Gay Guide to Quito
Ecuador legalized same-sex marriage in 2019 by ruling of its Constitutional Court, and anti-discrimination protections are written into the constitution. Quito, the high Andean capital with its spectacular colonial center, holds the country's most established queer scene.
The nightlife concentrates in La Mariscal, around Plaza Foch. Radar on Joaquín Pinto has four dance floors and karaoke, Touch on Lizardo García started as a lesbian bar, and the small Sauna Azul is steps from the plaza. Tercer Milenio Evolution on Avenida Veintimilla is the long-running gay club with drag shows, and Disco Bitch and Kika Danzatoria draw a younger Friday crowd. The community is visible and active, though, as across the region, everyday cultural acceptance still lags a step behind the progressive law.
Quito pairs its UNESCO-listed old town, dramatic mountain setting, and equatorial light with a scene that has held its own since the late 1990s.
Quito Pride marches on the last Saturday of June up Avenida Amazonas to Parque Bicentenario, and has been held nearly every year since 1998. A separate grassroots march, Orgullofff, runs the same morning.