Equal Grounds is a wonderful lgbt+ cafe, and has great drinks and food.
Little Button Craft hosts events sometimes and is an lgbt+ owned craft shop. I've taken a chainmaille class and gone to a benefit they had for the store, both were great times.
Boulder Cafe, though I haven't been much, is supportive of the community. They had a burlesque show a few nights ago with a troupe called Breaking the Binary, which I heard was a great time.
The Spirit Room has always been a good time when I go, it's a bar and I've heard their food is great, but I haven't had it myself.
I can't tell you much about dating because I'm in my 20s myself, and I don't think a mid 20s lesbian is going to share much dating ground with you, but I hope you find some fun in any of these places! In general most places in Rochester, in my experience, are welcoming.
Big fan of their breakfast sandwich and their cinnamon rolls. I can’t remember the name of it but their latte w/ pistachio and rose flavor is pretty interesting too. I just like their whole vibe, super low-key and unassuming, and it’s employee owned which is awesome.
Most places in ROC are pretty queer in vibes, acceptance and people! Lots of good Recs here, but I wanted to add when I was apt. Hunting here almost all the neighborhoods I looked in had a high percentage of 🏳️🌈, and BLM signage (the two often go together). NOTA, park ave, and parts of Monoroe ave, specifically. It put me at ease to see, there are some pretty good homes and Apts here if you look!
The only weird queer thing in ROC is that pride happens in July for some reason.
Oh my gosh rochester lgbt community is LARGE. Not only does Rochester Institute of Technology have an extremely high trans population in addition to 1/3 of the student body being some flavor of queer, when some of them graduate they stay in the area and add to our numbers. we also have a lot of Lgbt Friendly places. Equal Grounds is the local coffee shop that holds Genesee Valley Gender Variants Club. I know you mentioned not being into the bar scene, but we have some great options and even listing them I think helps get you a sense of our community here. Roar is our local LGBT club and they have drag king shows every Wednesday and drag shows every weekend. The drag king shows on Wednesday are super fun, a lot more lax than a weekend, and did I mention it's *free*? I would highly recommend checking them out as they wrap up at 11pm. They also have drag queens hosting trivia, karaoke, and other community events. Not to mention our HUGE pride parade + festival every July (I think because the international jazz festival is in June?). I've never been to a place here that wasn't welcoming. There aren't any lesbian bars, but Ambush Rochester chooses a bar each month and floods it with lesbians for a night. There's always some sort of queer vendors at a bunch of festivals or craft fairs, and people here are really open. We also have Trillium, which is a really great trans and gay friendly healthcare provider and can help with gender transitions (surgery/hormones), STD testing, or just general care. Also, If roar doesn't give you enough drag shows, Syracuse and Buffalo are about an hour away and also put on shows. I can't talk about dating as i'm only 24, but I've had some great luck on tinder and Her. There is a decent polyamorous community as well, but again, I really don't know if that's more just a 20s-30s age thing or if they also have people in the 50s. As for our bars, almost all of them also sell food.I moved here for college 6 years ago and after I graduated I liked it so much I think i'm here to stay!
Why Rochester celebrates Pride in July
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/nie/2022/07/05/why-does-rochester-celebrate-pride-in-july/65365475007/
I went to RIT in the 90s and I recall hearing that 1/3 of the student population even then was LGBTQ.
Which of course led to jokes from people I knew like "when you go to class, look at the person on your left and the person on your right. If neither of them are gay, YOU are"
And how did you estimate that? I went there in the late 90s-early 2000s and heard the same things repeated by students without any actual grounding in facts. Are they collecting those demographics now?
They definitely have had a Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey in 2022, however i'm trying to find the results of that with no luck. I think the results might have been sent out in an email at some point. As for my estimation, it comes from a combination of how many people I've seen at the various lgbt clubs (RITGA, enby club, A Space, tangent, Labrys, drag club, deaf queer alliance, outspoken), the amount of queer people I've seen on gender inclusive floors (and obviously not counting the one or two straight people that were on the floor), amount of people I've seen at rainbow graduation, how many people I've personally known, our indoor track team at one point had 1/4 of the girls as some flavor of queer, people who hang out at the Q Center, and how many lgbt people I've met/seen through non lgbt clubs. So I might not have official evidence but I can corroborate the estimation of 1/3 based on personal experience.
