After all, the more things get mixed up, the wilder things get, right? And interestingly, most of the places tend to draw a mix of people: Old and young, rich and not-so-rich, men and women, high-class and trashy, gay and lesbian and trans and then some. And the surprising common theme which evolved was the soft-spot people have in their hearts for kistchy, dive-y, messy bars where a sketchy queen might be found lip-synching to Crystal Waters ’til the wee hours. The results that poured in are personal, rather than scientific. Because When I think of the “Best Gay Bars,” I think of places where raucous theme nights are the norm, where the locals are crazy and possibly hot, and where fun, unpredictable, bad behavior abounds.
I wanted the places where the booze flows freely, where the crowd is crazily unpredictable, where there’s always the opportunity for anything to happen.
I encouraged them to judge with their hearts (and the wrecked livers) when making their picks I didn’t necessarily want a list of the nicest, glossiest, most high-tech or slickest or “coolest” gay bars. Last June, I sent out a request to an esteemed collection of travel writers, media pros, party people and just super-social gay folks to find out which were their favorite bars in the U.S.
