We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us what happened the first time they went out to a gay bar or club. Here are some of their inspiring and outrageous responses:
1. "I had a drag queen take a five-dollar bill out of my mouth with her tongue. Sorry, Mom!"
2. "I came out as a gay man to my girlfriend on the dance floor."
She freaked out. I didn't talk with her for months after, but we are good friends to this day. — Carlson Peters, Facebook
3. “A guy I was dancing with whipped his dick out for me on the dance floor.”
4. "I had never seen gay guys look so confident and diverse. Guys were holding hands and dancing together. It was the greatest thing for me to see."
I was a kid in a candy store. I remember thinking the guys were so hot. Like the hottest guys I'd ever seen in my life. This was my new home. I never wanted to leave. — Robert Rodriguez, Facebook
5. "I ended up reading Game of Thrones, alone in a corner, while my friend danced and made out with some dude.”
6. "It was in Seoul, South Korea. I met up with some people from an expat lesbian Facebook group, and we danced the night away at a club called The Pink Hole."
Mind you, it had a recent name change from The Pink Button. If you're gonna call a lesbian club anything, I guess that's it. – Christine Yang, Facebook
7. “This guy came up to me dressed as Abraham Lincoln and told me he wanted to take me there.”
8. "Think of the most awkward, scrawny, scared teenager you can imagine and enter him into a pole dancing competition on his 18th birthday. THAT was me."
I tried some dance moves involving me swinging around the pole [...] I ended up winning and left that night with prizes in hand, two tickets to come back for the party the bars was hosting later in the weekend, and a compliment from the drag queen. She said, 'Your mother must be so proud of you.' – Adam Sulier, Facebook
9. "I made out with a boy for the first time, and my main memory is trying to hide a boner in baggy jeans."
10. "I went to the Stonewall Inn on my first date with a guy."
I had no clue of the significance of the place until he enlightened me. Even then I didn't fully get it until years later when I was out. We watched an OK drag show in the basement, and then went next door to Duplex where we shamelessly made out and watched people sing karaoke. – Matt Ford, Facebook
11. "I was kicked out of the bathroom for being a non-passing trans guy and was ignored by all the dudes there."
12. "I ended up getting drunk, dancing and flirting with my boss all night."
The club itself was amazing. I had never seen so many lesbians in one place. It was a part of coming out that i loved and helped me to be comfortable with who I am." – Emmy Garcia, Facebook
13. "It was 4/20 week. An off-duty police officer found some pot I forgot I had stashed in my bag for a friend, and I freaked out."
14. “They were having a summer bash party with a lube wrestling pit. My friends dared me to wrestle one of the drag kings. I did and won.”
I went out on a few dates with the girl I wrestled afterwards. Six years later, we are still great buds. – emilym4ce307f7c
15. "I ran into some go-go boys, and, as a Mormon, it was too much to handle. So, I went to the corner, assumed the fetal position and sung Hymns."
16. "The only person dancing was a man awkwardly gyrating in his chair, staring directly at me."
That's when I learned a very important lesson: a night in with Netflix and my real friends, Ben and Jerry, will forever trump going out to the small town gay bar. – scientiarum
17. "An old drag queen wearing a beehive wig, Slayer t-shirt and wranglers bought me a vodka Red Bull, and I watched The L Word with the sound off."
18. "I learned a valuable lesson the hard way: shot boys aren’t really flirting with you and don’t actually like you. They just like your money."
19. “A guy in a cowboy hat grabbed my ass and asked if he could go for a ride."
That was seven years ago and was the first and last time I ever stepped foot into a gay bar. – Anthony Thomas Esposito, Facebook
20. "I broke my tailbone attempting to do the 'Single Ladies' dance."
"I couldn't sit without one of those donut things for about two months, and you can feel where my tailbone juts in." – styh06
21. "Back then, I was going to a conservative private Christian university and could actually be kicked out if I was caught going. At the bar, the people that I was told I should condemn loved me for me."
22. "I talked with this amazing guy, and we hit it off. After about half an hour, he got up, shook my hand, and told me his girlfriend was finished dancing."
Of course I would try to pick up the straight guy my first night out at a gay bar. – manjur
23. "With the mindset that the bar would look like Babylon from Queer as Folk, I was greatly disappointed at first. It had one lonely bar and a postage stamp of a dance floor."
24. “My first time I went with my dad. The bar was playing pop diva music videos. After ordering a dark beer, my dad looked around and said, 'So they aren't going to put on ESPN, are they?'”
– Eli Cangany, Facebook
25. "My dance partner immediately changed from a respectable two stepper to a go-go-like demon dancer, grinding and throwing his leg around me."
26. "During Cher's 'Dark Lady,' I clapped with my hands high above my head as did EVERYONE else. It just felt right, and I never looked back."
27. “I was drunk AF. I don't remember a thing.”
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.