Gay Guide to Baltimore
Maryland approved same-sex marriage by popular vote in 2012, one of the first US states to do so at the ballot box. Baltimore, its largest city, has a queer life rooted in the elegant streets just north of downtown.
The traditional gayborhood is Mount Vernon, Baltimore's first, centered on North Charles Street and Mount Vernon Square amid historic rowhouses and a dense cluster of LGBTQ+ bars. The Drinkery, one of the oldest gay bars on the East Coast, and the leather-scene Baltimore Eagle are among the long-running anchors, alongside dance clubs and drag venues.
Walkable and handsome, Mount Vernon sits at the cultural core of the city, wrapped around the Washington Monument, the Peabody, and a run of museums and theaters.
Baltimore Pride unfolds across June with more than fifty events citywide, from the parade and block party to festival weekends, drawing tens of thousands into the streets of the gayborhood and beyond.