Did 2024 represent the pinnacle of LGBTQ acceptance, leaving us with nowhere to go but down? The nearly $215 million in anti-LGBTQ ads this election season, and Trump’s resulting victory, certainly makes it feel that way. Winter is in the air, and Corporate America is dispensing with diversity programs like flip flops at an end-of-summer clearance. Progress, however, typically comes with setbacks, and, ensconced in our solidly blue city bordering a reliably blue state, our community will forge ahead.
For our Year-in-Review, we’re presenting a curated timeline of some of the notable events of 2024.
LGBTQ St. Louis began the year in global headlines. There was the ongoing turmoil surrounding the Transgender Center at Washington University in St. Louis, and the shock over the December 18, 2023 incident where a police cruiser crashed into Bar: PM, and then officers inexplicably arrested co-owner Chad Morris (Wick).
Those two stories would be through-lines of the year.
We’d lose people and places we relied on. On election night, we’d feel we’d lost it all. But in our darkest moments, we’d come together as we’ve always done.
January: Our newest LGBTQ bar, Prism, celebrated its second year. “We really hope this is a place where everyone feels they belong,” says co-owner Sean Abernathy.
They’ll celebrate three years January 3-4.
Christa Lou gives an emotional tribute to Colin Murphy
February 22: Gay journalist and #Boom Magazine co-founder Colin Murphy passed away, and was honored in separate obituaries penned by his two proteges, Colin Lovett and Chris Andoe.
Murphy, who dedicated his life to covering the LGBTQ community, was celebrated with a well-attended tribute at Just John.
The iconic “Mad Beader of Mardi Gras,” Auntie M, reigns over the Sequin Circuit.
March 1: During Soulard Mardi Gras, Russell and Menard is “The Sequin Circuit.”
The intersection of Russell and Menard has long been the epicenter of LGBTQ Mardi Gras, but our footprint expanded in 2024 as the Krewe of the Lustful Lushes took over the second-floor of Hi-Hat, throwing their coveted beads from the upper windows.
On the Hi-Hat’s stage, there were performances by Jade Sinclair, Ming Lee, Chasity Valentino, as well as “The Mad Beader of Mardi Gras,” Auntie M.
Look for more Sequin Circuit action in ’25.
SIRenity feature in Out in STL
March 5: SIRenity announces new camping concept: SIRenity Village. Just an hour from the city, SIRenity Farms has grown exponentially since it opened in 2020, attracting 4,300 unique visitors from all 50 states and multiple countries. Building on that success, owners Dennis Duncan and Michael Dekeyser announced that a new, truly inclusive campground for the entire LGBTQ community is in the works.
Maven Logik Lee
May: The prolific Maven Logik Lee has worked tirelessly to elevate St. Louis’ ball scene. As a result, NAESM, an Atlanta-based organization supporting Black gay men, brought their conference and annual ball to town.
Manna Steticçc Highland at the Chappell Roan concert. Photo by Braden McMakin
May 30: The Chappell Roan concert is opened by Manna Steticçc Highland, Chloe Curiosity and Visa D’cline. See Braden McMakin’s slideshow here. St. Louis is a capital of pageant drag, but we’ve lagged behind when it comes to representation on shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race. There’s buzz that this dynamic new crop of performers could change that.
May 31: Bar: PM sues the City of St. Louis and two police officers involved in the December 2023 crash. Video.
June: Cover of the Out in STL Pride Issue features Candy Principle, flanked by Bryon Dawayne Pierson and Terrence Rains. The digital issue can be found here.
Steven Louis Brawley at the Gateway to Pride Exhibit
June 8: The groundbreaking Gateway to Pride Exhibit opens at the Missouri History Museum, which is the first-ever full-scale exhibit detailing St. Louis’s LGBTQIA+ history. The expansive 6,000 square foot exhibit is the result of a community-driven initiative titled Gateway to Pride.
The Museum began partnering with Steven Louis Brawley of the St. Louis LGBT History Project in 2013 to collect rare artifacts, striking images, and insightful oral histories.
“Through the ground-breaking exhibit, we discover a much-needed new perspective on the region’s past,” says Brawley. “LGBTQIA+ St. Louisans finally can see themselves as central figures in our region’s history like never before.”
The exhibit remains open through July 6, 2025.
Joss Barton on the cover of the Autumn 2018 issue.
June: Artist Joss Barton returns to St. Louis after living and performing in Chicago for several years. Barton appeared in a film titled Dreams in Nightmares, which debuted at Philadelphia’s Blackstar Film Festival in August. The film will be featured at the Berlin International Film Festival.
June: When asked about their 2024 festival, Pride St. Louis’ Jordan Elizabeth Braxton issued the following statement: “As PrideSTL embarks on preparations for PrideFest 2025, our 45th anniversary, we want to pause and look back at our accomplishments of 2024. In 2024, We welcomed a larger even more diverse board, continued to collaborate on Pride Nights with some of St. Louis’s finest attractions, held several events that highlighted our community’s talent, produced the largest free Pride Festival and parade in the Midwest, and fed the community at the holidays for the 19th year.”
See a rundown of the seven regional prides here.
All of the regional Pride organizations were represented at the Pride United Ball. Photo by John Frey
June 21: “Maven of Mardi Gras” Luann Denten brings all regional Pride organizations together for Pride United Ball at The Little Bevo, featuring the Out in STL Awards. Click here to see the slideshow.
