LGBTQ+ Directory
Lexington's Queer-Owned & Queer-Friendly Businesses
The most comprehensive list of LGBTQ+ owned and affirming businesses, bars, churches, and community resources in Lexington, Kentucky. Whether you want a drag brunch, an affirming therapist, a church without the side-eye, or just a good cup of coffee, this is your list.
New to town or visiting? Start with our gay Lexington travel guide or the queer starter pack before you dig into the businesses below.
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We searched every corner of the Bluegrass.
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LGBTQ+ Community Hubs
389 Waller Avenue, Suite 100
Kentucky's oldest LGBTQ+ organization, founded in 1977 (formerly GLSO). The community center runs a free monthly food bank, victim advocacy, support groups, a library, and education programs, and produces the Lexington Pride Festival. If you are new here, start here.
Oliver Lewis Way · Saturday, May 30, 2026
Lexington's annual Pride marquee, drawing around 50,000 people to 200+ booths. The 2026 festival moved to May 30 and grew its sponsor roster by roughly half over the prior year.
Gatton Student Center, UK campus
The University of Kentucky's LGBTQ+ office runs a public calendar of events, from Pride Month programming to Trans Week of Awareness. Much of it is open to the wider community, not just students.
The local PFLAG chapter offering support and advocacy for LGBTQIA+ people and the families who love them.
Kentucky's LGBTQ advocacy organization since 1991. They lobby in Frankfort and helped pass Lexington's 1999 Fairness Ordinance, the first in the state. Their newsletter is a reliable feed of statewide queer events.
Kentucky's only LGBTQ+ newsroom. Coverage of community, venues, and events across the state, with deep reporting on Lexington's queer scene.
Trans support, social, and resource group serving Lexington and the whole state. Meets the first Saturday of each month at 7:30pm.
A 501(c)(3) drag charity organization. Year-round fundraising and community drag programming, anchored by an annual Coronation event.
Faulkner Morgan Archive
An LGBTQ+ history archive preserving two centuries of Lexington and Kentucky queer history. They operate the Pride of Place self-guided history tour.
An annual celebration plus ongoing programming for Kentucky's QTPOC community.
An African-American LGBTQ nonprofit advocating for equity across the Bluegrass region.
Bars & Nightlife
The Bar Complex Flagship
224 East Main St
Kentucky's oldest gay bar, open since 1980 and one of the oldest in the country. Multiple rooms, a dance floor modeled on Studio 54, and drag shows Thursday through Saturday. 21+.
117 N Limestone St
An LGBTQ+ dive that started as a leather bar in the 1980s and is now a favorite watering hole for Lexington's diverse queer community. Go-go boys, drag queens, and a packed event calendar. Open daily until 2:30am.
Bar Ona
A downtown cocktail bar named one of the best in the nation by Esquire, with a strong drinks program and a reliably queer-friendly crowd.
Old North Bar
A queer-friendly neighborhood bar, a Lexington Pride Festival RAINBOW-level sponsor, and a Pride Restaurant Week participant supporting the Lexington Pride Center.
Drag Shows & Brunch
Epping's on Eastside (Poppy & Olive)
Queer-friendly upscale dining with regular drag brunch. House-cured meats and a menu built on the region's diverse farming community.
Lockbox at 21c Museum Hotel
The restaurant inside Lexington's 21c art hotel, with a revolving local-food menu and recurring drag brunch programming.
Diva Royale Lexington
Drag dinner shows on Friday and Saturday and Sunday brunch shows, heavy on female celebrity impersonations.
Illusions Drag Queen Brunch
A brunch-and-cabaret format with RuPaul-style queens.
The Drag Queen Party Bus
A drag show on wheels, built for bachelorette parties and private events.
Coffee & Food
A queer-owned, woman-owned artisanal coffee shop and bar, open since 2017 and voted Best of Lex in 2024. Seasonal specials by day, afternoon cocktails after.
Third Street Stuff and Coffee
A funky, beloved LGBTQ+ owned cafe. Fair Trade Certified Organic coffee, locally baked goods, and sandwiches in a space that has been a community fixture for years.
395 S Limestone St
LGBTQ+ owned and woman-owned since 2016, and a hub for queer fundraisers and community events. Voted Best Vegan & Vegetarian Restaurant by the Herald-Leader, with live music, a patio, and happy hour.
417 E Maxwell St
An outdoor cafe set in the 120-year-old Michler's Greenhouse, frequented by Lexington's queer community. Local craft beer, wine, Bavarian pretzels, cheese plates, and gelato.
A queer-owned hot dog stand, named in Queer Kentucky's roundup of queer businesses to support in Lexington.
Breweries & Meaderies
A Lexington brewery and Pride sponsor since 2014. They brew "Pride, Y'all" with proceeds going to local Pride organizations, and serve as the exclusive beer vendor at the Lexington Pride Festival.
Paris, KY (Bourbon County)
A small farm meadery just northeast of Lexington, open since 2025 and a Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
Arts, Chorus & Culture
A community chorus for LGBT and LGBT-friendly singers in Lexington.
Lexington's community choir for women, LGBTQAI+ affirming.
A social organization for bears and all LGBTQ+ community members across Kentucky.
