Gay oakland

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LGBTQ+ Nightlife and More in Oakland

n Bay Area meetings about emerging opportunities, businesses, and events, one city continues to be mentioned as 2025 draws to a close: Oakland.

On the next block, below 17th Street, you can find two queer nightlife destinations next door to one another.

Fluid510

Refuel with hot bar snacks like truffle fries at Fluid510, a large event space owned by the proprietors of the Port Bar. The spacious, airy interior hosts queer parties and performances once scattered across town, and the seasonal cocktail menu often highlights bright and spicy concoctions.

Fluid510 is located at 1544 Broadway.

The White Horse Bar

The White Horse Bar, proudly claiming the title of the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the United States, has been a cornerstone of Oakland’s LGBTQ+ scene since the 1930s.

Great ambiance and newly renovated for a more upscale setting.

And if you’re looking to add some Latin flair to your night, look no further than Qué Rico, the Latin gay club spicing up the Bay Area! They've got you covered. Crime rates have been rising here in certain areas of the city, so keep you and your peeps safe!

Our Top Picks For Oakland LGBTQ+ Bars & Clubs

Here is our list of top gay bars and queer spots around Oakland:

An Oakland institution, White Horse Bar has been proudly serving up LGBTQ+ vibes since before most of us could spell “fabulous.” If you haven't strutted through these doors, have you really been to Oakland?

Many of the bars listed here collect donations and stage fundraising events for the Oakland LGBTQ+ Center.

Find more queer bars and places to go in our Guide to Queer-Owned Businesses in Oakland.

See all that The Town has to offer! Oakland’s Art Deco architecture will draw you to the Uptown neighborhood, near Chinatown and Old Oakland.

As in any big city, keep your wits about you, especially when out late. Friends & Family is your cocktail stop, with smart drinks and snacky bites. Head north from Chinatown around Lake Merritt to visit the volunteer-run Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt. Their fun-loving crew will make sure your drink is always on point while you channel your inner child with board games or throw darts (safely, we don’t need any eye-patch chic moments here).

Bring your most colorful queer self, and you’ll fit right in!

A LGBTQ+ Bar Crawl in Downtown Oakland
Home to America’s oldest continuously-operating gay bar, Oakland boasts a vibrant queer culture that can be by turns younger, more Black, more femme, and more family-oriented than its famously queer neighbor across the Bay.

Local gay nightlife long took the form of itinerant, underground parties, but in recent years new community hotspots have enriched Downtown Oakland. 7th West is good for a laid-back night, with a backyard that hosts dance parties, games, and comedy. Located on Telegraph Avenue, it’s known for its vintage charm, inclusive atmosphere, and vibrant events like karaoke, drag nights, and dance parties.

Thanks to this cultural renaissance, visitors and natives alike can sample Oakland’s many dimensions of queerness in a single evening, through a bar crawl.
Town Bar

Just around the corner on 20th Street, Town Bar is a queer and mixed spot inside a stunning emerald stone façade originally constructed for a luxurious department store.

At least that can be done in fabulous queer style in this East Bay city, which is home to the stunning Julia Morgan-designed Chapel of the Chimes (https://bit.ly/4iWeXQT)—visit there while you are alive to appreciate its remarkable architecture, art, and history—and the equally impressive Mountain View Cemetery that is a national treasure (https://www.mountainviewcemetery.org/).

Morgan and her family are actually buried in this 226-acre rural oasis that is open to the public for recreational visits on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Oakland hosts major players like Kaiser Permanente, PG&E, Pandora, and Blue Shield. Pick and choose from what the city’s got. Sip on a craft cocktail while you gaze at the boats bobbing on the water—talk about living the dock life!
So, if you thought Oakland was just a stopover on the way to somewhere else, think again.

Sharon Kuganesan and Oset Babür-Winter of Condé Nast explain: “There’s no wrong neighborhood from which to start exploring Oakland’s staggeringly diverse food scene.