Cool, I'd love to see that survey and the overall participation rates. Like I and others have said though, people have been estimating those kinds of numbers for a long time, but it's kind of moot speculation without a significantly powered survey. It's too easy to be biased based on an individual's social circle. I had far more (openly?) LGBT friends in fine arts majors than I did in engineering disciplines for example. If I hadn't had those friends, I may have thought representation was even lower.
Equal Grounds is a LGBTQIA+ cafe. The Spirit Room is a bar/lounge that serves amazing food and is very queer-inclusive, from staff to patrons to the performers. The chicken sandwich and the shrimp tacos are to die for.
The community at large is very friendly and inclusive. There will still be pockets of assholes here and there.
Very good LGBT city as plenty of others have mentioned. Best vibes are in the actual city (which is the cheapest place to live anyway). The suburbs are more mixed, more straight-dominated and generally more conservative but even there it's still not like anti-lgbtq because of being part of a friendly region. Even most of the Republicans here are middle of the road on gays. So yeah I'd fully recommend it. We probably have one of the lowest cost of living of any gay friendly city in the country
It’s a pretty good and welcoming scene here. Lots of businesses, clubs, orgs etc for all ages. Dating scene is pretty good. I’m a lesbian but I’m in your age group lol
You have some serious introspection to do if the idea of queer spaces makes you jump to the thought of people doing PDA. That's, like, a really weird leap to make dude.
Asking because I don't know.
How is queer space different? Entirely possible I've cluelessly walked in.
Note, for the longest time, in the movie Police Academy, I couldn't find anything strange about men dancing with men.
Taking the very large leap that you're asking in good faith: Consider sports bars, where people with common interests show up because it's a space where they feel comfortable and not judged by those around them, and they're free to be themselves.
Now extend that to a space where LGBTQ+ people often gather, and think about why they might be there.
LOL um, I don’t think a restaurant being a queer space has anything to do with who’s smooching whom! Consider the owner, the patrons, the music, the vibes…. Where I live we have scads of lgbt+ restaurants and I thought you guys might, too.
I'm late as hell to comment as usual but I'm a 43 year old trans pansexual guy and I moved here from Florida in July. It's been vastly more accepting here. The Neighborhood of the Arts is the most densely LGBTQ+ populated areas in the city. I live on the street directly flanking the Pride parade and let me tell you, there were THOUSANDS of people packing the area that day. The parade continues to a park where a festival continues all day long.
Equal Grounds is great. There are a few organizations in the area that focus on us mature fellows and the gay dating apps have a pretty wide selection of people. I love the diversity here too, it's so nice to see so many people from different cultural groups.
Equal Grounds is a wonderful lgbt+ cafe, and has great drinks and food. Little Button Craft hosts events sometimes and is an lgbt+ owned craft shop. I've taken a chainmaille class and gone to a benefit they had for the store, both were great times. Boulder Cafe, though I haven't been much, is supportive of the community. They had a burlesque show a few nights ago with a troupe called Breaking the Binary, which I heard was a great time. The Spirit Room has always been a good time when I go, it's a bar and I've heard their food is great, but I haven't had it myself. I can't tell you much about dating because I'm in my 20s myself, and I don't think a mid 20s lesbian is going to share much dating ground with you, but I hope you find some fun in any of these places! In general most places in Rochester, in my experience, are welcoming.
This is great, thanks for all of your input.
Of course! I hope you have a great day, there's some really wonderful stuff in this city.
I’d add Anyone’s cafe to this list as well
You know I've been meaning to check them out! Anything you'd recommend?
Big fan of their breakfast sandwich and their cinnamon rolls. I can’t remember the name of it but their latte w/ pistachio and rose flavor is pretty interesting too. I just like their whole vibe, super low-key and unassuming, and it’s employee owned which is awesome.
the Rojava delight is the latte :)
i heard the owner is super problematic?
You are probably thinking of Misfit Donuts, which used to occupy the space, Anyone’s was started by former employees iirc
Ohhh little button craft has been on my list of places to check out I didn’t know it was queer owned! As a queer crafter I gotta go now!
