Gay Guide to Rochester
New York State legalized same-sex marriage in 2011, ahead of the national ruling, and Rochester, a mid-size city with a deep progressive history, has long punched above its weight for LGBTQ+ life. It regularly earns a perfect score on national municipal equality rankings.
There is no single gayborhood, but the community is unusually well-rooted for a city its size. The Empty Closet, founded in 1971, was for years among the longest-running LGBTQ+ publications in the country, and Forum 73, opened in 1973 as the Bachelor Forum and renamed in 2026, is still the anchor of a small but enduring nightlife. The Avenue Pub, its 1970s contemporary, closed in 2025.
Rochester pairs its Erie Canal and Susan B. Anthony heritage with a genuinely engaged, activist queer culture.
Rochester Pride runs each July, and every fall the city hosts the ImageOut LGBTQ+ film festival.