It is now the oldest gay bar in Halifax still in operation. Reflections opened in late 1996 by Beverly and Paul Wilson. Currently, the building is home to the Global Halifax studio and offices. It closed when GALA went bankrupt in 1995. The Turret was a bar owned and operated by the Gay Alliance for Equality (later the Gay And Lesbian Alliance) in the former Khyber building at 1588 Barrington Street. Barrington Street’s Sub Rosa was a short-lived archetypal rave spot. The Eagle’s Nest was known as a leather fetish bar, while Reflections catered to a younger crowd. It was in the ’90s and early 2000s that bars started to cater to specific subcultures in the queer community.
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Rumours closed in 1995, when the GAE-renamed the Gay And Lesbian Alliance-went bankrupt. The Turret was succeeded by Rumours, located in what is now the Global Halifax headquarters on Gottingen Street. The money earned at The Turret went to fund the organization’s social justice work in the early days of the queer rights movement. The Gay Alliance for Equality opened and operated The Turret bar on the third floor of the former Khyber building. Gay bars weren’t always about big nights out-they were also a tool of social change.
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Details about Thee Klub and other historical venues can be found on the gay.hfxns website, where the majority of information in this story was sourced. It opened in 1971 in the Green Lantern Building on Barrington Street. The first “officially gay” gay bar in Halifax was Thee Klub. Since the first gay bar opened in 1971, Halifax’s queer community has found a home in nightlife. Halifax is a city with a vibrant history, and that extends into its queer culture. A look inside The Turret on a rare quiet night.