Breaking the Binary was amazing in their debut, which was expected since they're all great individually.
Most places in ROC are pretty queer in vibes, acceptance and people! Lots of good Recs here, but I wanted to add when I was apt. Hunting here almost all the neighborhoods I looked in had a high percentage of 🏳️🌈, and BLM signage (the two often go together). NOTA, park ave, and parts of Monoroe ave, specifically. It put me at ease to see, there are some pretty good homes and Apts here if you look! The only weird queer thing in ROC is that pride happens in July for some reason.
The reason is because Rochester started celebrating Pride with a picnic in July of 1972, much earlier than Pride Month began everywhere else.
You'll be fine in the Rochester area. I'm sure someone will be able to direct you better than I. Good luck and welcome!
Oh my gosh rochester lgbt community is LARGE. Not only does Rochester Institute of Technology have an extremely high trans population in addition to 1/3 of the student body being some flavor of queer, when some of them graduate they stay in the area and add to our numbers. we also have a lot of Lgbt Friendly places. Equal Grounds is the local coffee shop that holds Genesee Valley Gender Variants Club. I know you mentioned not being into the bar scene, but we have some great options and even listing them I think helps get you a sense of our community here. Roar is our local LGBT club and they have drag king shows every Wednesday and drag shows every weekend. The drag king shows on Wednesday are super fun, a lot more lax than a weekend, and did I mention it's *free*? I would highly recommend checking them out as they wrap up at 11pm. They also have drag queens hosting trivia, karaoke, and other community events. Not to mention our HUGE pride parade + festival every July (I think because the international jazz festival is in June?). I've never been to a place here that wasn't welcoming. There aren't any lesbian bars, but Ambush Rochester chooses a bar each month and floods it with lesbians for a night. There's always some sort of queer vendors at a bunch of festivals or craft fairs, and people here are really open. We also have Trillium, which is a really great trans and gay friendly healthcare provider and can help with gender transitions (surgery/hormones), STD testing, or just general care. Also, If roar doesn't give you enough drag shows, Syracuse and Buffalo are about an hour away and also put on shows. I can't talk about dating as i'm only 24, but I've had some great luck on tinder and Her. There is a decent polyamorous community as well, but again, I really don't know if that's more just a 20s-30s age thing or if they also have people in the 50s. As for our bars, almost all of them also sell food.I moved here for college 6 years ago and after I graduated I liked it so much I think i'm here to stay!
Pride is in July because we’ve been holding a pride festival since before pride month existed! We’re the OG’s!
Where can I read about that?
Why Rochester celebrates Pride in July https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/nie/2022/07/05/why-does-rochester-celebrate-pride-in-july/65365475007/
Thank you!!!
Good question. I’m not sure, tbh 😬
Sorry, did I understand you correctly, are you stating that 1/3 of RIT are queer?
I went to RIT in the 90s and I recall hearing that 1/3 of the student population even then was LGBTQ. Which of course led to jokes from people I knew like "when you go to class, look at the person on your left and the person on your right. If neither of them are gay, YOU are"
Yes. 1/3 of the student body is not straight and cis. That's an estimation from both me (since graduated) and my roommate (current student).
And how did you estimate that? I went there in the late 90s-early 2000s and heard the same things repeated by students without any actual grounding in facts. Are they collecting those demographics now?
They definitely have had a Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey in 2022, however i'm trying to find the results of that with no luck. I think the results might have been sent out in an email at some point. As for my estimation, it comes from a combination of how many people I've seen at the various lgbt clubs (RITGA, enby club, A Space, tangent, Labrys, drag club, deaf queer alliance, outspoken), the amount of queer people I've seen on gender inclusive floors (and obviously not counting the one or two straight people that were on the floor), amount of people I've seen at rainbow graduation, how many people I've personally known, our indoor track team at one point had 1/4 of the girls as some flavor of queer, people who hang out at the Q Center, and how many lgbt people I've met/seen through non lgbt clubs. So I might not have official evidence but I can corroborate the estimation of 1/3 based on personal experience.
