14 Ways to Support and Celebrate the LGBTQ+ Community in Minnesota
14 Ways to Support and Celebrate the LGBTQ+ Community in Minnesota
By Ever Meister
While Forbes ranked Minnesota among the top three states in America for gay travelers recently, the Star of the North has long been a leader for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans equality.
A gay couple in Minneapolis filed the country’s first same-sex marriage suit in 1970, and the city passed the first non-discrimination ordinance in 1975. Minnesota was also one of the first states to allow trans and non-binary residents to use an “X” as a gender marker on driver’s licenses in 2018, and in 2023, a bill was signed establishing Minnesota as a refuge state for transgender people who face legal persecution for seeking gender-affirming medical care.
In terms of major events, the annual Twin Cities Pride parade — and related events like the annual Pride Beer Dabbler — is a joyous celebration that draws nearly 400,000 people, making it the second-largest festival in the state. Savvy ‘sotans know you don’t have to wait until June to be out and proud (or to support as an ally), though. Here are 14 of our favorite ways to celebrate the Twin Cities’ LGBTQ+ community.
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Grab a drink on game day
Grab a drink on game day
Queer footie bar The Black Hart often sees crowds of United fans pour in for a post-game pint and stay for a drag show or karaoke. (U.S. Women's National Team star Megan Rapinoe even stopped by while she was in town for a friendly match against South Korea.)
While not necessarily LGBTQ+ centric, A Bar of Their Own is the Cities’ first bar that shows exclusively women’s sports and draws a diverse, family-friendly crowd.
Not the sporty type? There are plenty of watering holes of all stripes: Find your crowd at EagleBolt, The Saloon, Camp Bar and Cabaret, The Brass Rail and Gay 90s.
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Watch a Team Trans game
Watch a Team Trans game
More than 100 players hit the ice every year in Minnesota’s chapter of Team Trans, an international hockey organization for athletes with trans and nonbinary identities. The local team features an intergenerational lineup from 18-year-olds to quinquagenarians whose scrimmages are determined by skill level. Fill our your own new player registration form here.
If hockey’s not your thing, try kickball with Stonewall Sports Twin Cities, flag football with the Minnesota Gay Flag Football League, or get bucking with the North Star Gay Rodeo Association.
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Catch an iconic drag show
Catch an iconic drag show
Grab a table (and bottomless mimosas) at LUSH on Saturday mornings to watch one of Minneapolis’ most beloved drag performances. The weekly event is all-ages, too, so the whole family can watch in awe. Flip Phone Events also hosts brunch shows at a variety of venues, as well as nighttime parties and performances around town.
If brunch isn’t your bag, try Drag Bingo at Nicollet Diner (and raise funds for local orgs in the process) or attend a drag story hour hosted by Viva La Pepa.
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Join the (queer) circus
Join the (queer) circus
What could be better than a night of magic, flying fairies, and belly dancing? Well, it helps when the cast is as gay as a party. Every third Saturday, Queer Circus MN's marvelous motley crew graces the stage at Can Can Wonderland.
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Bask in nature’s beauty
Bask in nature’s beauty
The Urban Bird Collective was founded in 2018 to create inclusive opportunities for birding amongst the Black, Indigenous, people of color and LGBTQ+ communities. All while exploring nature, learning about conservation, and building strong bonds in the great outdoors.
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Support LGBTQ+ youth
Support LGBTQ+ youth
Studies show that fewer than 1 in 3 nonbinary and/or transgender youth feel gender-affirmed at home. The Minneapolis-based QUEERSPACE Collective pairs queer, nonbinary and trans young people between the ages of 12 and 17 with queer elders (25+) to offer friendship, allyship, role models, and peer socialization that can help them navigate coming of age. Mentor/mentee pairs get together monthly for group hangouts or 1-on-1 quality time over the course of a year.
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Bust a move
Bust a move
Grrrl Scout is a queer, trans-owned event production company that's been helping LGBTQ+ folks stay up too late with its pop-up dance party since 2013. DJs, dancers and other special events make these some of the local scene’s favorite hangs.
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Celebrate Indigenous culture
Celebrate Indigenous culture
For many Native people, “two spirit” identity describes not simply someone who is LGBTQ+, but it can also mean folks who fill gender-variant, and often spiritual, roles in the tribal community. This year’s Two Spirit (2S) Pow Wow is presented by New Native Theatre on July 13. Open to the public, it will showcase the dance, music, culture, history and vibrant influence two-spirit folks have in the Indigenous community.
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Meet your new favorite writer
Meet your new favorite writer
A free annual event hosted by Twin Cities Pride, the Queer Writes Book Fair showcases LGBTQ+ authors, publishers, booksellers, zine makers, artists and more. Browse new and used books, buy stickers and original art, and support local writers all across the queer spectrum, including special guests like "Project Runway" contestant-turned-children's book author Christopher Straub.
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Visit or volunteer at Quatrefoil
Visit or volunteer at Quatrefoil
This incredible collection of queer media started in a closet — and the irony there isn’t lost on the local LGBTQ+ community. Patrons can now browse more than 15,000 books, magazines and DVDs. Can’t get to the archive in person? Quatrefoil members can access the Q Digital collection via the Libby app.
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Support the underground scene
Support the underground scene
Twin Cities Zine Fest — now in its 20th year — isn’t specifically queer, but it is definitely queer. Zines are intentionally DIY, scrappy, noncommercial and independently made (like many of our queer community members), and they are a beautiful, raw form of artistic self-expression. Personal stories, educational materials, calls to activism and local guides abound at the annual gathering, which the Walker Center recently discussed in its Design Lecture Series.
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Get inked
Get inked
BlackEnd Tattoo Ateliér is a queer-owned shop in south Minneapolis that features a diverse group of artists whose styles range from colorful cartoons to delicate line work to realistic portraiture. Whether you’re looking to make a custom design permanent, get a lover’s name inscribed (or covered up), or have another meaningful idea for body art, BlackEnd is the place.
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Take an open tango lesson
Take an open tango lesson
They say it takes two, and isn’t it better to know you can dance with whomever you like? Minneapolis dance instructor Miriam Lea provides bootcamp-style lessons in this classic Argentine dance form while upending the traditional gender-based roles (who leads, who follows).
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Keep it cultured
Keep it cultured
Threshold Theater gives a microphone (or at least a black-box theater like Bryant Lake Bowl) to writers, actors and artists who are creating live stage shows with a fresh take on queer life. The LGBTQ+ production company's ongoing play-reading series offers an intimate look at some of the artistic processes involved in creating theater.