A new bar opening later this month in Halifax is the latest addition to the city’s roster of queer bars, which has seen a recent resurgence after a pandemic-era lull.

Michael Gouthro says he hopes Backlot HFX, his new two-storey locale at 2103 Gottingen St., will offer something for everyone. Previously the home of Driftwood Coastal Diner and, before that, Hopyard Beer Bar, the location’s downstairs space was also a gay bar called Club NRG around 25 years ago, Gouthro said.

“Gottingen Street itself has a lot of queer history,” he said. “You had Club NRG, you had The Eagle, Toolbox, Menz & Mollyz, The Company House, Vortex, The Blue Moon.”

Among those venues, Menz & Mollyz was the last bar standing, keeping its doors open until April 2020. Around the same time, Reflections Cabaret on Salter Street shut its doors for good.

Backlot will be the third designated queer establishment to open in the city in recent years after Rumours Lounge & Cabaret on Lower Water Street and Stardust Bar + Kitchen on Barrington Street both opened in 2024.

More performance venues

Fiona Kerr, executive director of Halifax Pride, says the city is teeming with queer performers and event producers who up until recently relied on non-queer community spaces.