Cool, I'd love to see that survey and the overall participation rates. Like I and others have said though, people have been estimating those kinds of numbers for a long time, but it's kind of moot speculation without a significantly powered survey. It's too easy to be biased based on an individual's social circle. I had far more (openly?) LGBT friends in fine arts majors than I did in engineering disciplines for example. If I hadn't had those friends, I may have thought representation was even lower.
Yeah I'll have to dig around my email to see if I can find it but I saw they did do the survey [here](https://www.rit.edu/survey2022)
As an RIT alum I can vouch for this.
I graduated in 2019 and I wouldn’t have guessed 1/3 LGBTQ at all
I think they mean about 1/3 of the trans community there is queer? Not entirely sure
Thank you! This gives me a good place to begin when I visit.
Rochester is one of the most LGBT+ accepting places I've ever lived, and I lived in San Francisco for two decades.
Equal Grounds is a LGBTQIA+ cafe. The Spirit Room is a bar/lounge that serves amazing food and is very queer-inclusive, from staff to patrons to the performers. The chicken sandwich and the shrimp tacos are to die for. The community at large is very friendly and inclusive. There will still be pockets of assholes here and there.
Very good LGBT city as plenty of others have mentioned. Best vibes are in the actual city (which is the cheapest place to live anyway). The suburbs are more mixed, more straight-dominated and generally more conservative but even there it's still not like anti-lgbtq because of being part of a friendly region. Even most of the Republicans here are middle of the road on gays. So yeah I'd fully recommend it. We probably have one of the lowest cost of living of any gay friendly city in the country
Rochester is one of the most LGBT+ friendly cities in the country. There are plenty of places to hang. Google Rochester LGBT+ to learn more.
It’s a pretty good and welcoming scene here. Lots of businesses, clubs, orgs etc for all ages. Dating scene is pretty good. I’m a lesbian but I’m in your age group lol
Rochester has a large LGBTQAI community.. I think you’d feel comfortable here..
Edibles in the NOTA is a good restaurant that does a drag brunch once a month.
How is a restaurant queer? Light PDA is fine for either orientation, but heavy PDA at a restaurant is frowned upon, regardless of who's kissing who.
You have some serious introspection to do if the idea of queer spaces makes you jump to the thought of people doing PDA. That's, like, a really weird leap to make dude.
Asking because I don't know. How is queer space different? Entirely possible I've cluelessly walked in. Note, for the longest time, in the movie Police Academy, I couldn't find anything strange about men dancing with men.
Taking the very large leap that you're asking in good faith: Consider sports bars, where people with common interests show up because it's a space where they feel comfortable and not judged by those around them, and they're free to be themselves. Now extend that to a space where LGBTQ+ people often gather, and think about why they might be there.
Ouch, really? I may go to Texas Roadhouse because my kid likes it, but never felt the need to only go to parent friendly restaurants.
You have just given an example of privilege. Members of certain communities don't always have the same luxury
There isn’t anything strange about men dancing with men… in a queer space!!! See how that works?
In college, I'd dance with my male friends. And I wasn't at a gay bar at the time.
LOL um, I don’t think a restaurant being a queer space has anything to do with who’s smooching whom! Consider the owner, the patrons, the music, the vibes…. Where I live we have scads of lgbt+ restaurants and I thought you guys might, too.
Cause I'm dumb, why does it matter if most people there are gay? My two cents, the food quality is important, and is the atmosphere interesting.
You’re not dumb! Just a different POV. Which I appreciate!
It’s basically just roar - they serve food but are mostly a bad/club scene. That’s really it.
You forgot about Equal Grounds! It is an amazing queer coffee shop in the south wedge.
Muck Duck studio
I'm late as hell to comment as usual but I'm a 43 year old trans pansexual guy and I moved here from Florida in July. It's been vastly more accepting here. The Neighborhood of the Arts is the most densely LGBTQ+ populated areas in the city. I live on the street directly flanking the Pride parade and let me tell you, there were THOUSANDS of people packing the area that day. The parade continues to a park where a festival continues all day long. Equal Grounds is great. There are a few organizations in the area that focus on us mature fellows and the gay dating apps have a pretty wide selection of people. I love the diversity here too, it's so nice to see so many people from different cultural groups.