius in and around the gayborhood (with the occasional excursion a little further for art and food because #culture). Philly’s population of about 1.5 million is comparable to many cities, but the gayborhood was significantly bigger than I’ve ever seen.
The “city of brotherly love” seems to embrace love in all its forms and the gayborhood was better than I could’ve ever imagined. Philadelphia, just two hours from NYC on Amtrak, is easily accessible from here, but the city is also home to an international airport (one of American Airlines’ new hubs with flights as far away as Eastern Europe). And for one wild weekend in the gayborhood, I finally got a small taste. That kind of community spirit and openness is indicative of the kind of community that Philly is really trying to foster. Famously, last year their pride organization even released a new version of the pride flag that incorporated black and brown stripes to be more inclusive of other races part of the LGBTQ community. The city has always had a reputation for being a gay hotspot. So when I got a last minute invitation to visit with my friend Freddy, I jumped at the chance. It’s always been that place I knew I needed to visit, but seemed so inconsequential.
So many of my college friends either moved out to Philly at one point, or went there for extended summers to create art and write music. For years my friends have been trying to convince me to visit Philadelphia.