LGBT culture in Baltimore

LGBT culture in Baltimore, Maryland is an important part of the culture of Baltimore, as well as being a focal point for the wider LGBT community in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Mount Vernon, known as Baltimore's gay village, is the central hub of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.

Events

Baltimore Pride is one of the oldest gay pride celebrations in the United States. In 2019, Baltimore Pride celebrated its 44th annual event. Pride weekend in Baltimore is held from June 14 to June 16. The first day of Pride weekend involves the Baltimore Pride parade in Charles Village and the Baltimore Pride Block Party in Station North. The second day involves the Baltimore Pride Festival held at Druid Hill Park covered a local drag ball. The article detailed the "coming out of new debutantes into gay society." By 1931, the drag ball culture was starting to emerge into the mainstream in major cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, and New York. The Afro-American wrote that "The coming out of new debutantes into homosexual society was the outstanding feature of Baltimore's eighth annual frolic of the pansies when the art club was host to the neuter gender at the Elks' Hall."

In 1955, 162 gay men and lesbians were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at the Pepper Hill Club on North Gay Street. It was the largest raid of a nightclub in Baltimore's history. The arrests were made after the nightclub's largely gay male patrons were seen kissing each other. Following the Pepper Hill raid, the head of Baltimore city's vice squad testified in court that he had warned the nightclub against allowing homosexuals to congregate. When charges were dismissed against co-owners Victor Lance and Morton Cohen, cheers of "hurray" erupted in the court from their supporters.

In 1978, African-American gay and bisexual men helped found the DC-Baltimore Coalition of Black Gays (now known as the D.C Coalition) to cater to LGBT African-Americans in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area.

Leon's, the first gay bar in Baltimore, opened in 1957. In has been continuously operating since and is the oldest gay bar in the city. During the 1890s, the bar was known as Georgia's Tap Room. The current name of the bar comes from Leon Lampe, who owned the bar in the 1930s. The bar survived during Prohibition by operating as a speakeasy and after World War II it became known as a hang-out for artists and beatniks, both gay and straight. Leon's officially became a gay bar in 1957, although the bar had been attracting a gay clientele for many years. In the early days of the bar when homosexuality was illegal and many patrons were closeted, it was custom to ask patrons at the door, "Are you a friend of Dorothy?" This was gay lingo that helped gay men identify each other, referencing Judy Garland's Dorothy Gale character in The Wizard of Oz.

The Hippo, a gay club in Baltimore, announced that it would close in 2015 after 43 years in business.

On June 13, 2016, a candlelight vigil was held at the Ynot lot in Station North to honor the 49 victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting.

In 2018, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh signed an executive order granting recognition of LGBT-owned businesses in Baltimore. This order places LGBT-owned businesses in the same category as women-owned and minority-owned businesses in Baltimore that are granted certain percentages of city incentives and product or service work on city contracts.

Club Bunns, a gay club near Lexington Market that attracted a gay black male clientele, closed in February 2019 after 30 years in business.

In February 2019, a lesbian radical feminist from Baltimore named Julia Beck was removed from Mayor Catherine Pugh's LGBTQ Commission due to her belief that "People who call themselves transgender women are male." Her decision to forgo use of preferred gender pronouns rankled other members of the commission. During the controversy, Beck received death and rape threats. Beck was replaced on the commission by Ava Pipitone, a transgender woman. Pipitone is the executive director of the Baltimore Transgender Alliance (BTA). Pipitone now goes by the name Kodah Pipitone and uses he/him pronouns.

In 2019, one of Baltimore's largest gay nightclubs, Grand Central, announced that it was closing upon purchase by new owners. Grand Central had been located at 1001-1003 N. Charles Street in Mount Vernon.

In March 2019, it was announced that one of the earliest gay gathering spots in Baltimore faces the possibility of demolition. The former Martick’s Restaurant Français, a restaurant that served French cuisine and attracted a bohemian and gay clientele, is now vacant. Once a speakeasy during Prohibition, Martick's has been visited by Billie Holiday, Leonard Bernstein, and John Waters. During the 1950s and 1960s, the restaurant was popular with artists, jazz musicians, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, crossdressers, transgender and intersex patients of Johns Hopkins Hospital physician John Money, and many others. It is one of the oldest pre-Civil War buildings in Baltimore. The building is located at 214 W. Mulberry St. and there are plans to build a 6-story $30 million apartment complex at the site. Efforts to appeal to the Baltimore’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) have been unsuccessful.

Gayborhood

During the 1970s, Mount Vernon began to form into a gay village for Baltimore with the establishment of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore (GLCCB) in 1977, now known as the Pride Center of Maryland