Rochester: Where the derby girls are
By Aditi L
Rochester isn’t necessarily a tourist destination, unless you’re a Kodak-fanatic or grocery store enthusiast. Rochester is the home of the once great Kodak empire, with remnants of its old factories (back in the day when film cameras ruled) all over the city. More positively, it’s the home of Wegman’s grocery store- and everyone in Rochester will drag you there as a must-see attraction because it is, to be fair, an amazing grocery store.
Hidden underneath the mounds of snow and sludge is a progressive club scene that welcomes gays and straights alike. For years my best friend Sarah had incorporated the bar Lux into her stories. “I met so-and-so at Lux” or “We started the night at Lux” or even “I wish we hadn’t gone to Lux.” Either way, Lux is a major player in the Rochester nigh scene. So when I visited Rochester last weekend, I only had one request: take me to Lux.
If you’re unsure of Rochester’s exact geography, it’s, like, right by Canada. Meaning, it’s mad cold. Driving around, we passed a sideways trashcan covered in snow, vomiting black sludge from its openings and my friend Brennan said, “That’s Rochester in the winter. Right there.”
Sarah and I decided to walk to Lux because we rarely factor in extreme weather conditions in our nightly plans. So we skidded, fell, slid on over to Lux, where the bouncer was amused at my Texas drivers license because presumably, all of these people live in Rochester and come to Lux every weekend.
As we pushed through the crowd, the amount of lesbians was sort of overwhelming, for a non-lesbian bar. I was told that a roller derby competition just let out and the roller derby girls claim Lux as their after party. Apparently this happens pretty often...so if you’re into sporty ladies, Lux seems like a good bet. If you’re into gambling, the outside seating area of Lux has a couple amateur games of cards, dice, and people who have no idea what they’re doing. Inside, there’s some pretty cool art on the wall, chex-mix at the bar and a large amount of friendly people who want to chat.
If you’re in the mood for something quieter though, go a couple blocks over to Dicky’s. This place claims to be the oldest bar in Rochester, and everyone I talked to at Dicky’s felt the need to repeat that fact. It’s a lot calmer, with a restaurant-y room that has a pool table. We ordered the pepperoni pizza rolls and as I’m typing this, my mouth is salivating. This place, again, not explicitly gay or straight, had its fair share of gay men playing pool and hopping around the bar.
Muther’s Bar and Bachelor Forum are known as Roch’s preeminent gay bars, but Lux and Dicky’s (and I’m assuming several others) are absolutely gay friendly in this sweet little cold city almost touching Canada.