Lexington Meetup ‘Last WednesGays’ creates Safe Space for Queer Community
At the end of every month, a local Lexington bar hosts a safe space for queer networking and friendship building. ‘Last WednesGays,” started by Andrew Shayde, is a positive, fun, hangout space for queer individuals to meet others in the community and create lifelong connections.
Originally started in Portland, Oregon, Shayde contacted the original organizers and brought the event to Lexington in 2019. Since then, the meetup has had 22 events, raised over $10,000 for charity and brings together roughly 125 people at every meeting.
After taking a break in 2020 due to the pandemic, the meetup started back up in March 2025. Offering a comfortable, laid-back energy, ‘Last WednesGays’ showcases various LGBTQIA+-friendly bars in Lexington.
Shayde is the Chief Development Officer for AVOL, a Kentucky-based resource providing care and support to those living with HIV. ‘Last WednesGays’ currently donates 10% of the revenue from the bar to a charity, the current recipient of which is AVOL.
“It’s just for folks to get out and meet new people, shake a hand, see an old friend, make a new friend,” said Shayde.
Many of the Lexington queer events are held at inconvenient times for many attendees and can create uncomfortable atmospheres, such as loud music and low lighting. ‘Last WednesGays’ combats this issue by using a sensory-friendly atmosphere, such as by utilizing dimmed lighting and low music.
The meetup brings in a vast array of people, spanning sexualities, gender expressions and identities and ages. Because of these inclusions, attendees feel like they belong in the space.
“A lot of folks are not night owls. They want to be social and get involved in the community and meet new people, but sometimes some folks can find that hard to do,” said Shayde. “I just wanted to add to the menu, the options, of queer events in Central Kentucky.”
‘Last WednesGays’ travels from various bars in Lexington, giving attendees the opportunity to see different parts of the city. Past events have been hosted at bars such as The Break Room, Centro, Goodfellas and Wildcat Saloon. By hosting the meetup, these bars also signal that they are queer-friendly and a safe space for the community to gather at.
Shayde recounted one memory he had while hosting the meetup, where a bar defended and protected its queer patrons. After meeting some regulars of The Break Room, they were initially met with acceptance, but hate quickly spread.
“As our crowd grew, those gentlemen went out and stood around a firepit outside. At one point during the event, someone came in and was like ‘One of these men is being pretty crappy,’ so I went to the owner, told them what was happening. The owner went out there, to his regular who he knew by first name, and said, ‘Get out of my bar and never come back ever again,’ Shayde said. “The Break Room has since hung a rainbow flag in the bar and it is still there, to this day.”
So far, all of the bars that the event has been hosted at have immensely enjoyed the space that the meetups create. All of the bars, according to Shayde, have contacted him after the event and stated that they want to host again.
Overall, the meetup creates a safe and inviting space for LGBTQ+ individuals in Lexington. By creating new friends and relationships, queer joy is reinforced through the community built by ‘Last WednesGays.’
“I am blessed in a lot of ways. I have a great little friend group and a supportive family and I realize that that is privilege and it is luck and not everyone has that and I want everyone to have that,” said Shayde. “That can be chosen family and you can find chosen family at ‘Last WednesGays.’”
‘Last WednesGays’ happens on the last Wednesday of every month. The next event will take place on Jan. 28 at The Burl.
