Area: Gay Village / Hurst St

Spread over just a few streets in the “Southside” of Birmingham, just a few minutes walk from the Bullring, and New Street Train Station, the Gay Village has venues for everyone’s tastes – twink to leather lover!  Listings below.

The main drag (excuse the pun) of the gay village is Hurst Street, and the Birmingham Gay Village is often referred to as simply “Hurst Street”.

Birmingham offers a wonderful Pride event each year, on the early Summer bank holiday Saturday and Sunday (the weekend the end of May).  Our write-ups of a few of them are here with some wonderful pictures:

• Birmingham Pride 2022
• Birmingham Pride 2021
• Birmingham Pride 2020 (Covid Lockdown Edition)
• Birmingham Pride 2019
• Birmingham Pride 2018
• Birmingham Pride 2017
• Birmingham Pride 2016
• Birmingham Pride 2015
• Birmingham Pride 2013

Birmingham Pride information and tickets are usually available here: http://www.birminghampride.com.

Venues

Here’s an almost exhaustive list of the pink places to go to:

• The Meat Shack – Dripping. Filthy.  Goodness.  No, not what you think.  Award winning burger bar, and my favourite burgers in Brum.
• Tricia’s Show Bar – now closed.  Formerly: XLs, Glamorous, Windmill, Partners, Enigma.
• Glamorous – Open again, and apparently very refurbished (we’ll check it out soon).  This basement bar has been open/closed/open/closed more often than Charlotte the Harlot’s legs. Formerly: XLs, Windmill, Partners, Enigma, Tricia’s Show Bar.
• The Jester – Now closed.
• Clone Zone – a gay sex shop selling everything from undies to toys, pup hoods, harnesses, etc. etc.
• Missing Bar – a bit of a Star Wars Bar, but very welcoming.
• The Loft – take a glass of wine, or a pint, and they food is good at the moment too. Pride House Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games 2022 hosted here!
• Equator Bar – a bit of a local’s pub. You can be assured of a warm welcome here, despite the very modern decor.  It’s also home to OutSkirts, a social and support group for the trans community.
• Sidewalk Bar – The outside seating is lovely on a warm summers evening.  Formerly Angels.
• RSVP – Now closed.  Formerly: Queer Street; Purple.
• Route – now closed and re-opened as Medusa Gentlemen’s (as in straight lap dancing) club ……. in the gay village ……. what’s that about?
• Nightingales Nightclub – stalwart of the Birmingham gay scene, and central to the dramatics. Three large floors of music, drinking, and general antics.
• DV8 – now closed.
• The Village Inn, with regular cabaret acts like Sandra, etc., this is a fun place full of kids and extremely loud music.
• Eden Bar – MOVED AND REOPENED!  The boys (Gary and Cal) have a dedicated following from their regular inclusive community. Especially popular with bears, rugby gays, football gays, and the slightly older crowd, but it’s super inclusive and you’ll find lots of girls here too.
• The Core Nightclub – now closed.
• The Fox Lesbian Bar (NOT The Old Fox, a couple of streets away) – the only Lesbian bar in Birmingham.
• Unit 2 Sauna – ahem. I think this might be closed now? LINK NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK!
• Boltz Cruise Club – ahem, ahem.  Formally Boots.  It’s moved up the road 100 yards to the old DV8 site. A drink in the bar and the beer garden on Pride afternoon is a must.  Friendly crowd.  Very very friendly… LINK NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK!
• The Fountain Inn – a men’s bar, complete with outdoor seating, and dark room. How rude.
• Priva – now closed.  Formerly: The Queens; The Queens Arms; 23 Essex Street.
• Chic – dance club, not a gay bar but very gay nonetheless.
• Prowler – Prowler was a gay gift shop, but is now closed.
• The Wellington Hotel – This closed and was reopened as a gig-goers bar and I don’t think it’s particularly gay anymore.

There’s quite a bit more info about Birmingham’s “gaybourhood” here on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Gay_Village

Hotels

If you’re after a hotel to stay in for Pride then how about:

• Easy Hotel – This pod hotel (tiny room, possibly no windows) offers cheap clean rooms which will be spot on for your late night antics.  Very close to gay village.
• Nite Nite – Again a pod hotel that offers reasonable rates on small rooms.  Close to gay village.
• BLOC Hotel – Another pod hotel, this time a bit further from the action, but probably only £5 in an Uber.
• Radisson Blu Hotel – right by gay village.
• Holiday Inn City Centre – right by the gay village.
• Holiday Inn Express – 10 minutes from gay village.
• Premier Inns – lots of them!
• There are loads and loads of others…….

Where to find it?