Гей Топіка 2026

The honest summary: Topeka, the Kansas state capital (about 127,000 people), has no gay bar in 2026. The last openly LGBTQ+ bar, Studio 62 in the NOTO arts district, has closed, and the drag nights have moved to a downtown food hall. What Topeka does have is a June Pride evening downtown, a full city non-discrimination law since 2020, an affirming church, an HIV and testing service, and the rainbow-painted Equality House facing Westboro Baptist Church. For a proper night out, people drive to Lawrence (30 minutes) or Kansas City (about an hour).

What the scene actually looks like

We checked Visit Topeka, local TV and press (WIBW, the Topeka Capital-Journal), the seveneightfive arts guide, a Topeka LGBTQ+ history project and Google Maps. Nothing in Topeka currently calls itself a gay or lesbian bar. Several Google results for "gay bar Topeka" are ordinary dive and karaoke bars that happen to rank for the phrase; we haven't listed them.

Queer nightlife here now means events rather than venues. The most regular is drag bingo at Cosmos Court, a space-themed food hall and cabaret room at 909 S Kansas Avenue. Through 2026 it ran charity drag bingo for Topeka Pride, Lawrence Pride, Little Apple Pride (Manhattan), PFLAG and the Capital City Crushers roller derby team, plus ticketed touring drag shows. Dates are irregular, so check the events tab here or Cosmos Court's Facebook page.

Topeka Pride also ran a "Wigs and Waffles" drag brunch at Coffee Bar from March 2024; we couldn't confirm it still runs. The NOTO Arts District on North Kansas Avenue, with its Rainbow Bridge and First Friday art walks, is the part of town most associated with queer Topeka, but there is no gay neighbourhood as such.

Pride and events

• Topeka Pride Palooza: Topeka Pride's evening of drag, music and stalls at Evergy Plaza, 630 S Kansas Avenue. It began in 2024 and has been held on the third Saturday of June: 21 June 2025 and 20 June 2026, both 6 to 10pm. The 2027 date had not been announced at the time of writing.
• Kansas Pride: the first statewide Kansas Pride was held in Topeka on 24 September 2022.
• Drag bingo at Cosmos Court: charity nights for local Pride groups and PFLAG; see above.



Things worth seeing

• Equality House, 1200 SW Orleans Street: the non-profit Planting Peace painted this house in Pride colours in March 2013, directly across the road from Westboro Baptist Church. It is open to visitors and has a community garden. Westboro, the Phelps family church known for its anti-gay pickets, still exists with around 100 members but pickets far less than it used to; don't engage with anyone from the church.
• NOTO Arts District and the Rainbow Bridge on North Kansas Avenue, busiest during First Friday art walks.

Gone but still Googled

• Studio 62 Art Bar, 816 N Kansas Ave: opened in 2017, owned by a wife-and-wife couple, ran weekly drag and hosted a Pride Fest in June 2023. Yelp lists it as closed (December 2025).
• Skivies: a gay bar and nightclub with drag shows, open until 2016.
• Older names that still turn up in old directories: Club Cosmos on Lane Street (2000s, not related to today's Cosmos Court), Tool Shed Tap (bear and leather), Lyz (lesbian bar), Lambda Club, Club Ubu, the Flamingo Lounge and Classics. All closed.
• The Brass Rail Tavern on NE Emmett Street is Topeka's oldest bar (since 1933), but it is not, and as far as we can tell never was, a gay bar. Some listings, including ours until October 2026, had it wrong.



Where people go out instead

Lawrence, 27 miles east on I-70 (about 30 minutes), is the University of Kansas town and has a more visible queer scene and its own Pride. Kansas City, about an hour east, has the region's gay bars, including Missie B's, Sidestreet and Woody's; see our Kansas City guide. There is no late public transport between the cities, so plan a designated driver or a room.

Community, faith and health

• Positive Connections (formerly the Topeka AIDS Project), 2044 SW Fillmore St: free HIV, syphilis and hepatitis C testing and HIV case management; a mobile testing van since October 2024. Phone +1 785-232-3100.
• Metropolitan Community Church of Topeka, 4425 SW 19th St: an LGBTQ+-affirming congregation of the MCC denomination. Check mcctopeka.org for service times.
• Topeka Pride runs Pride Palooza and fundraisers through the year (Facebook is the most current channel). PFLAG Topeka is a registered non-profit, but we couldn't confirm a current meeting schedule. Equality Kansas, the state LGBTQ+ advocacy group, had Topeka as one of its founding chapters in 2005. Topeka has no LGBTQ+ community centre.



Where to stay

There is no LGBTQ+ hotel in Topeka. The Cyrus Hotel, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio boutique hotel at 920 S Kansas Ave, is the best base downtown and sits directly across the street from Cosmos Court. The Woodward, a bed and breakfast in a 1920s castle-style mansion, is the character option. The Ramada downtown and Hotel Topeka at City Center are big convention hotels, and the chain hotels on the west side near I-470 (Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hyatt Place) are fine if you have a car.

C
Cyrus Hotel, Topeka, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel
R
Ramada by Wyndham Topeka Downtown Hotel & Convention Center
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Garner Hotel Topeka West by IHG
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Practical tips

• Flying in: Topeka Regional Airport (FOE) has had no scheduled passenger flights since 2014. Fly to Kansas City International (MCI), about 73 miles away, 1 hour 10 to 1 hour 20 minutes by car.
• Getting around: you'll want a car. Downtown, NOTO and the Capitol are close to each other, but the hotels and most of the city are spread out.
• Trans travellers: since February 2026 Kansas police can treat a licence with an amended gender marker as invalid, and the same law opens the door to lawsuits over bathroom use. The ACLU has challenged it in court. If your ID was amended in Kansas, carry a passport.
• Atmosphere: downtown and NOTO are relaxed, and the city council passed its non-discrimination ordinance 9 to 0, but this is a conservative state; read the room outside the centre.

A few words

English is all you need. Locals say "NOTO" for North Topeka's arts district, and Washburn University's students and teams are the "Ichabods".

At a glance

Last verified: October 2026.