Gay & Lesbian Information and News Center
The end of an era is here: GayLINC is closing down. Since 1995 we have brought you the news about and our views on LGBTQI+ life in Amsterdam. But the group of people behind GayLINC have moved on to new stages in their lives. So time to say goodbye to you. Thank you to all our readers, we hoped you enjoyed our articles and interviews.
We will keep the site up and running for about a week. Then we will take it off line.
Since June 5ht pubs in Amsterdam are allowed to receive guests indoors. And bars are also allowed to stay open till 10PM. This means some more LGBTQI+ bars are able to open up. And on top of that: sauna’s are also allowed to open! These new relaxations of the lock-down rules are two important steps towards a more normal life. Corona rules still apply to the bars like last summer. Think of a max number of guests, mandatory and registering guests.
Several bars with no or limited outdoor area’s are now able to open up again. Bar Fame and Cafe Montmartre are two of the popular pubs who are able to open up again. During the lock down they survived by serving take-away drinks and bites.
Also Dragshow bar Lellebel is opening up again. This is the first time after new owners took over the bar at the beginning of 2020 since they are able to open again.
The Web and Cuckoo’s Nest are two other bars who are finally able to open up. This means that two popular bars in the gay fetish scene are allowed to receive guess again. Leather men and rubber boys can finally wear their fetish gear in public again and enjoy a drink and each others company.
And on top of that: nearby Sauna Nieuwezijds is open again! So you can sweat out all the beer you drank the night before 😉 Reserving a spot is necessary to visit the sauna.
Many bars were able to open up a terras over the past few weeks. Some were able to extend an already big outdoor seating area, but Bar Buka for example was only open up for one day a week. Now they can all open up indoors and outdoors and Bar Buka is now open from Wednesday to Sunday! And to support the many restaurants in the neigborhood: you can now also bring food to Bar Buka and eat it there.
Clubs are able to open at July 1st. The well know fetish bars/clubs The Eagle and Dirty Dicks hope to open up in July. The Eagle definitely opens on July 1st, Dirty Dicks is still looking into the possibility of opening up in July. Also Club Church is still looking into the possiblities of opening up and still serving there fetish community.
Definitely opening up is Club NYX. They even plan to open op the first moment they can: in the night from June 30th and July 1st they open up the doors again. And a special mention to Club Yolo, who opened up a terras at the river side in front of their club. We expect them to open op quickly as night club as well.
For two famous bars the relaxed rules are not enough yet to open up again. Both Cafe ’t Mandje and Saarein have such a limited space inside and outside, that it is not possible for them to open up safely and still cover all costs.
Earlier this week iconic bar Ruk and Pluk was saved as a result of a crowdfunding action. The two owners were overwhelmed by the success and promised to support other bars as well. Solidarity in difficult times, which is exactly what we need.
Ruk and Pluk is known for its cheap drinks, its over-the-top-décor (including a huge inflatable penis) and a crowd that is always happy to chat to strangers. Open from 15.00, Linnaeusstraat 48, cash only.
Pride Amsterdam 2021 will go ahead! The receding corona epidemic makes organizing event later this year possible. But the organizers have to adjust the program according to the ever developing corona epidemic. That means no Canal Parade in 2021. Organizing the popular parade of floats and almost 1 million people along the canals within the 1,5 meter (6 feet) social distancing rule is practically impossible. Amsterdam Pride will take place between July 31st and August 8th.
Pride Amsterdam 2021 will be organized around the theme Take Pride in Us. The same theme that was planned for the 2020 edition. Despite the still existing social distancing rules public events will be organized as much as possible. Per type of event the organizers will see what is possible. They hope to be able to organize the traditional opening events like Pride in the Park and the Pride Walk. Although they may have to adjust the set-up of these events. One this will safely go ahead: the special Pride TV television broadcast.
Pride Amsterdam and the city government are working closely together to see how this 25th year anniversary edition of the event can take place. The organizers hope to be able to guarantee fund, that will cover the financial risk of events in case they can’t go ahead last minute. In the beginning of July the organizers publish the definitive program.
A special photo exhibition and book will celebrate the 25th year anniversary of the Amsterdam Pride. Photographers can send in pictures organized around themes like ‘Statement Boats’ for the best participants of 25 years of Canal Parade or ‘In Memoriam’ for Pride icons who have passed away. A jury will award a prize of €2500,- for the best picture admitted to this contest.
Amsterdam pubs are opening up slowly since the beginning of May. The Dutch government allowed pubs first to open up their outdoor areas between 12PM and 6PM. From mid-May the government extended the opening times from 6AM till 8PM. The Amsterdam city has allowed many pubs to extend their outdoor seating area, so they can make use of these new allowances. But not all pubs have the space outside to receive guests. Here is how the LGTBQI+ pubs in Amsterdam are making the best of a new situation.
Bars that have the opportunity to open an outdoor seating area welcome you with open arms. At most bars you can take an empty seat. But the staff have to comply with the corona rules (1.5 feet distance, maximum of 50 persons on a terrace, not more than two people from different households at one table etc). So they might have to tell you that you can’t take the empty seat. Don’t be offended: the bars just try to stay in business.
The following pubs have opened up an outdoor seating area as much as possible:
Some bars have no outdoors area available (big enough) to seat guests. Or they are bars so linked to the (fetish) nightlife that having a outdoors area makes no sense. These are the following bars
