By Kerry Ingram
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Freshly styled wigs, patent leather stilettos, and piles of makeup cluttered the small dressing room of Grand Central, an LGBTQ+ inclusive club located in Baltimore. The drag queens of Central call the club their home, one that they hope won’t abandon them like the clubs of their past.
“I love Central,” said Codey Odachowski, a 23-year-old Baltimore drag queen known as Venus Fastrada. “Central really was the first place to give me opportunities.”
Grand Central is one of the last surviving LGBTQ+ inclusive clubs in Baltimore. Club owner Don Davis bought the spot in 1991, when it was still a historic Baltimore townhouse. Davis transformed it into a small business before expanding the pub in 2003 to become what is now known as Grand Central.
Inside Grand Central sits a double-sided bar, with one side leading to an open lounge and the other side to a dance floor and stage. Odachowski began his drag career on that stage, and a year later he was one of the most prominent queens in Baltimore’s drag community.
“It’s been a very beneficial place for my growth,” Odachowski said. “It’s also been a nice place where every week, I get inspired by new things.”
Odachowski called himself a “broadway queen,” and shared that although some clubs don’t accept that niche, Grand Central accepts them all.
“Central has a more general crowd,” Odachowski said. “There’s not a ‘typical’ person that comes to Central.”
Baltimore has had a history of clubs that are friendly to the LGBTQ+ community, but many have closed.
The Baltimore Eagle, a gay leather bar, opened the same year as Grand Central. The Eagle was bought in 2012, closed after a year, and reopened again in 2017. It closed for good in July 2018.
The Quest Bar in East Baltimore closed in 2014, after its owner sold the location to developers to build townhomes. The Hippo closed in 2015, after its owner agreed to lease the site to CVS. The G.A.Y. Lounge closed in 2017, when owners couldn’t decide whether or not to sell the space.
Odin Hanks, a Baltimore club-goer, believes the diversity of Central’s attendees are a direct result of the city’s many LGBTQ club closures.
“It’s now one of the few places where we can go to and be gay. The Eagle was the very first club that I went to,” Hanks said. “It was very cool and welcoming, but it didn’t last. Grand Central’s business seemed to pick up a lot after Eagle.”
Both The Hippo and G.A.Y. Lounge were located in Mount Vernon, the same area where Grand Central stands. The area is known as Baltimore’s “gay hub,” however increasing gentrification and heterosexual involvement have become a growing concern for tolerance within Mount Vernon. Hanks believes it could eventually impact Grand Central.
“I think gentrification is going to be the biggest threat to Central,” Hanks said. “Because if Baltimore continues to become white-washed and ‘fixed,’ there’s a chance more conservative people will move into these areas and the entire mindset here may change.”
Other Grand Central participants, like Mitchell Brower, a Baltimore drag queen known as Anastasia Belladonna, said that the growing heterosexual involvement surrounding Baltimore’s gay scene may actually do more justice than harm.
“I love Central, but I also really love performing at straight venues now,” Brower said. “I actually make more money at straight venues than I do at gay bars because the straights are all about it. It’s new to them and so they’re more enthusiastic.”
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the area of Mount Vernon and recent bar closures, Hanks said that Grand Central holds great significance to the Baltimore community.
“We can go where-have you, but Grand Central is one of the few places that’s truly ours,” Hanks said. “We can be ourselves, have a good time and flourish in this space.”
Odachowski and his fellow drag sisters perform their favorite tunes on Central’s stage every Thursday night, for “Throwback Thursday.” Odachowski sat in his usual spot in the tiny dressing room as he applied his makeup, transforming himself into his alter ego, Venus.
“Central is at the core of all of us,” Odachowski said. “It allows us to be who we want to be, do what we want to do, and share it all in an open space without fear of judgement. Any space with those characteristics – who would want that to close?”