The Women’s Room

The Women's Room was Nashville’s first lesbian bar. Gail DuBois co-operated the bar with her friend Mary Marter. Their opening was announced in the October 1980 issue of "A Newsletter," which was published by the Nashville Women's Alliance, a feminist-lesbian organization founded in 1978. Before The Women’s Room, lesbians in Nashville typically met each other at private house parties, through local sports leagues, or through mutual friends. Some straight bars, like the Cat and Country Club (often called the CC Club), allowed lesbians to occupy a small section of the bar where they could dance and drink together. 

The opening of this bar marked the first time that queer women could go to a public space designated specifically for them. Open Tuesday through Sunday, The Women's Room was located among a strip of bars and music venues on 8th Avenue South, including Wilma Burgess's Track 9 club. Burgess was a semi-closeted lesbian country singer who rose to fame in the 1960s. According to an interview, Mary Marter wanted to open The Women's Room close to her partner’s music venue, which created a small cluster of establishments for lesbians in Nashville. 

At The Women's Room, lesbians and queer women socialized and danced to music from a jukebox, but the bar also held fundraisers for local women's shelters and Nashville Pride events. There were instances of police intimidation at the bar, but there were no mass arrests or raids at The Women’s Room. The bar closed in 1982 but later reopened under new management as a lesbian bar called The Parlor. In the late 1980s, the entire building was sold, and the new owner reopened the space as antique stores.

Now we’ll head over near the Belmont University campus. From Eighth Avenue South, turn next to Zanies Comedy Club onto South Douglas Avenue. In about half a mile, turn LEFT onto Twelfth Avenue South, then RIGHT onto Ashwood Avenue. Make another RIGHT onto Belmont Boulevard. In a quarter mile, find street parking near 2015 Belmont Boulevard and listen to the next stop.