Gay club durham
LGBTQIA-Owned & Operated Businesses in Durham
Estimated Read Time:
3 min
Back these local LGBTQIA-owned businesses this month and the other eleven months of the year, too.
Posted By Discover Durham Staff on Jun 23, 2025
Designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, the original Pride flag incorporated eight different colors to represent eight different aspects of the queer collective. While the colors of the flag changed over time to incorporate more groups and to identify the contributions of LGBTQIA people of color, the meaning of the rainbow flag is the equal — it's a symbol of diversity, identity and support for the LGBTQIA community. In Durham, we proudly wave and present our rainbow flags, cherish our queer community and support our queer-owned businesses.
While you'll find safe, queer-friendly spaces acros
“Diverse” “inclusive” and “locally-owned” are a few descriptors that every new business in the Triangle aspires to. Club ERA, dreamt up by Triangle drag queen Naomi Dix and arrange to open in period for Pride Month in June, may be all that and more.
“As a young queer person, I always wanted a place where I could scout who I was,” Dix wrote in a recent Instagram post, “but spaces often lacked representation and diversity and made it difficult to find my community.”
Dix says that the bar and club, slated to take over the basement of The Fruit on Dillard Street, will feature local artists, DJs, and drag queens.
Dix, born and raised in Durham (and then born again, as a drag queen in Durham), emphasizes that Club ERA is meant to be a piece of a bigger lgbtq+ puzzle in Durham, rather than a new competitor with existing nightlife.
“This club is not, in any way, in competition with anything,” she says. “This is just us continuing the legacy of Durham and continuing the legacy from all of the other businesses that came before us.”
To that signal, on Instagram, Dix shouted out several Bull Town queer establishments past and present, including Ringside, The Bar, the Pinhook, and
This post is part 2 of a series that chronicles the history of prominent LGBTQ+ bars and nightclubs in Durham, NC, through an intersectional lens. Part 1 is accessible here.
By Mad Bankson & Duncan Dodson
To the 80s, and BEYOND!
As the eighties rolled around, gay people around the world were forced to become more visible. The AIDS crisis and increasing attacks from the Christian right led people to advocate for their right to live and survive, necessitating more of a public presence. [1] This increased awareness led to a significant shift in queer identity, especially when it came to bar and club life. Though discretion was still preferred by many, there was more social space for gay establishments, and secret bars and informal gay spaces became less central in homosexual life. Though Durham was still a small Southern town, the changes of the eighties allowed it to expand into something radically beautiful.
The Power Company
Opened in the early 1980s, the Power Company was known as “the finest gay club between DC and Atlanta .” [2] Jeff Inman, a DJ there from 1984 to 1988 said of the club, “The Power Firm was a gay press. It was Grand [sic] period, packed with the
LGBTQIA Durham
“Safe, inviting, inspiring.” That’s how Durham’s LGTBQIA community describes the Bull City. From its activist roots to current reputation as a linear Southern city, Durhamites hold worked hard to make certain that the Bull Metropolis is a welcoming place for all who call on. When the NC General Assembly temporarily passed discriminatory legislation, Durhamites stood in solidarity with the LGBTQIA community through protests, fundraisers, and events. This is a community that will uplift you, support you and give you energy. Whether you’re staying for one night or the rest of your being, you’ll feel right at home.
Today, Pride: Durham, NC serves as a beacon of Durham’s inclusivity every September. Our Pride festival is an unapologetic affirmation of our (and every) LGBTQIA collective. Expect a parade with costumed marchers alongside decorated floats and vehicles, as well as festival vendors, speeches, and parties in and around the capital. Event organizers and participants are proud to deliver love and activism endorse to the forefront of the event to pilot stronger connections and further growth and success. Moreover, each August, Durham ho
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