Gay Guide
Listing and event details can change quickly. Please verify with the venue directly before visiting. Lavender Atlas is not responsible for third-party accuracy.
About LGBTQ+ San Antonio
On 5 September 2013 the San Antonio city council voted eight to three to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It came after two days and roughly nine hours of public testimony, with supporters wearing red and opponents wearing blue, and shouting from outside audible through the walls of the century-old building. The state attorney general, Greg Abbott, then running for governor, publicly condemned the ordinance as anti-religious, joined by Senator Ted Cruz and the Republican candidates for attorney general. Church leaders promised recall petitions. It passed anyway and still stands, and in 2025 the city went further and designated the bar strip an official Pride Cultural Heritage District.
That strip is North Main Avenue in Tobin Hill, marked with rainbow sidewalks. Heat, Pegasus, Sparky's, Knockout, The Eagle SA, WKND and the former Silver Dollar Saloon share a few blocks of it, with Purgatory a little closer to downtown and Cobalt a block over on McCullough. Away from the strip, Cowabungas is downtown on Martinez Street and the SA Country Saloon on West Hildebrand does country, Tejano and drag.
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Bonham Exchange sits apart from the strip, downtown behind the Alamo, in an 1891 building that has been a gay club since 1981. Built as Turner Hall, a German athletic club, it has three floors, several bars, and a crowd that spans four decades of the city's queer life. It closed on 1 August 2026 to install a fire sprinkler system and plans to reopen in late 2026.
The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center has been doing arts and organizing work here since the 1980s and is unusual in how firmly it ties queer politics to Chicano and labor politics rather than treating them as separate causes.
San Antonio Pride takes late June and runs one of the very few nighttime parades in the country, which in a Texas summer is less a stylistic choice than basic sense.
San Antonio Latinx LGBTQ+ social justice and arts organization with cultural programming and advocacy work.
San Antonio's annual LGBTQ+ pride celebration organized by the Pride Center SA, featuring a parade, outdoor festival, and community programming.
LGBTQ+-friendly cafe in the Monticello Park neighborhood of San Antonio, a welcoming neighborhood spot.
Historic LGBTQ+ nightclub in downtown San Antonio, in a three-story 1891 building that was built as Turner Hall, a German athletic club, and has been the Bonham Exchange since 1981. Closed from 1 August 2026 to install a fire sprinkler system, with a reopening planned for late 2026.
Gay nightclub on North Main Avenue in San Antonio with drag shows, dancing, and themed events in the heart of the city's LGBTQ+ district.
Neighborhood gay pub on North Main Avenue in San Antonio, a casual spot at the center of the city's LGBTQ+ strip.
Gay bar and nightclub on North Main Avenue in San Antonio, part of the city's compact LGBTQ+ entertainment strip near downtown.
Gay nightclub on North Main Avenue in San Antonio's LGBTQ+ strip, with multiple rooms, go-go dancers, and regular themed nights.
North Main club in the former Silver Dollar Saloon, long a home for gay cowboys and line-dancing lesbians, now relaunched as 727 with DJ sets, drag, and Latin nights.
North Downtown LGBTQ+ nightclub and venue on Lexington Avenue with DJ sets, live performances, and themed nights.
Late-night North Main bar with themed events and a mixed LGBTQ+ crowd, good for keeping the night going.
San Antonio's leather and Levi's bar, part of the North Main Avenue gay strip.
Country and Tejano gay bar on West Hildebrand Avenue, with karaoke and drag nights.
Laid-back downtown San Antonio gay bar on Martinez Street with a friendly neighborhood crowd.
San Antonio dance club on McCullough Avenue, a block off the North Main strip, with DJs and a young crowd.
A trans-led support and social organization in San Antonio offering peer groups and resources for the transgender and gender-diverse community.