The spark around a new queer nightclub in Detroit’s Broderick Tower was snuffed out nearly as soon as it was lit. Now the former manager of the short-lived queer hangout is moving on to a new space that will host a weekly LGBTQ+ night under the banner Queer Detroit.
Queer Detroit will operate out of a new development on Woodward in the New Center neighborhood called The Norwood every Thursday. The queer night’s inaugural party, “Prinsessa” is set for Thursday, December 14 from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
On May 6, downtown’s Detroit Sports Bar and Grille rebranded to an all-inclusive nightclub called Flaming Embers. The club lasted for about two weeks before it reverted to the sports bar concept. At the time, employees, including then-manager Robert Guzman, told Metro Times they were abruptly ordered to take down pride flags in the club. Guzman says he was told not to talk to the media about the space being a queer club following a Detroit News article about its opening. The Flaming Embers moniker was a nod to a former steakhouse in the building with the same name.
“That chapter’s closed,” Guzman says about Flaming Embers. “You have to take chances to get somewhere, so I’m taking a chance. If I fall, I’ll always get back up. At the end of the day, I just want to see people dancing, feeling free, and having a moment because you know, life is crazy. The world is crazy, and we need a release. We need places like this.”
Guzman laments the lack of LGBTQ-centered hangouts in Detroit compared to when he first moved to the city in the ’90s. While longtime staples like Gigi’s, Menjo’s, and Hayloft Saloon are still around, Guzman says there isn’t a centrally located queer hangout in the city. The Woodward, a historic LGBTQ+ club located just down the street from The Norwood, was destroyed in a fire in 2022.
“I remember being a young kid going to the Woodward, and, girl, you couldn’t tell me anything when I first moved to Detroit. I was like 19 years old,” he says. “When you’re trying to figure yourself out, how are you doing that when there’s no options? I don’t mind mixing in with the straight kids, but it’s nice to have a personal space where everyone can just let loose and speak the same language. You have no idea how it touches people, especially young people… when you’re in a safe space and the first thought isn’t ‘Are they going to accept me for being gay?’”
The Norwood, located at 6531 Woodward Ave., is a newly renovated industrial event space with a basement lounge and bar. It’s named for the historic Norwood Theatre which opened on Woodward in 1915 and closed in 1949. Most recently, it was home to a Payless ShoeSource that closed in 2016.
The Norwood is owned by a development company called 6531 Woodward, according to Detroit City Council records, the same people behind another event space, the Eastern in Eastern Market.
While Queer Detroit is starting as a weekly party, Guzman says if things go well, he hopes to expand and host bigger events during New Year’s Eve and Movement Music Festival.
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