Lafayette gay bar
Lafayette's newest LGBT prevent, The Fox's Den Performance Club, plans Halloween opening
LAFAYETTE – It’s been a while since Lafayette had a bar specifically devoted for the LGBT community, but The Fox’s Den Show Club is aiming to become that space.
The bar and performance space for drag shows will be a place run by Colin Alford, 19, and his business spouse Anthony Richards, who plan to uncover on Halloween, Oct. 31.
This is the first time Alford, who is in cosmetology school at Christina and Firm Education Center and a manager at IHOP, will be opening a business. He has been active running “The Fox’s Den” drag organization, which travels to perform at other bars and spaces on both sides of the Wabash River.
Alford said he had been looking for a room to hold the drag shows, as well as assist as a gathering point for Greater Lafayette’s LGBT community.
“It’s easier for us to have a space where people know who we are, what we do and are coming here for a safe cosmos, a drag display or just to have fun,” Alford said.
Zoolegers, which closed in 2011, was the last lgbtq+ bar in Lafayette, sitting in
When Bolt closed on March 4, members of Lafayette's gay and queer community mourned the terminate of an era for Acadiana's once-lively gay bar scene.
On Friday, Bolt's social media pages came online again with an announcement: the Jefferson Street Library, a new LGBTQ+ bar, will open April 25 at 222 Jefferson St., in the same downtown Lafayette space formerly occupied by Bolt.
"Get ready for unforgettable nights filled with amazing cocktails, fun events, and a welcoming atmosphere where everyone can be their genuine selves. Whether you're here for a lively drag show, karaoke, or simply to connect with friends, The Jefferson Street Library is your new home away from home," according to a Friday, April 11 post distributed by Bolt and the Jefferson Street Library Facebook pages.
Bolt offered weekly drag performances and other nightlife events designed to welcome people from across Acadiana and south Louisiana who identify as a member of the Homosexual community. When they closed, proprietor Justin Menard teased a second act, writing on Facebook, "As one chapter ends, another will begin! This isn’t goodbye, it’s a see you later!"
Bolt was the "only spot for nice drag performances," acc
“We grew up help in the ’70s and ’80s, where you had homosexual bars everywhere,” says Ted Richard, whose oral history was recorded as part of UL Lafayette’s Queering the Collection project. “I imply, everywhere. At one point, Lafayette had seven gay bars.”
Richard recalls going to Fantasy, which was located behind Mel’s Diner on Johnston Street, and then having breakfast with friends at Mel’s after. Strokes was a bar shaped like a dome behind Bayou Shadows apartment complex. Frank’s on the corner of Taft and Jefferson was everyone’s favorite bar. “You ended up at Frank’s sometime during the night,” he says. Leaping Lena’s hosted the after-crowd on the Evangeline Thruway and could stay open until 6 a.m. since it was outside the city limits.
“We were out and proud back then,” says Richard. Lafayette was known as a gay-friendly town. “The gay group was very vibrant then. We didn’t have cell phones, so we still went to the bar to get together everybody.”
Archivists are collecting memories like Richard’s in two local collections. Queering the Collection is an effort by UL Lafayette Special Collections to document the history of gay culture in Southwest Louisiana. The
This Mardi Gras season will be the last for Bolt Bar & Patio, Lafayette's only remaining nightlife establishment curated specifically with Acadiana's gay and gay community in mind.
On Feb. 19, the club's owners announced on Facebook that Tuesday, March 4 will be its last morning of operation. Bolt has been open for 10 years in various locations around Lafayette's downtown and Freetown neighborhoods, and has hosted weekly drag shows and other gay-friendly society events from its current spot at 222 Jefferson St. since 2021.
Bolt proprietor Justin Menard teased a second act in the business's Facebook post, writing, "As one chapter ends, another will begin! This isn’t goodbye, it’s a see you later!"
When Bolt closes its doors, it will be the latest in a long line of gay bars and clubs that have reach and gone in Lafayette over the years.
"Bolt was kind of the last stronghold doing it all," said Cameron Broussard, a resident of New Iberia who has been going out to Bolt since it first opened. "I was going almost every Friday, because it was the only spot for good drag performances.
"At one point I remember Lafayette having several queer bars, and you had unlike