Calgary gay bars and clubs

It recounts a time of oppression, community, possibility and camaraderie. Calgary was booming in the 70s. Club Carouselthe only gay club at the beginning of the decade saw its popularity wane as commercial gay bars opened in the city. The owners and operators had more capital to invest in their emerging discotheques, and the growing gay community flocked to them.

The Parkside was calgary after a famous gay tavern in Toronto. Vance Campbell, a bar and gay bar club from Vancouver moved to Calgary to start the Parkside with local partners. In and early years, there were provincial regulations about food being served with alcohol at bars. Rudy Labuhn, who was initially a DJ at the club and then manager, remembered that when the Parkside began they served 50 cent burgers to all drinkers.

He explained that the Province also limited the amount of recorded music that could be played. Fortunately, a straight bar called Lucifer challenged those rules successfully ushering in the age of disco to Calgary. The Parkside expanded upstairs creating a second bar called The Green Gay.

Calgary Gay Bars

Drag legend, Sandy St. Peters who grew up in Calgary and lived and performed across Canada, entertained occasionally at the Parkside. After and big Saturday night at the bar, she would run across the street to campily welcome churchgoers arriving Sunday morning for early service at the First Baptist Church.

In addition to drag gay, Eartha Kitt famously did a highly regarded concert one night in the Green Room. Sandy St. Peters Image Source: YouTube. SW now a parking lot. This gay lounge and disco bar initially open Friday and Saturday nights for men only. Butch Bucks from a Calgary Slave Auction in The preserved sign now hangs over the door of the contemporary Backlot bar on 10 th Ave.

Neon sign at the Backlot Bar, Photo: Kevin Allen. Great article. I worked with Rudy and Vance as the the other D. J at the clubs. Thanks for the club. Started calgary with them in