Gay clubs scotland
Edinburgh's Gay Scene
Centred around an area called the Pink Triangle between Broughton Street and Leith Walk , Edinburgh's gay scene is all about late-night fun and drinking. The enormous event in the Gay calender is the Pride Scotia held in June, a huge annual festival held alternatively in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Our manual to Edinburgh's male lover scene includes info on the pubs, bars and clubs that are queer and lesbian friendly.
Gay Clubs & Bars in Edinburgh
There are many gay or gay-friendly cafés, bars and restaurants on Broughton St and several of these are listed elsewhere in the 'Eating', 'Cafés' and 'Bars' sections
Blue Moon Café (see 'Cafés' above). Gay-run but straight-friendly café that's always busy.
Café Habana 22 Greenside Pl (at the front of the Playhouse Theatre), Tel: 5564349. Outside seating in summer. Popular with vivid young things. Unlock daily till 0100.
CC Blooms 23 Greenside Place (next to the Playhouse), Tel: 5569331. Packed almost every night upstairs and downstairs on the dancefloor. This is where everyone ends up. Start daily till 0300.
Claremont 133-135 East Claremont Street, Broughton, Tel- 5565662 This buzzing place
Gay Gordons
Dancing in Edinburgh
About the club
We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive class for Scottish Country Dancing. We offer a relaxed introduction to Scottish Country Dancing, and are open to all skill levels. We have a range of ages in our classes, and the classes are good for fitness, coordination, and making friends.
Gay Gordons Edinburgh is on a break at the moment – we will resume classes in the autumn.
Our classes restart on Mondays 7.30 – 9.30 pm from 22 September.
Our term dates for 2025 – 2026 will be:
Autumn term: 22 September to 15 December 2025
Winter term: 12 January to 30 March 2026
When we meet
- Scottish Land Dancing classesMonday 7:30pm
7.30-9.30pm during word time only
Cost
£7 per class plus £12 Annual membership or £10 per class. First class is free.
Greyfriars Charteris Centre
130/140 The Pleasance
Edinburgh
EH8 8RR
Contact
Frederick Alexander-Reid, Secretary
gaygordonsscotland@gmail.com
Queer Places
Recently I inherited (after a colleague retired) a grand collection of LGBT magazines and ephemera stretching back to the early 1980s. These include numerous editions of Gay Scotland and Gay Times, which are helpful resources when examining the maturation of LGBT identity over the past 30 years.
Take, for example, this issue of Gay Scotland from Jan/Feb 1984 – a Science Fiction special. At this time the magazine had a circulation of around 8,000 with the majority of readers subscribing or buying a copy from gay bars and clubs. What is noticeable from the content is that the magazine contains significantly less advertising space than more recent magazines, and offers a plentiful supply of news items, which are unsurprisingly related to LGBT interests and the continuing pursuit of equality and an end to discrimination.
What interested me was the section ‘Scenearound’ detailing places and spaces for LGBT Scots to socialise. A snapshot of the male lover ‘scene’ in 1984 offers some opportunity to consider how the ‘scene’ had developed after 1980. There were gay/mixed spaces prior to 1980; in Glasgow; there was the Close Thea
Gay Life in Edinburgh 1977 - 1980
It was the early summer of 1977. By now it was clear to me that I was attracted to other men. I called the Samaritans and they referred me to the Scottish Minorities Group (SMG).
I called the SMG Befriending Service, which was successfully established and, as I recall, operated most evenings. Two of their team met me in town and we went for tea where we talked about being gay and what it meant for me. It was really helpful and professional and obviously a well-established non-directive counselling service with trained volunteers (the Samaritans clearly saw fit to counsel it and I presume they had done their due diligence). My befrienders were John Compass (who was an established estate agent and also the person who had project-managed the acquisition of the gay centre in Broughton Street) and a guy called Ted who was a teacher. I remained friends with John for many years. Both of these wonderful men hold now long since passed away. I saw many others come into the community via the Befrienders. I joined the Befriending team myself some years later.
Shortly after I met John and Ted, I was invited to arrive to the Gay Centre in Broughton Street. This was