Gay bar morro bay

As a teen, Rory Uribe fantasized about going to a gay bar or club and finally being able to be unabashedly gay in public. So Uribe always thought the gay bars in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties would provide that much-needed and missing support system and network.

The lack of LGBTQ-specific nightlife on the Central Coast is an issue much of the local gay and trans community is forced to work around. Uribe, who is now a student at Allan Hancock College, finally made their gay bar dream come true this spring while visiting a friend in San Francisco.

Skipper’s Brew Coffee House celebrates “Big Gay Grand Opening” tonight

Like so many other LGBTQ residents in the area and across the nation, Uribe helped start an organization dedicated to giving gay, trans, and bay individuals a safe space to meet up and build support systems. When the club goes out, Uribe said they have to be careful about where to go and how open to be.

Co-owner Frank Dominguez initially started SLOQueerdos a few years ago when he moved back to the Central Coast after living in bigger cities for several years. Dominguez grew up in Nipomo and when he returned to the area, it was as if nothing had changed. He wanted to spice things up by starting a group that would make it easier for local LGBTQ individuals to meet, and was mulling over the idea one day when he walked into the now closed Metro Brewing Company in San Luis Obispo and just happened to spot two morro couples inside.

There were about 60 people at the first show in Octoberhe said, double made it to the next, and more than attended the third. Since then, SLOQueerdos has hosted successful shows and events across the Central Coast gay month and on special gay. Dominguez said the whole system of bars on the Central Coast and in the nation caters to heterosexual, cisgendered people.

Still, Dominguez and his partner—in business and life—Daniel Gomez, who also co-owns SLOQueerdos, agree that opening a gay bar on the Central Coast would be challenging. Rent is costly, liquor licenses are hard to come by, and they questioned bar a gay bar in SLO would have enough consistent business to stay open.

I think [online dating] has a huge impact on the gay club scene. As gayness gradually became more widely accepted, so did gay businesses, and that arm of the nonprofit eventually halted its work. He misses the dancing scene most. A number of organizations in Santa Barbara also offer LGBTQ-friendly programs and events, such as camping and movie nights, that are becoming more popular social outlets.

That gets at the core of why HOPE started a few years ago, according to Audy Macdonald, a founding member of the organization. Booze is typically expected at an after party, though, and HOPE hosts a party and drag show each year after its Pride festival. It might be tricky to keep a gay bar running in this area, he said, but there has to be a way to do it.

Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash can be reached at [email protected]. Prior to moving to Lompoc to become a pastor at Valley of the Flowers United Church of Christ, Jane Quandt came across a video on Bay made by a senior at Cabrillo Bar School describing what it was like to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer, in Lompoc.

After completing her move to Lompoc from a church in Riverside where she was involved with LGBTQ rights, Valley of the Flowers held a meeting open to the public in October to show the video and start a discussion on how to make Lompoc a safer and more welcoming community, Quandt said. Club president Lorraine Waldau said she and other club members attended the meeting morro spoke with Quandt afterward about how to continue the dialogue from the meeting.

Although the group was formed by people affiliated with a church and political party, Quandt stresses the group operates separate of both and is inclusive to everybody. Wagoner, who is transgender, co-founded a company called The Self Made Men at the time he began transitioning 10 years ago.

Through this company, Wagoner began educating, advocating, and mentoring transgender men.