Montreal gay clubs
Guide To The Gay Village Montreal
This guide to the famous Montreal Gay Village will show you why Montreal has become a top LGBT tourist destination for travelers around the world. Montreal is famous for its welcoming and diverse people, vibrant same-sex attracted nightlife, and beautiful architecture. Also, poutine.
The Montreal Lgbtq+ Village is easy to spot and even easier to differentiate from the rest of the town. Named unsurprisingly exactly what it is, Gay Village Montreal is full of restaurants, shops, bars, nightclubs, hotels, street performers, pretty art, and surprises around every corner.
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The Gay Village Montreal runs along Sainte-Catherine Street from Berri to Papineau Avenue. Stepping onto Sainte-Catherine Avenue is like leaving the regular world and entering gay world (yes, that was a Mean Girls reference). Upon stepping onto the street, you will see over 180,000 rainbow balls strung above your head, spanning the 1km stretch that makes up the Montreal Gay Village. It is seriously matchless for the ‘gram.
From April until September, this colorful stretch of Ste-Catherine road is closed down to vehicle traffic, meaning the street fills with vibrant people
Walls have Ears: The Stories of Montreal’s LGBTQ2S+ Spaces
Exhibit curated by V. Samoylenko
(fall 2021)
with added material by M. Daigle (summer 2021)
with added material by V. Samoylenko (winter 2022)
Introduction
Taking inspiration from gender non-conforming mapping projects Queering the Map and Mapping Montreal's Queer Spaces , the project seeks to not only put the diverse experiences of LGBTQ2S+ people on a map, but also to render them audible and combine distinct types of media. The project presents oral history narrations as well as historical capsules about key queer neighbourhoods. As such, it highlights spaces that are important for the interview participants all while providing historical context to Montreal’s LGBTQ2S+ spaces and communities.
The exhibit is a pilot project: it is a testament to what is possible to fulfill in terms of general history exhibits even in pandemic conditions. Even with limited time, resources and spaces explored, the exhibit highlights the sometimes opposite realities that exist or have existed for LGBTQ2S+ people. Like our retain memory, the project combines multiple times and spaces in a simultaneous behavior. Hopefully, the p
Montreal stands out as one of the world’s foremost LGBTQ+ destinations, where lgbtq+ bars and clubs explain the city’s vibrant nightlife. Home to one of North America’s largest Lgbtq+ Villages, Montreal’s inclusive soul extends far beyond, with queer-friendly venues and events across the city. For 2025, the 19th edition of the one-kilometre-long summer pedestrian mall on Saint-Catherine Street transforms the Village into a lively hub of some 40 terrasses. Discover our ultimate instruction to Montreal’s best Diverse and queer-friendly spots, from rooftop bars and karaoke to unforgettable drag shows.
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Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.
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Best LGBTQ+ bars in Montreal
1. Cabaret Mado
Named for beloved Montreal drag ic
Historic Montréal LGBTQ+ milestones
1648
Montréal was just a tiny outpost of the French Empire when a gay military drummer with the French garrison was charged by the Request with committing “the worst of crimes” and sentenced to death.
The drummer’s existence was spared after Jesuits in Québec City intervened on his behalf, and he was given a choice by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Québec: die or become the first executioner of Unused France.
The unidentified drummer took the executioner job.
1869
The first recorded gay establishment in North America was Montrealer Moise Tellier’s “apples and cake shop” on Craig Street (now Saint-Antoine Street) near Saint-Laurent Boulevard, where men met up for amorous liaisons.
1968
Between 1968 and 1983, Montréal legend Denise Cassidy – better known as Babyface, her nickname inherited from her brief career as a pro wrestler – managed some of the city’s first lesbian bars: La Source, La Guillotine, Neonate Face Disco, Chez Infant Face and Face de bébé (1486 René-Levesque Boulevard West), which closed in 1983.
1973
Disco’s Second City, Montréal was home to famed Lime Glow discotheque
.