See inside colorful new Kansas City gay bar: ‘Church for the queer community’
Q Kansas City originally hoped to open for Halloween — “gay Christmas,” as owner Lance Pierce called it last year.
Pierce and co-owner Brett Allred didn’t quite make that holiday deadline, but instead they hit a different one, holding a grand opening for their LGBTQ bar Friday at 504 Westport Road.
“We’re really excited to open on Valentine’s Day, so we can have that as our anniversary party every year,” Pierce said. “Everybody will be wearing red and pink for the holiday. We’re going to have drag performers and other performance artists, a Chappell Roan ‘Pink Pony Club’ singalong at midnight. It’ll feel like one big house party.”
Pierce is the founder of Queer Bar Takeover, a pop-up party that would partner with straight bars to throw gay bashes. He and Allred announced last spring that they would be teaming up to open an LGBTQ nightclub in the Westport space previously occupied by Allred’s hip-hop club Bridger’s.
They cut the ribbon Thursday night and swung open the doors Friday at 5 p.m.
Pierce said the space is divided up into multiple spaces offering different “auditory experiences.”
“We didn’t want it to be all oonce-oonce — all loud dance music,” he said. “So there’s The Cove, which is an intimate space with couches and soft chairs. And then upstairs we have Q&A, which is five tables, a banquette, and a bar with a mixologist. It’s quieter up there, no flashing lights, and cocktails in glasses as opposed to plastic downstairs. It’s a more mature, adult vibe.”
Some design highlights at Q Kansas City: four different murals, all by LGBTQ artists; a golden giraffe chandelier; and an eight-foot DJ booth on the dance floor inspired by a Catholic pulpit.
“For a lot of us, clubs are like church for the queer community,” Pierce said. “It’s where we come to find fellowship, where we hear the gospel of self-acceptance and self-love, where we dance to icons like Lady Gaga and Chappell Roan. So, this is a cathartic space created by queer artists, queer designers, queer creatives.”
Following the grand opening, regular hours at Q Kansas City will be 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., Thursday to Sunday.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 3:11 PM.
