Rare photos of Phoenix LGBTQ+ bars through the decades

 Rare photos of Phoenix LGBTQ+ bars through the decades

Phoenix’s LGBTQ+ bar scene stretches back decades. In the ’70s and ’80s, establishments such as The Connection, Apollo’s, Talk of the Town and Wink’s thrived, offering drinks, dancing, entertainment and, most importantly, places where members of the Valley’s LGBTQ+ community could gather, connect and be themselves.

The scene continued to evolve in the ’90s and 2000s. Nightspots such as Ain’t Nobody Bizness, a lesbian bar on Indian School Road near 32nd Street, and Scottsdale dance club The Works also flourished.

Many of these LGBTQ+ bars have faded into history, though a handful of iconic spots endure to this day, including Charlie’s Phoenix on Camelback Road and Seventh Avenue an NuTowne Saloon on Van Buren and 50th streets.

In celebration of Pride month, here’s a look back at rare and vintage photos from some of the Valley’s notable LGBTQ+ bars from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Images were sourced from former employees, members of the local community and the BJ Bud Memorial Archives at Arizona State University Library.

Denver builder withdraws from Metrocenter

Denver builder withdraws from Metrocenter

BY ANGELA GONZALES/PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL 

Oakwood Homes has withdrawn from the $850 million Metrocenter redevelopment project, with a replacement builder expected to be named next week.

The Denver-based homebuilder, which was selected as the exclusive homebuilder at The Metropolitan last fall, notified the master developer about a month ago of its plans to withdraw from the project.

“After careful consideration, we made the decision not to move forward as the residential builder at The Metropolitan in Phoenix,” Michael Fraley, Arizona division president for Oakwood Homes, told the Business Journal.

“We made this decision early in the process and on amicable terms to give the development team time to identify a new residential partner,” Fraley said. “We value the collaboration and appreciate the opportunity to have been part of the project’s early vision.”

Demolition of the former Metrocenter mall was completed in 2025. The Metropolitan is set to feature more than 100,000 square feet of retail space surrounded by somewhere between 1,100 and 1,200 residential units, including apartments and townhomes, Fraley said.

Todays Word

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

vinolent

PRONUNCIATION:

(VAI-nuh-luhnt) 

MEANING:

adjective: Drunken with wine; given to drinking wine to excess.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin vinolentus (full of or drunk with wine), from vinum (wine) + -ulent (full of). Earliest documented use: 1384.

NOTES:

If a temulent person is prone to staggering, a vinolent person is prone to whining. It is the perfect adjective to describe someone who has made a few pour decisions.

USAGE:

“By half-past nine a kinder vinolent atmosphere had put to sleep the hatreds and suspicions of before dinner.”
Aldous Huxley; The Tillotson Banquet; The Century Magazine; Jan 1921.

Cardboard Star Wars

 

Todays Thought

There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, nαked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don’t expect you to save the world, I do think it’s not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary, and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair, and disrespect. 

-Nikki Giovanni, poet and professor (7 Jun 1943-2024)

Todays Word

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Hudibrastic

PRONUNCIATION:

(hyoo-duh-BRAS-tik) 

MEANING:

adjective: Mock-heroic; playfully burlesque or satirical.
noun: A piece of verse or writing in this style.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Hudibras (published in three parts in 1663, 1664, and 1678), a mock-heroic satirical poem by Samuel Butler. Earliest documented use: 1712.

NOTES:

Butler’s Hudibras follows a pompous knight and his squire through comic misadventures, satirizing the religious and political quarrels of his time. Its rollicking style gave us the word Hudibrastic to describe a mock-heroic verse, often in rhyming eight-syllable couplets.

USAGE:

“But so far from writing a panegyric, he would scourge the Province with the lash of a Hudibrastic as a harlot is scourged at the public post.”
John Barth; Sot-Weed Factor; Doubleday; 1960.

Todays Word

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

deipnosophist

PRONUNCIATION:

(daip-NOS-uh-fist) 

MEANING:

noun: One skilled at dinner-table conversation.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Deipnosophistae (The Deipnosophists), a work from around 200 CE by the Greek writer Athenaeus. From Greek deipnon (meal, dinner) + sophistes (wise man, sophist). Earliest documented use: 1581.

NOTES:

In his 15-book work Deipnosophistae, Athenaeus depicts learned men dining and discussing everything from food and its preparation to literary criticism, music, luxury, grammar, and more. The word deipnosophist has traveled from its earlier sense of a master of dining to its modern sense: someone skilled in dinner-table conversation.

In short, a deipnosophist is the person who can pass the potatoes, quote Pindar, rescue a dying conversation and turn it into a sparkling one, all without using the salad fork as a pointer.

USAGE:

“In mimicking a deipnosophist, we can learn how to transition topics to make our chaotic conversations meaningful.”
Pat Connell; Embracing Your Inner Deipnosophist; The Heights (Boston College); Apr 2, 2023.

See more usage examples of deipnosophist in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.