Queer Writes
June 27: Joan Lipkin’s Queer Writes. Queer Writes provides exposure to St Louis-based or writers with strong local connections in a variety of genres, all based on language in some form. Just this past year alone: Michael Kearns performing excerpts from his iconic one-man AIDS play intimacies, playwright Charlie Meyers doing stand-up, Summer Osborne singing, Kelly Hamilton doing flash creative non fiction about early childhood trans memories, Nancy Fowler and Gabe Montesanti‘s award-winning memoir, to name a few folks from this year.
“I think and work on it all year to provide diversity of style, aesthetic, gender and orientation, says Lipkin. “And to host it at a major institution like the Missouri History Museum during Pride Month elevates its significance and expands how we culturally celebrate the literary arts. I love me a good drag show or beer bust, but our community also has additional talents, including in the literary realm. This is a very rich writing community.”
Queer Writes will return on June 5 as part of Thursday Nights at the Museum, and Lipkin promises it’s going to continue to offer surprises.
August: Officer at center of Bar: PM arrest is no longer with the police department.
Grey Fox Pub. Photo by Justin Lehman
August 30: Max Michael Klapp reminds us that Grey Fox is our oldest surviving gay bar by celebrating its 36th year.
Mitchell filed half a dozen lawsuits over our 2018 feature.
October 22: Felonious con Dustin Mitchell convicted in Houston, sentenced to 11 years. Anyone who was in St. Louis from 2012 to 2016 has a Dustin Mitchell story. He then took his cons to Dallas, Glen Rose, Texas, and finally to Houston, where he presented himself as a rabbi.
Maxi Glamour’s RFT cover hangs in the Villadiva Hall of Fame
Election: There were some bright spots on election night. 2024 Out in STL Influential Award winner Elizabeth Fuchs won her race for MO House District 80, which covers a large swath of the south side, and the famed Maxi Glamour was elected as the Ward 3 Committeeperson.
Post-Election November: STL Queer Gun Club is founded. By necessity, LGBTQ people tend to read the room better than most. The message many received from the election is that #MeToo and gun control are dead, so they’re getting guns and hitting the range to prepare for whatever fresh hell awaits.
Gun enthusiast Andrew Sims is an admin of the group. “My goal is to create high-speed, low-drag armed queers with modern weapons,” he says.
November 21: LGBTQ Legal Summit features a fierce all-female legal panel assembled by Marler Law Partners. Lorin W. Cope of Tower Grove’s St. Paul United Church of Christ hosted the event, which discussed ways to safeguard rights and protect families in the event same-sex marriage is overturned.
The video of the presentation can be seen here.
Teighlor Demornay headlines the final show
November 24: Belleville’s Club Escapades holds their final drag show before closing their doors.
“When an establishment of the GLBTQIA+ Community closes. It is always the end of an era,” Belleville resident and prominent queen Teighlor Demornay says. “For some, it’s the place where they first ventured to in their journey of self-discovery, met their partners in life, or the random one-night stands. For some its just to meet friends for drinks, laughs, sometimes cries. No matter the reasons for the visits, we form connections that later becomes family. That was the end-game of Escapades. The entire [final] night was all about love and appreciation for [owners] Harold and Rick and the families and friendships formed at Escapades. Seriously was the best way to take a bow at the end of a great run for the community bar. We wish them all the best.”
The Mayor of Belleville proclaimed that December 16, 2024 will be “Club Escapade Day.”
December 13: At a spectacular soiree, Russell Jackson and Alex Gutierrez announced they have sold their iconic Portland Place mansion, which was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal. The 13,000 square ft. residence is one of the city’s most palatial homes, and has been the site of many lavish events.
“We have thoroughly enjoyed our decade in one of the Central West End’s grandest homes,” says Jackson. “For us, the parties, salons, and dinners there have been magical, and the neighbors are bright, gracious, and committed to this city’s betterment. Our next home may be smaller, but it still will be a venue for live music and spontaneous fun. Le bon temps roule!”
Chuck Pfoutz
December 28: Chuck Pfoutz returns from Florida to host a fashion event at Westport Playhouse, and then heads to trial in a years-long, six-figure Hamburger Mary’s suit. The plaintiff in the case, David Pardue, sued Pfoutz for allegedly defaming him as part of a broader protest against Pardue and his restaurant during the summer of 2020. Pardue v. Pfoutz will be tried Jan. 6 in St. Louis Circuit Court.
Dozens of protesters picketed the restaurant, claiming Pardue abused his power by mistreating employees and performers.
Pfoutz has countersued Pardue, claiming that Pardue’s complaint was filed to harass him after Pfoutz refused Pardue’s advances.
In court filings, Pfoutz called Pardue’s suit “a classic SLAPP suit,” referring to the use of a defamation claim to silence critics and stifle public debate. These are called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, and more than half of the states have laws designed to discourage them, including Missouri.
That’s a wrap. After the election, libertarian memes and merch about being ungovernable suddenly resonated with new audiences.
LGBTQ people long migrated to, and found safety in the feared and loathed cities, ours included, because we could navigate and thrive in these places, in spite of oppressive state and federal policies. If St. Louis is anything, it’s ungovernable. We are ahead of the curve going into the 2025 abyss.
If you’d like to see more people, places and events covered, please send us tips, press releases, press passes, or consider joining our team. Whatever comes our way in 2025, we’ll face it together.
