Renegade – Rehoboth Beach, DE (1980 – 2003)
On Memorial Day weekend 1980, Renegade Disco & Lounge opened its doors just west of downtown Rehoboth Beach, answering a long-growing call for a space by and for the queer community at the Delaware shore. Born from nearly a decade of effort by Washington, D.C. bar impresario Glen Thompson, Renegade wasn’t just a club — it was the first openly gay-owned bar and dance destination in the state of Delaware.
Over the next 23 years (1980–2003), Renegade became far more than a late-night disco floor. Its sprawling complex — complete with restaurant, bar, pool deck, cabaret room, motel cottages, karaoke nights, drag shows, and Sunday Tea Dances — served as the beating heart of Rehoboth’s queer summer life. Patrons lounged poolside by day, danced under mirrored ceilings by night, and found chosen family within walls that welcomed gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and allied visitors alike.
Renegade’s influence rippled through the community and beyond — hosting legendary pageants like Miss Gay Delaware Regional, introducing iconic EYECONS drag performances, and even becoming a gathering spot for early Pride and HIV/AIDS fundraising efforts as the crisis took hold in the 1980s and 90s. Though it closed in 2003 amid rising costs, changing regulations, and a shifting queer travel landscape, its legacy lives on in the stories of tens of thousands who danced, dined, and belonged there.
