Bishop's Lounge

Bishop's Lounge on Strong Avenue operates as the neighbourhood bar complement to Diva's more nightclub-oriented format — the queer-friendly space in Northampton where the LGBTQ+ community gathers for a drink and a conversation rather than a dance floor. Strong Avenue is one block north of Main Street and puts Bishop's in the heart of the downtown walkable area, convenient to the restaurants and coffee houses that make up Northampton's daily social life. The bar draws a genuinely mixed queer crowd: gay men, lesbians, non-binary and trans people, and straight allies from the Five College community who have enough LGBTQ+ friends that the distinction between gay bar and friendly bar has dissolved. The atmosphere is conducive to extended conversation: the volume is manageable, the beer selection is good, and the crowd has the intellectual curiosity characteristic of a college town's social life. Bishop's is the bar where Northampton's queer community processes the events of the week — where the political conversations that are a constant of Pioneer Valley life continue over drinks, and where visitors from outside the area get the fastest possible introduction to the character of the community.