You can dance to street music with all the drunken freaks. They told us the grooms said to "dress whatever way makes you feel fabulous." They certainly took some liberties in interpreting that dress code! And I loved it!! They are a married gay couple who had just come from a same-gender wedding. Bubbly's assault from beyond the grave, I did meet two awesome creatures. Bubbly's ghostly fingers pinch your bottom! Hang out at Cafe Lafitte in Exile long enough and you may feel Mr. The bar claims to have its own ghost roaming about named Mr. I also appreciate that the bar keeps with New Orleans' ghost-storytelling tradition. A female-run business that brought in a mixed crowd was impressive for the time-especially when the government criminalized homosexuality and the psychiatric community considered it a mental illness. I love that a lesbian, Mary Collins, managed the bar in its early days. It had a reopening in 1953 at the corner of Bourbon and Dumaine Streets where it still exists today. Second, the bar was in operation at a different location for its first 2 decades. Other gay bars around the country claim earlier unofficial opening dates. The plaque says 1933 (the official end of prohibition), but it may have been earlier. I suppose this is true if you're willing to overlook a few things.įor one, it was in operation since the end of the prohibition era-but we don't know exactly how early. It says its the oldest "continuously operating" gay bar in the country. Or is it?Īpparently, there's a collection of gay bars sprinkled around the USA all claiming to be the "oldest gay bar." A large plaque inside Cafe Lafitte in Exile describes the long history of the establishment. Who is the oldest gay bar of them all? According to folks in New Orleans, it's Cafe Lafitte in Exile on Bourbon Street.
According to his map, all the gay bars were within a 2-3 block radius of each other-how convenient for all the stumbling drunks in the French Quarter! Cafe Lafitte in Exile I have to thank the queer concierge at the Ritz Carlton for pointing me to all the worthwhile gay spots. The queer side of me was itching to ever since I visited with Jono in Summer 2016! But we opted to check out the gay bars around New Orleans instead. The MC announced a second burlesque show happening later that night at a different bar. We could have gone to see more burlesque after the show ended.