The honest summary: Melbourne's gay bars are clustered on Smith Street, on the Fitzroy-Collingwood border, with a few long-running pubs a short tram ride away in Collingwood, Abbotsford and Richmond. Footscray has the west's community bar, and two small bars in the inner north cater to queer women. Commercial Road in South Yarra, the old gay strip, lost its big venues around 2011.
Smith Street
- Sircuit Bar (103-105 Smith St): the strip's long-running gay bar, with drag and shows from Thursday to Sunday and a dance floor that fills late on weekends.
- Mollie's Bar & Diner (upstairs, same building): bar and diner with drag, drag bingo and DJs.
- UBQ (97 Smith St): queer bar with drag bingo, Friday karaoke and Tuesday trivia. LCKR ROOM runs cruise and party nights downstairs.
- The 86 (185 Smith St): drag and cabaret bar with a Saturday Late Night Show.
- Yah Yah's (99 Smith St): a mainstream late bar, with Thursgay, a weekly queer night, on Thursdays.
- Evie's Disco Diner (230-232 Gertrude St): disco-themed bar and diner with drag bingo and karaoke. It isn't a gay bar, but it's queer-friendly.
- The Peel Hotel (Wellington St, Collingwood): gay men's club, open Friday to Sunday until dawn. The door may refuse people who aren't gay men, which a Victorian tribunal exemption allows.
- The Laird (149 Gipps St, Abbotsford): men-only pub for bears and leather. It was sold in late 2025 to the Hanky party team, who say it will stay a men's venue.
- DT's Hotel (164 Church St, Richmond): gay pub with drag and karaoke, open from noon daily.
- Bernie's FLINTA Bar (111 Scotchmer St, Fitzroy North): a FLINTA* bar that opened in 2026.
- Flippy’s Queer Bar (646 Sydney Rd, Brunswick): small queer bar, open Thursday to Saturday.
A short walk or tram away
For queer women
Beans Bar on Smith Street, which billed itself as Melbourne's first lesbian, trans and neurodivergent bar, closed in March 2025.
The west
Pride of our Footscray Nightclub & Bar (POOFS, Level 1, 86-88 Hopkins St) is a not-for-profit queer bar owned by community shareholders. It runs drag, karaoke and Saturday parties, and it's a short walk from Footscray station.
Club nights
POOF DOOF fills Chasers at 386 Chapel St, South Yarra, on Saturday nights, and Homo Erotica throws big themed parties at Inflation, 60 King St. Neither is a gay bar. They're club nights at mainstream venues, so check the dates first.
During Midsumma
From 17 January to 7 February 2027 the bars add extra shows. The festival ends with the Victoria's Pride street party on Gertrude and Smith Streets on 7 February.
Last verified: October 2026.
