LGBTQ culture in St. Louis is characterized by a long history of progressive activism as well as racial divisions and the city/county divide. The city of St. Louis is relatively liberal, with multiple gayborhoods and several LGBTQ organizations. In 2019, Realtor.com dubbed St. Louis the 8th most LGBTQ-friendly city. However, due to hostile legislation at the state level, it has become common for LGBTQ residents to relocate to Illinois for better protections and healthcare access.
Recorded history and resource flow tend to prioritize white individuals and the city's central corridor, creating a perception of LGBTQ culture in St. Louis that does not always align with regional demographics. For the purposes of this article, St. Louis describes the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area, which includes neighboring counties in Missouri and Illinois.
Pride festivals There are three different LGBTQ Pride festivals every year in St. Louis city. St. Louis PrideFest takes place at Soldiers' Memorial downtown over two days in the last weekend of June. PrideFest previously took place in Tower Grove Park with a parade on South Grand Avenue until 2013. Neighborhood residents established Tower Grove Pride to continue the neighborhood festivities, which annually occurs on the Saturday of the same weekend. St. Louis Black Pride takes place in August, and is believed to be the second oldest Black pride in the country. The first Trans & Gender-Free Pride March preceded the PrideFest and Tower Grove celebrations in June 2019.
Other pride festivals in the metro area include Pride St. Charles in St. Charles, Missouri and Metro East PrideFest in Belleville, Illinois.
Legal protections
In 2019, Missouri was ranked in the lowest category of the HRC state equality index, "High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality", with 28 other states. The statewide laws and policies identified as beneficial for LGBTQ populations are hate crime laws, a non-discrimination law specific to college and universities, non-discrimination policy for state employees on the basis of sexual orientation, an anti-cyberbullying law, transgender inclusion in sports, and changes for name and gender marker on drivers licenses.
St. Louis City Ordinance No. 67119 extends the city's anti-discrimination policy to protect individuals on the basis of gender identity and sexuality. The Civil Rights Enforcement Agency (CREA) is responsible for processing claims.
St. Louis County also has anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ residents. In 2017, a sergeant in St. Louis County Police Department filed an EEOC discrimination lawsuit alleging that he was told to "tone down your gayness" in order to be eligible for promotion. Shortly thereafter he was transferred to another precinct and assigned to night shift. St. Louis County argued against the case on the basis that discrimination against sexual minorities is not illegal in Missouri. The officer agreed to a $10.25 million settlement in 2020.
History Pre-1950 Prior to European colonization, the region was inhabited by members of the Mississippian, Illini, Missouria, and Osage peoples. Understandings of gender and sexuality differ among indigenous cultures. While much ancestral knowledge has been lost through colonization and forced assimilation, it is known that the Osage recognized Mixu'ga, one of the identities under the modern two-spirit umbrella.Pruden, Harlan and Edmo, Se-ah-dom. "Two-Spirit People: Sex, Gender & Sexuality in Historic and Contemporary America." National Congress of American Indians. http://www.ncai.org/policy-research-center/initiatives/Pruden-Edmo_TwoSpiritPeople.pdf Despite the Indian Removal Act and other attempts to displace indigenous people, members of the Osage nation continue to reside in the area and are working to preserve Sugarloaf Mound.
A St. Louis medical textbook publisher released The Story of a Life, the first recognized American homosexual autobiography, in 1901. The author, using the pseudonym Claude Hartland, wrote about his mental health and experiences with doctors related to sexuality and gender identity as well as descriptions of homosexual social life in downtown St. Louis.
1950–1960s In the late 1950s, a competition for "female impersonators" called Miss Fannie's Ball was organized by the Jolly Jesters social club, with proceeds going to St. Louis African American institutions. The event is a continuing annual Halloween night celebration that has been hosted at various venues, including Masonic Prince Hall Grand Lodge and Chase Park Plaza.
During the Halloween festivities of 1969, nine young people were arrested without explanation while leaving the Onyx Room, one of the most popular gay bars of the time. At the station they were charged for "masquerading" (i.e. appearing publicly in women's clothing). Dressing in clothing not in accordance with one's perceived sex had been prohibited by a municipal ordinance since 1864. Arrests at LGBTQ establishments were common, but the events of that Halloween ignited the first recorded protest by gay activists in St. Louis. The Mandrake Society, the first gay rights group of St. Louis, mobilized the community. They spread news of the arrests by phone to gather supporters at police headquarters, assisted with bail, and hired legal representation. The charges were eventually dropped, marking a significant victory for St. Louis gay rights activists. The 1969 Halloween arrests are sometimes referred to as "St. Louis' Stonewall" because of its importance as a flash-point of community resistance and organization.
In 1968, Laud Humphreys presented his research on male-male sexual activities in public restrooms in Forest Park, later published as the controversial Tearoom Trade.
1970–1980s Places known to be gathering sites for lesbians, including a bar and coffeehouse in south city, were firebombed in the 1970s.
