With a Latin bar on the bottom and Asian disco up top, goth drag one night and Spanish-pop. Those spots and more sports bars, dance clubs, and cocktail havens are all included in Eater's round up of the District's gay-friendliest bars and hangouts. The Best Gay Bar in South Bay - Club Savoy, King of Clubs. But another historic bar, DC Eagle, recently made a big move to a gigantic space on Benning Road NE. There have also been losses: Iconic Barracks Row lesbian bar Phase 1 shuttered its doors last year. Those new hangouts include Dirty Goose, Trade and Uproar. In February 2016, the Washington Blade noted an 'unusual flurry of activity' with the opening of four new gay bars, the majority of which landed in the U Street/Shaw/Logan Circle area. But D.C.'s evolving gayborhood has shifted towards Logan Circle and U Street. While all gay bar listings declined by 37 percent between 20, the number of queer bars serving people of color declined by 59 percent, and bars for lesbians declined by 52 percent. Today Dupont Circle and 17th Street institutions such as JR’s, The Fireplace, Cobalt, Duplex Diner and Larry’s Lounge are still going strong. 'Dupont Circle was like a little island where people would come and have a good time,' a longtime District resident told the Washington City Paper last year. For decades, Dupont Circle was one of the centers of D.C.’s LGBTQ community.
