Looking for your LGBT+ community in Copenhagen? Start here...
Here’s our guide to finding the communities, places and experiences that feel right for you.
There are many reasons why you might be looking for a way into Copenhagen’s LGBT+ community.
Maybe you’ve just moved here from another part of Denmark. Maybe you’re an expat from the other side of the world and know exactly three people in Copenhagen (who are also expats). Maybe you’ve just come out at 40.
Or perhaps neither the city nor the LGBT+ community is new to you – you simply feel like something new in your life. Something beyond the places and people you already know.
Whatever your starting point, it can be surprisingly difficult to know where to begin.
Copenhagen’s LGBT+ community isn’t really one community. It’s made up of sports clubs, small social communities, cultural institutions, associations, dinners, volunteering, bars, parties and groups for people who share particular experiences.
So perhaps the question isn’t simply: Where do I go?
It’s just as much: What feels right for me?
Here are a few places to start.
If you’d like to become part of a regular community
If you’d like to get to know a group of people over time, joining an association or club is a great place to start.
Pan Idræt is Denmark’s largest LGBT+ sports association, with more than 2,000 members and over 25 different sports. You’ll find everything from badminton, football and tennis to running, dancing and dodgeball.
And it isn’t just about exercise. Pan Idræt itself highlights friendships, community and social activities as a central part of the club.
The nice thing about a regular community is that you don’t have to make everything happen the first time you show up. You’ll meet many of the same people again next Tuesday – and the Tuesday after that.
✅ Good for you if: you’d like a recurring community where you can get to know people over time.
If you’d like to meet people who share your experiences
Sometimes you’re not simply looking for other LGBT+ people. You’re looking for people who understand a particular part of your story or identity.
If you came out later in life, for example, Homo med Forsinkelse (“Gay With Delay”) is a group for both men and women. Here you can meet others who are – or have been – dealing with some of the same questions around coming out, relationships, family and building a new social life.
For trans, non-binary and gender-diverse people, TRANSIT is one place to start.
Sabaah creates communities and social activities for LGBT+ people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Perhaps you’re looking for people who share your sexuality. Bi+ gruppen (“the Bi+ Group”), for example, meets monthly, while LÆSbisk LÆSEklub is a lesbian book club. There are also groups and activities for LGBT+ men, young people, seniors and many others.
Two good places to explore what’s available are LGBT+ Medborgerhuset and LGBT+ Denmarks activity calendar. Medborgerhuset ("the LGBT+ Community Centre") isn’t somewhere you simply drop in off the street, but its calendar brings together many different groups and activities.
In other words, you don’t necessarily have to find your way into the entire community.
Sometimes the best way in is through a smaller community where you already have something in common.
✅ Good for you if: you’re looking for people who share your experiences or identity – or would simply prefer to start with a smaller, more specific community.
If you’d rather meet around smaller social activities
Maybe you’re not looking for a sports club, activism or a party that lasts until five in the morning.
Maybe you’d simply like to meet some nice people and do something enjoyable together.
That exists too.
Rainbow CPH is a social Meetup community for LGBT+ people, with activities ranging from board games and museum visits to food, books, picnics and drinks.
The group describes itself as a place for people who are new to Copenhagen, want to expand their social circle or simply want to meet new people.
It can be a nice middle ground between joining a regular association and attending a big event: you choose the activities you feel like joining and meet people in smaller social settings.
✅ Good for you if: you prefer meeting people through informal, smaller activities without committing to a weekly club or team.
If you’re up for a social experience with a touch of adventure
And then there are the things that are a little harder to put into a box.
Rainbow Dinner is one of them.
Imagine a social event that feels like a cross between speed dating in slow motion, “Come Dine With Me” and treasure hunting for grown-ups 😅
You’re paired with a companion for the evening, and together you make your way through Copenhagen to three different private homes. You have a starter in one, a main course in another and dessert in a third – meeting new people around the table at every stop. Along the way, you’re responsible for preparing one of the courses yourselves.
In one evening, you’ll meet at least 18 new LGBT+ people. And Rainbow Dinner isn’t designed to be just a fun night out: in a survey of previous participants, 6 out of 10 said that participating had brought new relationships into their lives.
Perhaps it’s because we aren't just making small talk with strangers – we cook together, move through the city together and share an experience along the way.
Rainbow Dinner is, by the way, also behind the guide you’re reading right now – so take our enthusiasm with an appropriate pinch of salt 😅
✅ Good for you if: you’d like to meet new people – with a good chance that some of those encounters might grow into new friendships.
If you’d like a taste of queer culture – and some Copenhagen history
Some places are more than just places.
Bøssehuset at Christiania has been a central part of Copenhagen’s gay and queer community for decades and remains a cultural venue for concerts, shows, events and parties.
Every year, Bøssehuset hosts its large summer party with performances and celebrations. At its monthly Stormandagsmøder meetings, anyone can bring ideas and help create activities at the venue.
In other words, it’s somewhere you can both experience the community – and become part of it.
✅ Good for you if: you’re curious about queer culture, history and the slightly more alternative side of Copenhagen.
If you want to party and experience Copenhagen’s LGBT+ nightlife
And, of course, there’s the classic door: the nightlife.
Copenhagen has LGBT+ bars, clubs, drag shows, parties and pop-up events – and if you want to experience the energy of the scene, nightlife is still an obvious place to start.
One slightly different take is Gay Pop-Up, which regularly takes over traditional Danish neighbourhood pubs and converts them into LGBT+ venues for a night. Most Gay Pop-Ups happen in Copenhagen, although the party occasionally travels to other parts of Denmark.
If your main goal is to make new friends, however, be prepared to take some initiative yourself. Many people arrive at parties, bars and clubs with people they already know – and a packed bar doesn’t automatically turn strangers into new friends.
If you want to keep an eye on what’s happening around town, Woof Copenhagen on Instagram works as a kind of rolling bulletin board and calendar for LGBTQ+ events and parties.
✅ Good for you if: you love a good party and a bit of spontaneity, and you’re comfortable taking the initiative to strike up conversations with new people.
If you’d like to get involved – and meet people along the way
There’s another way in that can be easy to overlook: volunteering.
Copenhagen Pride relies heavily on volunteers, both at its major events and in the organisation behind them. Pride itself highlights meeting new people and forming new friendships as part of being a volunqueer.
Bøssehuset, associations and many other parts of Copenhagen’s LGBT+ community also depend on LGBT+ people volunteering their time and lending a hand.
The advantage is simple: you already have a role, a task and people around you to do something with.
Good for you if: you’d like to contribute to something while becoming a more active part of the community.
Still not sure where to start? That’s completely okay.
You don’t have to choose the activity you imagine “proper LGBT+ people” are supposed to do.
If you love badminton, start there.
If you enjoy the intimacy and community of smaller groups, try board games, museum visits or Rainbow Dinner.
If you want to dance on a table until four in the morning, there are plenty of opportunities for that too.
And if the first place you try doesn’t feel right? Try another.
There isn’t one right door. There are many.
You just have to find yours.