Gay club stories

Often, your local gay bar or club is the only public place you can party as a queer person without the fear of being judged or threatened for simply being yourself. But at the same time, the idea of striding into a gay venue for the first time can be intimidating for young LGBTQ people — especially anyone new to exploring their sexuality.

To find out what the experience means to people club Europe, we spoke to queer people from six different countries and asked them to describe what their first visit to gay gay club was like. Some of the bars were full of women, others were packed with men. In one of the latter ones, we were treated like queens for being the only women there.

I never thought I could feel so safe in a two-storey building filled story hunky men. I felt free in there — like we were all in on a secret nobody else knew about.

27 Times What Happened In The Gay Bar Didn't Stay In The Gay Bar

I could be myself and not have to worry about what other people would think if I kissed a girl. I was 17 and gay out with two friends when another mate suggested we meet him at Station des Artistes, a gay bar in my home city of Pau, in the southwest of France. So I decided, mainly out of curiosity, that it was time to try it out.

Almost as soon as I walked in, I felt intimidated and embarrassed — almost guilty. But most people there were in their thirties and forties, and seemed fairly comfortable. One of them left with my best friend, and they ended up going out for three years. I guess that night feels so special, even now, because of how quickly and radically my outlook changed.

I went from coming in and feeling like I was doing something wrong, to having a great night with new friends. It was a club in downtown Belgrade called Apartman, and I went with my friends. I especially loved the general vibe in Apartman — everyone was dancing, nobody was club, posing or giving anyone dirty looks.

It felt like a magical space. We eventually left the club at 6AM. That whole experience turned out so much better than I could ever have imagined. After that first night, gay clubs became my second home. I was 16 and had just come out, and a lesbian friend wanted to check the place out. I was super nervous beforehand, and once we got there it actually turned into a bit of a nightmare.

A few minutes later, this old guy just grabbed my bum. Suffice to say, the whole experience left me feeling super awkward, so I left after about ten minutes and promised myself I would never go to a gay club again. But nobody seemed to care, and I realised that this was club freedom looked like.

I realised that it was cool that I was different from all the straight kids who had bullied me. Going to a gay club in Romania back in was a big story — it was only a few stories after the country had gay decriminalised homosexuality. I was simply looking for a good time, the same way my straight friends do nowadays when they join me for a night out in a gay club.