St. Louis' LGBTQ-Friendly Neighborhoods Today

By Rosalind Early

Jun 15, 2022 at 9:07 am

The Roller Hockey girls of MoKabe's.

Victor Stefanescu outlines how and why classic gayborhoods are changing across the nation, including St. Louis' the Grove, in this week's feature. But that doesn't mean the gayborhood is gone. LGBTQ-friendly areas can be found all around St. Louis.

The Grove neighborhood in St. Louis has lost a lot of the bars and population that made it a gayborhood.

The Grove Is No Longer St. Louis' Gayborhood: The pandemic, gentrification and other factors have reshaped gayborhoods across the nation

One surprising contender for recognition as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly spots in the region is Alton, Illinois, where Bubby & Sissy’s offers drag shows and full dance floors. According to our sister publication Out in STL, there are also plenty of LGBTQ folks living in Alton.

There’s also up-and-coming neighborhoods Carondelet and Patch, which have Hummel’s and Bar:PM. The area also has Bonnie Blake (John Chaney), crowned “World’s Oldest Drag Queen” in 2018 at 90. Blake has an antique shop next door to Bar:PM.

Chris Andoe touts Grey Fox Hills, “which is what I’ve dubbed the still-affordable southeast corner of Tower Grove South, with Grey Fox Pub on the corner.” In a story for RFT, Andoe mentions some of the characters in the area: A young man who had a tax form hanging up on his wall proving he’d earned $80,000 one year showing his penis online; a leather daddy living in a penthouse in the art deco South Side Tower; and the former owners of Grey Fox.

Grey Fox is the center of an unofficial gay village within St. Louis.

The Alleys of Grey Fox Hills

In Soulard, you can hop in your golf cart and drive over to Nadine’s for brunch or check out Julia’s Market Cafe for cheap bloody Marys. There’s also a Pride mini-parade (with golf carts) and some iconic gay history.

Tower Grove South has got it all: Mokabe’s, queer-friendly churches, international cuisine and its own Pride festival.

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About The Author

Rosalind Early

Rosalind is the former editor-in-chief of the Riverfront Times. She formerly worked for Washington University's alumni magazine and St. Louis Magazine. In 2018, she was selected as a Rising Leader of Color by the Theatre Communications Group. In 2014, she was selected as an Emerging Leader by FOCUS St. Louis...

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