Bourbon, much like wine or even elite sports like skiing, has its gatekeepers. But also like wine and skiing, it has organizations working to kick those gates open and create an inclusive, safe space for all. In the vein of Gay Wine Weekend and Gay Ski Week — two of now-numerous comparable events that serve to welcome marginalized communities into historically straight spaces — Kentucky’s first annual Bourbon & Belonging, “Queer Bourbon Week,” showed there’s room for all in bourbon country.
A state-wide effort that spanned several cities and several days, Bourbon & Belonging was the work of Queer Kentucky, a non-profit that put together the country’s first LGBTQIA+ bourbon festival — and considering bourbon’s inherent Americana, likely the first in the world. From Louisville to Lexington and Covington to Paducah, the event cast a welcome spotlight on facets of an industry long rooted in heteronormative tropes, highlighting the queer and inclusive individuals and businesses within it, while proving that America’s home-grown spirit is for all (with a valid ID, of course).
I’ve been a fan of bourbon for a long time, but as a gay man who can’t — and won’t — just casually blend into straight environments, those gates have felt very real. For those reasons, I’ve always shied away from bourbon and whiskey distilleries and most bars that are bourbon-centric for presumptions they are spaces where I felt I would stand out too starkly. But when I first went to Covington last year, my presumptions started to shift. I saw a city and a state that was far more progressive than I admittedly assumed, and when I first heard whispers of Queer Bourbon Week (then in its infancy), I knew I wanted to attend.
Sure enough, Bourbon & Belonging took shape on a rather grand scale, with queer events in several different destinations from October 2 to 6. It saw partnerships with big-name bourbon brands like Angel’s Envy, Evan Williams, Old Forester and Bulleit, as well as hotels like the Hotel Covington and 21c Museum Hotels. Said events ran the gamut, from distillery tours and a drag brunch, to a Prohibition-themed party, queer history and food tour, and a maturation class led by one of the first queer women to serve as a master taster in the bourbon industry. My husband and I attended with gusto for the duration of Queer Bourbon Week and spent time in Louisville, Covington and Lexington, along with a pre-Queer Bourbon Week stint in Paducah. By its end, we left Kentucky with a new appreciation for a state that, despite plenty of rightful fame for destinations like Churchill Downs, still feels underrated. And as this inaugural event has shown, it’s a state that’s putting concerted efforts into being inclusive.
In Paducah, we discovered an artsy river hamlet in western Kentucky, stayed at the gay-owned 1857 Hotel and I bought a pair of rainbow Kentucky socks from Bricolage Art Collective down the block. We explored bedazzled quilts at the National Quilt Museum and rainbow-clad galleries in historic Lower Town. It was our first time to Kentucky together, and we left ready for more, with a newfound sense of welcome in a state that neither of us expected to love.
We felt nothing but love at Bourbon & Belonging, which commenced a few weeks later in Paducah and beyond. We started in Louisville, a city with a rich tapestry of vibrant neighborhoods, incredible food, the largest collection of Victorian-era mansions in the country and a robust queer scene. All over the city, rainbow flags billow in storefronts and at gay bars, while two different Pride festivals are held in June and September. Here, Bourbon & Belonging events showcased the diverse ways in which both bourbon culture and queer culture intersect and co-exist, exemplified by events like Pride Plates — a food and queer history walking tour, with Louisville Food Tours, that paired bourbon cocktails with hot browns, fried chicken, banana trifle and a palpable sense of joy. Roving The Highlands neighborhood, we learned about queer Kentuckians like Sweet Evening Breeze, a Lexington-based drag queen and activist, while scooping up butter-soaked spoon bread at The Eagle. We learned about Louisville’s first organized Pride, a picnic in 1982, and sipped Manhattans while discussing queer journalist and horse-breeder Henrietta Bingham. At the tour’s end, our host Hannah teared up when they said “queerness is joy” as we all slurped slushies at the second gay bar of the night.
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“All the fur, all the sequins, all the thongs”The next day, we sipped our way through a flight of Old Forester, including the *chef’s kiss* President’s Choice, at a maturation class led by Melissa Rift, one of the first queer women to hold a top-shelf role in the straight- and male-dominated bourbon industry. Notably, the class was attended almost entirely by gay men (the guy in front of me wore a shirt that said “Showing Your Pride Never Gets Old,” while others were wearing Old Forester Pride merch). Later, we experienced some of the best drag I’ve ever seen at Play, where gender-bending and androgynous queens put on an extraordinary display of style, dexterity and artistry. We laughed, we cried and we gleefully doled out dollar bills.
For my anticipated return to Covington in Northern Kentucky, I was excited to experience more of the queer scene in the Cincinnati-adjacent community I’ve grown to love so much. And it did not disappoint. We saw more drag at Gays & Dolls, a “Queer Prohibition Party” held, ironically and spectacularly, in an old church. At Opal Rooftop, the 360-degree skyline views were somehow overshadowed by P.H. Dee’s dance to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” and Manuka Honey Stix-Chimera’s burlesque set to “Oh Sheila.” The Canadian Tuxedoes, made with Old Forester and maple, weren’t too shabby either.
One of my favorite experiences was the bourbon and whiskey tasting with B.H. James Distillers, Kentucky’s first — and so far only — gay-owned distillery. Led by Shawn McCormick at The Globe, he talked about how bourbon is in his blood (his great grandfather was Burton James) and how the industry is more progressive than most people think. “I’m not about to host a Pride festival at my distillery any time soon,” he joked. “But I’m not the only gay in the village.”
Lexington, like Louisville, was entirely new to us. I knew about its equestrian history, though I had no idea about its queerness. But Pride was on full display, from its rainbow crosswalks to its massive mural honoring Sweet Evening Breeze. It’s notable that Crossings, a self-described “queer dive bar,” was bumping on a casual Monday.
While touring Castle & Key, a nearby distillery located in a literal castle (with a literal moat), Head Blender Brett Connors summed up Queer Bourbon Week perfectly. While touring the surreal property, another distillery partner for Bourbon & Belonging, and sipping Gin & Tonics (after a week of bourbon, I needed a break) in a botanical garden, he highlighted the stereotypical “bourbon bros” that have long been perceived gatekeepers, however unintentionally, of an industry that wasn’t just theirs. Whereas once Castle & Key used to be a frequent fixture for bachelor parties, nowadays, Connors said they receive a much wider array of customers. “It’s something we’re very prideful of,” he says. “To be a more welcoming space to more people on the Bourbon Trail.”
Bourbon, America’s spirit, is for everyone. It’s as much for drag queens and historians as it is for bachelor parties. It’s for those who want to tour distilleries and understand its chemistry and for those who want to sip Mint Juleps at the Derby. Kentucky, much like its signature spirit, is a place of singular Americana and where — thanks to industry pioneers and community members like Queer Kentucky’s executive director Missy Spears — you belong.
A state-wide display of inclusion and representation, and a resounding success for any first-year event, Bourbon & Belonging is already set to return next October. We’ll be there.
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