Gay Guide to Toulouse
France was the first country to decriminalise sex between men, in 1791, and it opened marriage to same-sex couples in 2013. Toulouse, the pink-brick city of the southwest, has no single gay district, and its bars are woven through the centre. The city lost a landmark in October 2018, when Le Shanghai, the club that had opened in 1974, closed for good.
In the old town, QuinQuina on Rue Peyras has been a relaxed gay bar with pavement seating since the 1980s, and Chez les Jumeaux, a gay tapas bar that opened in 2026, is on Rue André Mercadier. KS Sauna, near Place Wilson on Rue Saint-Ferréol, is the men's sauna, at around 400 square metres.
Further out, Limelight Club on Boulevard Riquet, by the Canal du Midi, is a small club open until dawn, and Le Bears bar is on Boulevard de la Gare. Across the Garonne in Saint-Cyprien, La Gougnotte is a feminist, queer bar and cultural space.
Act Up Sud-Ouest works on HIV, hepatitis and discrimination, and Le Jeko is a support space run by and for LGBTQI+ migrants and refugees. The Marche des Fiertés in early June starts from an associations village on the Place du Capitole and draws around 30,000 people.