Sydney, Australia
Introduction
Sydney is an amazing lesbian travel destination for so many reasons: great weather, a thriving urban environment with perfect beaches, a vibrant LGBT community and quite possibly the best queer party in the world, Gay Mardi Gras.
While most cities have gay villages, Sydney takes it to a new level. This metropolis has a number of homo havens, with the traditional gay heart of the city found along the Oxford street strip of Darlinghurst. While it’s still a boystown, lesbians are taking over more and more space there, especially for dyke nights. And since the 1990s, Newtown has become Sydney’s second major gay village. It’s funkier than Darlinghurst and rent’s a little cheaper too, which means you’ll also see a good number of lesbians there as well (especially on King St.)
Another important neighbourhood for the girls is Leichhardt, often referred to as Dykehardt by the local lez population. Popular with both bent girls and Italians, this is Sydney’s dyke central, and a great place for a latte or bite to eat. The main lesbian drag here is along Norton St.
Despite the fairly strong lesbian scene in Sydney, there is no dedicated dyke bar. This means you’ll need to follow the lesbian calendar to figure out which girl party to attend on any specific day, and these dyke nights are usually in places that cater to gay men the rest of the week. You’ll also notice that a lot of these bars have the word “hotel” included in their name (e.g. Bank Hotel, Flinders Hotel, Oxford Hotel etc.) Strange as it may seem to most North Americans, this doesn’t actually indicate that the establishment is, indeed, a hotel. Rather, it usually signifies that it is a pub where you can find not only gaiety, but also drink and food.
When you arrive in Sydney, you should also make an effort to pick up a copy of LOTL, Australia’s lesbian magazine, to get a good overview of the Oz dyke community. If you look at their listings it takes some time to figure out where things are located because this is a national magazine and they don’t actually say “Sydney” really anywhere (same as in the Girlports listings). Instead you’ll find things listed for Darlinghurst, Erskinville, Potts Point etc. which are specific neighbourhoods in Sydney. They also indicate NSW, which is short for New South Wales, the state in which Sydney is located. So if something says it’s in VIC, SA, QLD or ACT, forget about them unless you’re also travelling to other regions in Australia.
forget your lonely planet, when it comes to planning your nights out, girlports is all you need. i arrived in sydney alone on a wednesday night and wasn't meeting up with my aussie friends until the next morning. i had no idea what to do or how to find out where the girls are until i remembered girlports had a sydney page. i made my way to the closet internet cafe and half hour later i had my wednesday night planned. the information was bang on. only thing you forgot to mention was how incredibly friendly aussie girls are and that everyone loves a foreigner with an accent! i'll definitely be checking out girlports every time i go to one of "your" cities! thanks for the great information you provide!
solo traveler on Feb 03, 2008
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