The Outlaw (Detroit Gay Leather Bar/70's and 80's)

The Outlaw — Detroit Gay Leather Bar Tee

Detroit knew how to do a leather bar.

Located at 1028 W. Seven Mile Road, The Outlaw was one of the fixtures of Detroit’s gay leather scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It sat near Palmer Park, when the surrounding Seven Mile and Woodward area was packed with gay bars, clubs, restaurants, and late-night gathering places.

The Outlaw catered unapologetically to the leather, Levi’s, boots, cowboy, and masculine crowd. Period descriptions remember it specifically as a leather-and-cowboy bar, while its ads were filled with exactly the sort of shameless double entendres you'd expect from a place called The Outlaw.

By the early ’80s, it was being described as Detroit’s leading leather bar and hosted the Mr. Leather of Michigan contest, sending its winner on to compete at International Mr. Leather in Chicago. It was also a regular gathering place for local gay social organizations and Detroit’s broader leather community.

This was Palmer Park in its prime. The Outlaw existed alongside places like The Gas Station, E-Ramp, Heaven, Backstage, Gold Coast, and R&R Saloon, creating a neighborhood where gay men could move between bars, cruise the streets, grab something to eat after closing, and actually have a public social world of their own.