The progressive, outdoorsy, and unabashedly offbeat city of Austin has developed a repuation as arguably the gay-friendliest city in Texas. There's no question that gays and lesbians are welcomed here more openly and enthusiastically than most of the rest of this otherwise conservative state - fairly or not - conjures up images of George W., Tom Delay, cattle ranching, pick-up trucks, and so on. Hey, stereotypes are just that, but they also develop credence because there's usually a bit of truth to them.
Austin, on the other hand, has not only a longstanding record for being liberal (it's the state capital and an artsy university city), it's also a city that takes partying and revelry seriously. The city has become especially renowned for its live-music scene, which is feted annually with the South by Southwest Festival, which takes place over 10 days each March and celebrates the best in music, film, and art.
For a gay-friendly city of more than 700,000 (and a metro area of more than 1.5 million, which has grown some 20% since 2000), Austin doesn't actually have as many gay bars as you might expect - about a half-dozen, all told. Furthermore, although a handful of the bars here pull in sizable crowds and are good fun for socializing and dancing, you won't find any mega-size gay warehouse discos here. There are a few possible reasons for this, first and foremost that Austin is a relatively well-integrated city where straights and gays socialize more together than on their own. This means you'll often spot gay folks hanging out at the scads of music clubs, trendy lounges, coffeehouses, and restaurant barsthat everyone else in town likes.
On the plus side, most of the city's gay bars are within walking dinstance not only of each other, but of dozens of other cool mainstream bars and clubs downtown, mostly in the hip Warehouse District that's between the Texas Capitol building and the Colorado River (i.e., Town Lake).
Before we get to a quick rundown of the city's top gay bars, with links to longer descriptions of the most popular ones, keep in mind that Austin also has a gay bathhouse, Midtown Spa-Austin, a generally well-kept establishment in a drab but perfectly safe neighborhood 5 miles north of town, near Highland Mall.
Also, Austin is home to a very popular and scenic gay sunbathing area, Hippie Hollow Park, a county-operated, clothing-optional park that's about a 30-minute drive northwest of downtown, on the rocky but scenic shore of Lake Travis.
Here's a quick look at gay Austin's nightlife options:
No serious fan of clubbing should visit the city without making a stop to gay Austin's nightlife mecca, Oilcan Harry's, an always-crowded bar with a small dance floor and genial patio - it's right in the heart of the hip downtown Warehouse District. Giving Oilcan's quite a run for its money, however, is Rain on 4th, which opened in early 2006 just a couple of doors down the street. The layout is vibe are rather similar to Oilcan's, but there's something markedly more cheerful, less attitud-y, and more fun about Rain - maybe it's the better lighting, or the fact that the crowd seems more eclectic, with a mix of lesbians and gay men of all ages and styles. They're both fun bars, but I'd give Rain the edge if you're new in town and looking to make friends. Just across the street from Rain is gay-popular Halcyon Coffeehouse, Bar, and Lounge, a hipster-infested place that draws a wide mix of folks from all walks of life. It's a nice place to sip wine or cocktails, nurse a vanilla latte while you type on your laptop, make conversation with erudite locals, or relax at a sidewalk table overlooking the colorful street action.
The longest-running gay bar in town is Charlie's, a reliable, friendly, predictable, though somewhat dated club that lies literally in the shadows of the soaring Texas State Capitol building. It's part strip-bar, part dance lounge, and there are some fun theme nights. It's another Austin spot with a nice-size patio. The same owners run 'Bout Time. Of all the city's bars, this friendly, zero-attitude spot about 8 miles north of downtown on the I-35 Northbound Service Road (just north of Rundberg Lane) gets the least attention from visitors. It's the only gay bar in town you can't drive to, and it's basically a locals joint that gets its share of snarky digs from young stand-and-model types who would never be caught dead there. Still, the crowd is friendly, and the mood unpretentious.
The city's "specialty" gay bars are in the same general vicinity of the Warehouse District. Just a few blocks over is a spacious gay country-western bar and dance saloon called the Rainbow Cattle Co., which is mostly the domain of line-dancers and two-steppers, although there's a Latin-dance night on Sundays. On the southeastern edge of downtown, on a quiet side street in a somewhat disconcertingly unpopulated area, gay Austin's leather hangout is Chain Drive (504 Willow St., 512-480-9017). Well, to be sure, the leather scene has more or less faded away in this city, although the dark environs and butch crowd certainly suggests leather-friendliness. It's more like a bear bar with a mix of guys in jeans and flannels, leather, t-shirts, and similar attire. Another Warehouse District bar, although one that tends not to draw as significant crowds as some of the others is the Cockpit (113 San Jacinto Blvd., 512-457-8010), which its fans appreciate because for the very reason that it's usually less packed than the others. The staff is plenty nice, and go-go dancers add a little energy to the place.
