LGBTQ+ Copenhagen guide: the events, venues and areas to visit – Condé Nast Traveller

When HRH Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark stepped out as Patron of Copenhagen 2021’s WorldPride event to deliver a speech about LGBTQ+ equality, it seemed like the pinnacle of state-sanctioned Danish liberality. For there was the Australian-born commoner turned fairytale princess, destined to become Queen Consort of Denmark, standing in the rain with pink trousers and a rainbow umbrella declaring that gay rights are human rights.

Of course, Denmark’s reputation as a land of acceptance stretches back a lot further than that. The city’s official tourism site writes that “diversity is in our DNA” and the city has a rich LGBTQ+ history. The snug, welcoming and camply decked out CentralHjørnet claims to be the world’s oldest gay bar, having flung open its city centre doors in 1917. Film fans may recall Tom Hooper’s Oscar-bothering The Danish Girl, which recounts the story of Danish painter Lili Ilse Elvenes, who in 1930 was among the first people in the world to receive sex reassignment surgery. The LGBT+ Danmark organisation has been setting an example since 1948 and is still politically and socially active. Denmark was even the first country to officially register same-sex unions in 1989, kickstarting a wave that has seen marriage equality spread throughout forward-thinking nations.

Word on the street these days asks why gay venues exist at all given the widespread integration and celebration of LGBTQ+ people. But there is always a need for community, to hang out with like. And therefore, Copenhagen wins on both counts: an array of gay bars and cafés, and a myriad of hotspots that attract LGBTQ+ people with a mix of cool design, fresh ideas, and world-class food. Style, as you might expect, is a cornerstone of Copenhagen.

The city has been a culinary map hotspot for many years. Chef René Redzepi’s three-Michelin-starred Noma is credited with catapulting Nordic cuisine to the fore. Rasmus Kofoed and Søren Ledet’s Geranium, where diners navigate a three-hour tasting menu called Universe’ has just tipped Noma to be named the World’s Best Restaurant 2022. But there are breadbaskets of other fine eateries to be discovered, often inside hotels that ooze Scandi-cool design and tempt with bars where décor is deemed as important as handcrafted cocktails.

A new urban oasis in the heart of the city, Paper Island (Papirøen), is under construction and promises pioneering architecture, innovative gastronomy and art, and is just across the water from the famous Nyhavn harbour and the new Soho House Copenhagen.

The queer quarter in Copenhagen

The city has a cluster of gay bars along Studiestræde – a beautiful, colourful, historic street in the city’s Latin Quarter which runs parallel to the famous Strøget pedestrian shopping street (one of Europe’s longest). Set on a 200-metre-or-so stretch, it’s handy in both Copenhagen’s dark, freezing winters (where you can speedily hop between happening venues) and in the summer, when the fun spills outside, forming one long party. Smoking is starting to be phased out but is still permitted in a handful of bars (such as Masken and Jailhouse) so prepare for a foggy, fume-filled affair.