Lexington's order of genderqueer clown nuns, doing community fundraising and queer visibility with equal parts glitter and grit.
Lexington's Last WednesGays
Last Wednesday monthly
A recurring queer community social held on the last Wednesday of the month. One of the closest things Lexington has to a standing monthly tentpole.
Lexington Queer Craft Club
A monthly queer craft meetup, from junk journaling to fan-making. Check Eventbrite for the next session.
Living Arts & Science Center
A Lexington arts and science nonprofit and a Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
Pride of Place Tour
Pickup: Lexington Visitors Center, 215 W Main St, Suite 75
A self-guided LGBTQ+ history tour covering 200 years of local history, rainbow crosswalks, and the three-story mural honoring Sweet Evening Breeze.
Sports & Recreation
The Lexington branch of HotMess: kickball in spring and fall, beach volleyball in summer, dodgeball and bowling in winter, plus cornhole. Founded in 2021 and growing fast.
An LGBTQ+ recreational sports league for the Lexington area.
The US Gay Sports Network's Lexington city page, connecting players to local LGBTQ+ sports.
A queer runners and walkers group with twice-weekly meetups. All paces welcome.
Affirming Churches
An Open and Affirming UCC congregation.
A UU Welcoming Congregation, affirming LGBTQ+ people in full.
An affirming Episcopal cathedral downtown that also offers emergency assistance.
Beaumont Presbyterian Church
A More Light Presbyterian congregation, meaning full LGBTQIA+ inclusion in worship, ministry, and leadership.
180 E. Maxwell Street
Listed in the Bluegrass Rainbow Faith Communities directory, with rent and utility assistance for the community.
St. Luke United Methodist Church
A Methodist congregation that hosts a God's Pantry location and offers Spanish-language services.
Bethesda Tabernacle
An affirming Pentecostal congregation started by a gay couple. Proof that affirming and Pentecostal can live in the same sentence.
An independent affirming church community.
An affirming faith community listed on the Lexington Pride Center resource list.
Catholic LGBTQ+ Ministries Lexington
A Lexington Catholic LGBTQ+ ministry network and a Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
Health & Wellness
1824 Hill Rise Drive, Suite 100
Housing, HIV testing, and supportive services for more than 400 low-income people living with HIV/AIDS in the Lexington area.
Advocacy, navigation, and financial assistance for trans health care and abortion care across Kentucky.
Intimate-partner-violence advocacy and shelter for the Bluegrass region, set on a 40-acre farm. A Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
New Vista
Mental health and substance use services, including a drop-in center and a 24-hour helpline (1-800-928-8000). A Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
2025 Regency Rd
Sexual assault support and advocacy for Central Kentucky.
Rainbow Closet
A free gender-affirming clothing bank for Lexington's LGBTQ+ community, run through Open Doors Counseling. Call 859-212-9444.
LGBTQ+ affirming mental health counseling, and the home of the Rainbow Closet clothing bank.
Affirming therapy and wellness services, listed on the Lexington Pride Center provider directory.
Affirming psychology practice led by psychologist Angela Aaron.
LGBTQAI+ affirming therapy in Lexington.
Therapy practice listed among the Lexington Pride Center's affirming providers.
529 N Martin Luther King Blvd
Intimate-partner-violence support and childcare, on the Lexington Pride Center resource list.
Recovery services and community, listed by the Lexington Pride Center.
Support & Community Groups
A youth gender and sexuality alliance operating as part of the Lexington Pride Center.
A Facebook community space inclusive to anyone on the gender spectrum.
A support group for trans parents and parents of trans kids.
LGBTQ+ Community of Lexington
A general-purpose Facebook group for Lexington's queer community. Search "LGBTQ+ Community of Lexington" on Facebook.
A recurring community social for Lexington's lesbian community.
A support and allies group for Kentucky's LGBTQ+ community, listed by the Lexington Pride Center.
536 West Third Street
A youth emergency shelter on the Lexington Pride Center resource list, serving young people including LGBTQ+ youth.
Shopping & Services
Custom LogoWare LGBTQ-Owned
Custom apparel and promotional products since 2002, and the first NGLCC-certified LGBTQ-owned business in Lexington. Owned by Jesse Caylor.
The Manchester
A boutique Lexington hotel and a Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
Battle Axes Lexington
A queer-friendly axe-throwing venue and a Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
CannaBuzz
A queer-friendly cannabis and CBD retailer, and a Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
Commonwealth Smiles
A queer-friendly dental practice and a Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
Debra Hensley State Farm
A State Farm insurance agent and a Lexington Pride Festival sponsor.
Advocacy & Legal
The city body that investigates discrimination complaints, including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The City of Lexington's LGBTQ+ initiative, including the Pride flag program along Main Street.
Civil rights litigation and advocacy across Kentucky, including LGBTQ+ rights cases.
219 E Short Street, 2nd Floor
Sliding-scale civil law, on the Lexington Pride Center's affirming provider list.
Sources: Lexington Pride Center Community Resource List, Queer Kentucky, VisitLEX LGBTQ Guide, Civitas LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, Lexington Pride Festival sponsor research, and submissions from readers like you.
In crisis? The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988), the Trevor Project for LGBTQ+ youth, and Trans Lifeline are all there 24/7.
Last updated: May 2026. Got a business to add? Submit it above.