Mike's (Denver Gay Bar/70's to 90's)

Mike’s — Denver Gay Bar Tee

Before Denver's gay nightlife became concentrated in a handful of familiar neighborhoods, there was Mike's, at the corner of First Avenue and Broadway.

Mike's belonged to an earlier era of Denver gay nightlife, when neighborhood bars provided something considerably more important than a place to have a drink. They were where gay men could meet one another, find friends, exchange news, and discover a social world that wasn't always visible in the daylight.

And Broadway was an important part of that world. Long before the neighborhood's restaurants, boutiques, and modern nightlife arrived, the corridor was home to an assortment of taverns, clubs, and gathering places serving Denver's queer community.