Gay bars calgary ab

It recounts a time of oppression, community, possibility and camaraderie. Calgary was booming in the 70s. Club Carouselthe only gay club at the beginning of the decade saw its popularity wane as commercial gay bars opened in the city. The owners and operators had more capital to invest in their emerging discotheques, and the growing gay community flocked to them.

The Parkside was named after a famous gay tavern in Toronto.

Calgary Gay Bars

Vance Campbell, a businessman and gay bar owner from Vancouver moved to Calgary to start the Parkside with local partners. In the early years, there were provincial regulations about food being served with alcohol at bars. Rudy Labuhn, who was initially a DJ at the club and then manager, remembered that when the Parkside began they served 50 cent burgers to all drinkers.

He explained that the Province also limited the amount of recorded music that could be played. Fortunately, a straight bar called Lucifer challenged those rules successfully ushering in the age of disco to Calgary. The Parkside expanded upstairs creating a second bar called The Green Room.

Drag legend, Sandy St. Peters who gay up in Calgary and lived and performed across Canada, entertained occasionally at the Parkside. After a big Saturday night at the bar, she would run across the street to campily welcome churchgoers arriving Sunday morning for early service at the First Baptist Church. In addition to drag performances, Eartha Kitt famously did a highly regarded concert one night in the Green Room.

Sandy St. Peters Image Source: YouTube. SW now a parking lot. This gay lounge and disco were initially open Friday and Saturday nights for men only. Butch Bucks from a Calgary Slave Auction in The preserved sign now hangs over the door calgary the contemporary Backlot bar on 10 th Ave. Neon sign at the Backlot Bar, Photo: Kevin Allen.

Great article. I worked with Rudy and Vance as the the other D. J at the bars. Thanks for the flashback.