The Park

The only gay club in the Roanoke area and It's terrible. The worst gay club I've ever been to. Everyone knows everyone and stays in their little groups. People are very antisocial and standoffish. They would probably think you were crazy if you didn't know them and tried to talk to them. Most nights its really boring with barely anyone there. A lot of older people, mostly gay men...which sucks if you're a lesbian in your 20's. Also they don't sell alcohol just wine coolers and beer...at an extremely ridiculous price. Go to scorpios on a Sunday night in Charlotte,nc or blue bar in Charlotte...just a short 3 hour drive that will definitely be worth it.

what a comfort - nothing has changed since i was sneaking in at 17.....at the same time, sadly, nothing has changed since i was sneaking in at 17.

"the park" has so much potential.  the property is tucked away in a fairly decent and safe place if you don't mind the crack dealers. it's huge - absolutely honking huge.  it has a great sound system, awesome dj, fabulous drag shows, one of the best bartenders in town, and i'm not just saying that because i think i slept with him when i was sneaking in at 17, and extremely handsome patrons who know how to shake their groove things.

but when i asked why it was so empty on a friday night i was told "the kids are all going to greensboro now".  in my humble opinion the roanoke gay community should come together and resurrect the park.  help it to remain something special.  it's worth it and has great bones....how many gay establishments do you know that has survived since the 70's?  it just needs a little fine-tuning.

ms. enya salad, ms. savanah savage, ms bechanel and ms-lead all turned a sad day into one i could actually smile about.  you "ladies" rock.  my thanks also to the young man who saw me getting down with my bad self and stuffed his wallet in my mouth thinking i was having epileptic fits.....you've taught me at my age i should likely remain seated......

Bah. This is possibly the worst gay club I've ever been to. Maybe it's just the small town vibe, but every time my friends and I would go here we got judgmental looks from the "older" crowd. I never had problems with them, nor were we really "rowdy" in a way that should have thrown off the vibe of the establishment.

One set of friends, who weren't a couple in the first place, were both of the "femme" persuasion and were told on their way to the ladies room that they'd "learn" about their proper roles when they got older, essentially that they'd realize that lesbian relationships need a masculine figure in them, by a couple who assumed they were together.

Basically, we always felt unwelcome here because the older generation who hang out here tend to think they know better than the younger crowd how being gay works, and are pretty cold to those who don't fit their idea of what it is to be a GLBT person.