However, in 1972, Australian entrepreneur and entertainer Albert “Bert” Hood purchased the Red Barn and made the bold decision to be Las Vegas’ first openly gay bar. Nights at the Red Barn during “pink hour,” included LGBTQ+ performers from the Strip mingling with the bar’s regular patrons, hayrides to and from the Paradise Valley ranch a few miles away, and the infamous drag show, “Fabulous Fakes.”ĭespite its LGBTQ+ programming being limited to the evening, the Red Barn joined Maxine’s and Le Café in what local historian Dennis McBride refers to as “the holy trinity of Las Vegas gay bars” in his book, Out of the Neon Closet. During the day, it catered primarily to a working-class clientele, but in the evening, it catered to Las Vegas’ LGBTQ+ community. However, the business was not sustainable, and went through some changes in the 1960s, becoming a bar. Originally, opening on the intersection of South Maryland Parkway and East Tropicana, the Red Barn opened as an antique store in 1958.
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