Gay Guide to Hanoi
Vietnam has never criminalised same-sex relationships, and Hanoi is where its Pride movement began: the first VietPride, a weekend of events with a bicycle rally, took place in the capital in August 2012. The government lifted its ban on same-sex weddings in 2015 but still does not recognise those marriages, and in 2025 VietPride scaled back its Hanoi events after cancelling the Ho Chi Minh City parade.
The scene is small. GC Bar, known to everyone as Golden Cock, is the most established gay bar in town, a friendly room with a pool table on Bảo Khánh lane, just west of Hoàn Kiếm Lake in the Old Quarter, and busiest from Thursday to Sunday.
West of the Old Quarter in Ba Đình, R7 is the big lounge for drag shows and themed nights. Out by West Lake in Tây Hồ, Savage, a French-owned bar and club, is the home of underground techno and house from Thursday to Saturday, and Birdcage on Âu Cơ opens late on Fridays and Saturdays in an outdoor space strung with vintage birdcages.
For a quieter afternoon, Hanoi Social Club on Hội Vũ is an LGBTQ+-friendly café with a rooftop, known for its egg coffee.