Gay bar in traverse city mi

Traverse City LGBTQ City Guide

Known as the “Cherry Capital of the World,” Traverse City is a stunningly beautiful lakeside city in northern Michigan. While it may be well known for its delicious cherries, it is also known as a diverse, eclectic, and friendly city with so much to see and perform. Even better, it has a smaller, yet thriving LGBTQ population where all can feel at home. Those who choose to move to Traverse City will find plenty about it to love!

A Look at Traverse City's History

Traverse City has a rich and fascinating history. Its modern-day history began in 1839 when its first permanent settlement was established at the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula. Today, many of those original structures still stand, almost as if they were frozen in time. After its initial founding, the community grew quickly and was officially named Traverse Town in 1852. Its location on the water helped its growth, and before long, it was a prosperous city with many businesses, a rich cultural scene, and much to see and do. It remains so to this day. Even better, it is a warm a

Equity, a Testimony: Jim Carruthers

Jim Carruthers, as told to Jeff Smith.

With this first-person account, we start a series in which we honor equity holidays throughout the year with personal testimonies. Here, to honor the beginning of Pride Month, former Traverse Metropolis mayor Jim Carruthers reflects on local events and changes he’s witnessed as a gay male over the past 30-some years. This is an edited version of an interview, as told to Jeff Smith.

I moved to Traverse City back in 1989 to help my grandmother, who was legally blind at our family summer home. I had been living in Boston and was four years out of college and thinking I’d assist my grandma for a while and then move on to a mountain town in the West, but I never did. It’s the goo of Traverse City that people talk about—you get stuck here in a good way, and stay here, and I’m glad I did.

But I almost didn’t last a year. I grew up around NYC, and I’m not a big bar person, and back then the only place to meet gay people was SideTraxx. So I eventually got committed with a group called Friends North. They had a qua

SideTraxx Video Dance Bar

Reviews 25

Elisa Shriver

Went to TC this weekend and we always like to verb out the gay bar/club scene when we travel to notice how it differs from our hometown. Now, Grand Rapids is still a pretty conservative place in my opinion, right in the bible belt of Michigan, and we experience a equitable amount of discrimination, but there are a couple of places we can go where we always feel safe and accepted. Sidetraxx, who advertise themselves as a gay bar, is not a place where someone who is outwardly gay or that does not conform to gender norms will feel safe. The LGBT crew there last evening made up maybe 10% of the patrons. We befriended some ladies that are native to the area, and found that this was not just a fluke. It is a place where straight folk go to dance because it has an amazing dance floor and melody videos played throughout the bar. Now, I am not saying that straight folk are not allowed to go to gay bars, but they must respect that gay bars are supposed to be our safe place. Our place to be us. Our true selves, without the threat of discrimi

Gay, Michigan: Gay Bar

Posing in front of its sign is a unique photo-op, but you really have to want to view this place to drive all the way out to it.

Gay Bar

Address:: 925 Lake St., Gay, MI
Directions:: Take Hwy 26 to Lake Linden, turn east onto 9th St., drive a half-mile, turn left (north) onto Traprock Valley Rd, drive 1.5 miles, turn right (east) onto Gay Rd. Operate 10.5 miles to Gay. The bar is on the south side of 2nd St.
Hours:: Opens 11 am, Su Noon. (Call to verify)
Phone:: 906-296-0951

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Visitor Tips and News About Gay Bar

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Gay Bar - Stamping Mill Ruins

I found something more interesting in Gay than the Gay Bar. If you look north from the Gay Bar, you'll see a gigantic smokestack a couple blocks away. It's part of an extensive ruin of an old stamping mill (where they crushed iron ore for shipping). It was pretty big. Behind the ruins are miles of red dunes (they just dumped the waste into t