LGBTQ+ in Paris

Paris has a vibrant and active queer scene, with abundant cultural activities, social spaces, and nightlife for LGBTQ+ people to engage in and find community. The Marais (3e and 4e arrondissements) is the traditionally 'gay' area, however today there are queer spaces around the city, but particularly in the 11e, 19e, and 20e arrondissements. While no universities in Paris have as high a concentration of queer-identified students as Smith does, you will still find queer people in your classes and around the city. Some examples of queer-centered or queer-friendly social spaces are attatched below.

Many Smith students wonder about using gender-neutral pronouns in France, where the language itself is highly gendered. Trans and non-binary people live openly in Paris as they do in the U.S. (if not more) and the use of 'iel' as a gender-neutral pronoun is widely recognized among young and left-leaning people in the city. While life as a non-binary person in Paris will not be exactly as it is at Smith (Paris is not Northampton), as life in the U.S. becomes increasingly dangerous for trans people under the current presidential administration, France offers increasing safety in comparison. 

Nightlife 

La Mutinerie the most well known queer-feminist-trans-lesbian bar in Paris, located next to the Centre Pompidou 

Bonjour Madame cultural militant feminist bar that hosts drag shows, mutual aid clothing sales, open mics, and other events

Le Bunker club and nightlife community for queer POC youth, with a bar in the 17e (near Porte de Clichy) opening April, 2025. Allies accepted but priority entrance reserved for BIPOC.

Rosa Bonheur LGBTQ-aligned bar committed to inclusion and safety with four locations in Île-de-France (19e - in Buttes Chaumont park, 7e - on a boat on the Seine, 12 - in the Bois de Vincennes, and outside of Paris in Asnières-sur-Seine) with a mix of general, guinguette, and electronic music

Arts / Culture 

Centre LGBT+ events, expos, etc! 

Violette and Co. lesbian feminist bookstore and coffee shop, with a community space in the basement that can be reserved by individuals or groups and hosts events throughout the year

Les mots à la bouche LGBTQ+ bookstore with novels, art books, movies, and comics for gay, lesbian, queer, trans, bi, and pan audiences

Pavillon des Canaux left-leaning “third space” and coffee shop, cafe, and bar unoffiically frequented by queer people in Paris’s 19e 

Guide LGBT+

Updating list of LGBTQ events in Paris some paid, some free

Associations and groups

List of open-membership LGBTQ-affiliated associations and groups in Paris

Les Clefs de Chez Moi - short film by Smith students

During the summer of 2018, Smith College students Ella Martin-Gachot and Raymond Van Huizen produced, shot, and edited the following film looking at queer Parisians and their personal concepts of home. The film delves into the intersections between space, gender and sexuality, and how people view themselves and their sense of place in the larer tableau of the fabric of public life in the French capital.