Gay bars in rehoboth beach delaware

An insider's guide to the best gay nightlife in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, including the city's top LGBTQ+-friendly bars, restaurants, and more. Top 10 Best Gay Club in Rehoboth Beach, DE - June - Yelp - Diego's Bar Nightclub, Blue Moon, Freddie’s Beach Bar, Bottle & Cork, Purple Parrot Grill, Conch Island Key West Bar and Grill, Summer House, Aqua Bar & Grill, Rigby's Bar & Grill, Arena's Deli.

Rehoboth Beach Gay Travel Guide. Find the best gay bars, popular events and hotels in Rehoboth Beach. Reviews, photos, gay map. From lively drag shows to laid-back beach bars, Rehoboth Beach boasts a variety of gay bars that cater to all tastes. You can kick back with a refreshing drink at a beachside bar, enjoy a night of dancing at a popular nightclub, or savor delicious seafood at a friendly eatery.

Blue Moon: The Blue Moon is a renowned gay bar and restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, known for its lively atmosphere and diverse clientele. It features a spacious dance floor, live entertainment, and a menu offering delicious American cuisine with a twist. It grew over the years to also feature a two-story dance floor, pool and deck, cabaret room, and motel units to provide overnight accommodations to guests. The Renegade initially served mostly men, but as more queer people began vacationing in Rehoboth, the patrons diversified to include more women and transgender people.

The Renegade opened decades after closeted queer people from nearby Washington D. As the city saw an increase in queer visitors and residents in the s, Washington D. The complex was built on a seven-plus-acre property and the original building was one story, painted in shades of brown with a restaurant, bar, pool area, clothing store, and cabaret room. No one was hurt, and Thompson was able to rebuild and reopen for Labor Day that year.

While the fire was not believed to be a homophobia -driven case of arson, the patrons of the Renegade recalled receiving verbal and physical harassment while walking to or standing outside of the resort.

After it reopened in the fall of , the Renegade expanded to include eight small cottages adjacent to the pool deck that were used by drag queens and entertainers as dressing rooms and as a place for people to have private encounters. With that expansion, the Renegade resort offered not only a restaurant and bar, but also overnight accommodations, a pool, karaoke nights, cabaret shows, drag performances, and contests.

The front section is decorated with three white fireplaces, Victorian photos and oil paintings in ornate frames, bookcases, mirrors, sofas and plants. The mid-section has a wooden dance floor rimmed with electric disco lights. The Renegade was unique because it offered varying atmospheres.

During the day, visitors could lounge by the pool, and in the evening enjoy multiple bars located throughout the complex. Over the three decades it was open, the Renegade underwent continual updates and changes to attract new visitors and maintain its status as the premier Rehoboth-area gay club. In , Thompson added a twenty-unit, s-era motel to the Renegade property, further increasing its appeal to out-of-town visitors.

Around , the dance floor was renovated from a wood floor to a black-and-white checkered design. Adjacent to the dance floor was a piano bar that featured cabaret shows and a pool deck with its own bar. After the late s renovation, the roof was raised to provide a second-story bar. Slanted mirrors hung behind the bar and high-tech laser lights were installed, creating an atmosphere that opened up the room and added movement to the lighting.

best gay bars in rehoboth beach

The fundraisers were instead held at Nomad Village, a gay-friendly bar in Bethany Beach that was open from until the early s. His comments drew criticism from gay-owned businesses, state health officials, and fellow legislators. While the Renegade was a uniquely welcoming place for the queer community at the time, Thompson recalled that, in the beginning, the Renegade hosted many more men than women.

This was corroborated by lesbian author and former patron of the Renegade, Fay Jacobs , who recalled the bouncers at the Renegade not being friendly to women for the first couple of years. By the mids, more women began frequenting the bar. Patrons included a mix of gay, lesbian , bisexual , transgender , and heterosexual people. The show, which is still performed as of , includes live impersonations of gay icons like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Lucille Ball, among others.

His performances brought patrons to the Renegade on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Around , Kathy Carpenter , a local transgender woman and advocate, was contracted to work on building updates at the Renegade. Her day job was as a contractor, but by night she would dress as her true self and patronize the Renegade.

Jacobs, who has written numerous articles on the queer history of Rehoboth where she still lives, estimated that at least 30, people danced, dined, attended shows, and sang karaoke at the Renegade each year after its opening. Today, there are no dance clubs that are the equivalent of the Renegade; however, many queer bars, restaurants, and stores still exist throughout the Rehoboth area.

Wilcox Jr. Archives image, and Kathy Carpenter.