In 1972, Goldstein Johnson challenged the city's masquerading law with support from the ACLU of Missouri. Johnson had been arrested twice and served 45 days at the city workhouse for wearing women's clothes. Johnson was murdered before a decision could be made. More than 200 masquerading arrests were made from 1970 up to when the law was successfully overturned in 1986 with plaintiff Michael Shreves, also known as drag queen Michelle McCausland.
The Gateway Motorcycle Club was a LGBTQ biker club associated with leather subculture based in St. Louis. It was established in 1973 and remained active until 2014. The name of the group came from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
Various pride marches and demonstrations were organized throughout the 1970s. Chuck Charleston, a bartender at Red Bull in East St. Louis, organized a procession of cars that ended in a large gathering in Forest Park in 1971. Student organizations held celebrations and hosted nationally known activists at Washington University in St. Louis and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Metropolitan Community Church in St. Louis was established in 1972 with a mission to serve the gay and lesbian community. The church served as a center for organizing and hosted a gay pride rally in 1977. The first city sanctioned Celebration of Lesbian and Gay Pride occurred April 12–20, 1980, with a full week of activities, ending with the landmark Walk for Charity and Rally. Sponsors included community and ally businesses as well as religious organizations. Some participants used pseudonyms or wore disguises in fear of reprisal.
St. Louis Effort for AIDS was established by volunteers in 1985, raising money to support people affected by HIV/AIDS through Dining Out For Life and drag shows.
In 1989, the organization Blacks Assisting Blacks Against AIDS (BABAA) was established to educate the St. Louis African American community about HIV/AIDS. They later found a physical office and did educational outreach, including distributing condoms at clubs.
1990–2000s In 1990, the St. Louis Gender Foundation began public outreach, including HIV/AIDS education and a booth at Pride. They had previously met privately as Tri-Ess or the Gateway Femmes.
University of Missouri–St. Louis was among the first to recognize LGBTQ History Month, founded by graduate student Rodney Wilson in 1994.
In 1995, BABAA and other African American community members organized the B-Boy Blues Festival, and in 1999 established the annual St. Louis Black Pride.
2000–present The Pride Center, located between the Grove neighborhood and Grand, opened in 2017 under St. Louis PrideFest and closed at the end of 2021 citing financial issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization had previous operated an LGBTQ Center in the Grove that closed in 2014.
In 2023, Mayor Tishaura Jones designated October 22 as "St. Louis Vogue Day."
In 2024, the Missouri History Museum featured the exhibit Gateway to Pride.
Gayborhoods
Historical St. Louis's gayborhoods have a rocky history at best. In the mid-twentieth century, gay neighborhoods were shaped by redlining and white flight. Due to discriminatory practices and social marginalization, white gay establishments emerged in the liminal spaces between predominately white and predominately black neighborhoods. Laud Humphreys described such areas as "gay ghettos" where black neighborhoods provided the protection of anonymity to white gay men. Black gays and lesbians lacked such privilege and also faced discrimination from their white counterparts that often limited their socializing to private parties. For all LGBTQ St. Louisans then, employment and housing discrimination often excluded them from the suburbs or affluent neighborhoods.
Midtown This neighborhood includes the former entertainment district known as Gaslight Square. From the 1930s to the 1970s, Grand and Olive was the most continuously popular part of the city for lesbian and gay establishments. Among them was Dante's Inferno, one of the oldest identified gay bars in St. Louis, notorious for hosting drag shows. The gay bars were in close proximity to Black residential neighborhoods, however many businesses refused to serve black clientele. The bar Zebra marketed itself as a multiracial space, "a beautiful blend of black and white." This area was also the site of the Onyx Room police raid.
Central West End During the 1950s to 1970s, the Central West End also became a hub for LGBTQ nightlife and came to be known as St. Louis's original gayborhood. In 1969 the Mandrake Society was founded in the Central West End. They, and other homophile organizations, often met at Trinity Episcopal Church in the early 70s. "The Center," operated by the Metropolitan Life Services Corporation, was located at 4940 McPherson Avenue and hosted a library, community meetings, and counseling services from 1976 to 1978. The vegetarian cafe collective Sunshine Inn operated in the neighborhood 1972-1998 and hosted the 1987 national meeting for National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays.
From the 1970s through the 1990s, however, the Central West End was subject to gentrification. As a result, members of the LGBTQ community moved away from the area and many LGBTQ establishments were forced to close. Coffee Cartel was closely aligned with the community and frequent sponsor of LGBTQ events until its closure in 2018. LGBTQ-owned Left Bank Books has been located on Euclid Avenue since 1969.
North St. Louis Northside establishments primarily catering to black gays and lesbians included 1960s Bills Bar and Grill, which was a critical venue for Ethel Sawyer's sociology masters thesis, “A Study of a Public Lesbian Community.”
Present-day
The Grove