Gay clubs in columbia south carolina

Top 10 Best Gay Bars in Columbia, SC - Last Updated July - Yelp - Art Bar, PT'sCapital Club, Capri Lounge, Edge Nightclub, Main Street Pub & Eatery. We believe a more just South is possible—and it starts with shifting the stories we tell.

More than two decades after the Candy Shop closed its doors, the researchers and preservationists at Historic Columbia have joined the struggle to correct the way the club has thus far been "written over" in the historical record.

Through this work, the preservation coalition intends to honor the Candy Shop's significance and make a statement about the rootedness of queer histories in the American South amid the region's increasingly hostile, homophobic, and anti-trans political climate.

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Support non-profit media that do things differently. For Black queer Southerners, too little has passed with the time. The city boasts a vibrant gay scene that is both diverse and inclusive. Contestants for the title of Mister Candy Shop competed in presentation, swimwear, and talent categories, while contestants for the Miss Candy Shop title competed in presentation, sportswear, evening gown, and talent categories.

Closed inthe Candy Shop was once the longest-running gay club in South Carolina's capital. Hunter said musical performances at the Candy Shop reflected the tastes of the Black community, featuring more soul music than was played at the city's other clubs.

While clubs in downtown Columbia tended to close around 1 a. The preservation efforts continue to be led by the former performers and patrons who spent their weekends at the Candy Shop, beginning inwhen the bar opened under its original name, The Gay Delight Club.

When that show ended, "We would all pour out into the parking lot and for another hour or so, the club would kind of continue outside," recalled Henderson. During this time, the growing PRIDE movement in South Carolina and across the American South was predominately white, and many queer spaces remained de facto segregated.

While the Candy Shop never had the capacity of some of Columbia's other gay clubs—Hunter clarified, "If you got 50 people, that meant it was packed," and the dressing room could not accommodate any more than 10 people—its talent far outstripped its humble infrastructure.

As the club developed a reputation for its premier entertainment and late hours, it also became a favorite destination for some non-Black community members. The city's annual Pride festival is a. Hunter won the latter title in the pageant's third year.

Sometimes, you would see all the white people on one side and all the Black people on the other side," said Sam Hunter, a former Candy Shop performer and show director who also performs as The Ebony Goddess Samantha Hunter.

Hunter worked as a show director for decades until the club closed in During that time, Hunter mentored dozens of young performers, including Columbia native Dorae Saunders, the trans drag star and America's Got Talent quarterfinalist who saw her first drag show at the Candy Shop in the mids.

The unassuming one-story building at Two Notch Road, now painted in Benedict College's purple and gold, was a former Black gay bar. From lively bars and nightclubs to community events, Columbia offers a variety of spaces where lgbtq+Q+ individuals can express themselves freely and connect with like-minded people.

The action was the first for the New York City-based group outside of a major metropolitan area, and it led to dozens of arrests. The Candy Shop emerged against this exclusion as an important site for Black queer folk who sought to carve out their own spaces.

Benedict College, a private historically Black college in Columbia, South Carolina, inaugurated its community education center at Two Notch Road just outside Columbia's downtown in At the time, local reporting from WIS-News 10 hailed the opening as part of an ongoing transformation of Two Notch Road, where, the reporting claimed"Friday and Saturday nights […] used to mean drinking, drugs, hookers, and the occasional murder.

Hunter represents an older generation of Candy Shop regulars who started frequenting the club in the late s. During the s, South Carolina's gay pride movement made significant strides into the public sphere. Learn about the best gay-friendly bars, clubs, restaurants, and cafes—along with Pride events—in Columbia, South Carolina's capital city.

We don't have to take this anymore. Columbia, SC, has been steadily growing as a welcoming destination for the lgbtq+Q+ community.