Gay Guide to Mérida
Mexico opened same-sex marriage nationwide in 2022, and Yucatán had legalized it the year before. Mérida, the colonial capital of the Yucatán, has a calm, easygoing scene, helped along by a sizeable community of LGBTQ+ expats and retirees.
There is no single gay street, but most of it sits in the Centro. Around Parque Santa Lucía, Dix Bar and XOXO Club take the drag shows and weekend dancing, Imperium on Calle 60 and Xtasis on Calle 64 run drag and go-go nights, and La Inventada and Farándula are drag cantinas with karaoke. Jorge's, officially Cantina Imperial, is the dive a few blocks from the main square, and Bernardette on Paseo de Montejo is the show lounge.
The bigger clubs are further out: Palace Club by Blue on Avenida Colón in García Ginerés is the big one, Papis is nearby, and Incógnito in Sambulá and Dallas Pride by Klan in Chichí Suárez take the late nights. Gay-owned guesthouses such as Casa Macorina, El Pueblo and Ochenta y Dos make the Centro an easy base.
Mérida Pride's march sets off from the Monumento a la Patria on Paseo de Montejo on a Saturday in early June and ends in the Plaza Grande, and the city makes an easy base for the region's cenotes and Mayan ruins.