Happy Holler’s Club XYZ Announces Closure After 22 Years

For more than two decades, Club XYZ has been a fixture of Knoxville’s LGBTQ+ community. Now, on the heels of SoKno Pride (which I wrote about yesterday) that chapter is coming to an abrupt end.

In a social media post Monday evening, Club XYZ announced that this coming weekend will be its last, citing a dispute between landlord Daniel Schuh and tenant Richard Cameron that resulted in eviction.

The club, located at 1215 N. Central St. in Happy Holler, has operated for 22 years under Cameron’s ownership. It has long served as one of Knoxville’s few dedicated queer-friendly nightlife venues and a staple of the local drag scene. I’ve had some great times there myself, not including the evening I fell off the stage while challenging someone to a fouetté turn competition.

In its farewell statement, Club XYZ described itself as “a cornerstone of Knoxville’s LGBTQ community, providing a safe place to gather well beyond the boundaries of Knoxville.”

The announcement comes just over a year after the closure of South Press, the queer-owned South Knoxville coffee shop and community space that served as a gathering place for many LGBTQ+ Knoxvillians. Together, the closures are a reminder of how few dedicated queer spaces Knoxville has had over the years and how quickly they can disappear.

Inside of Knoxville attempted to document some of Knoxville’s past and present LGBTQ+ gathering places in 2018 here, a reminder that these spaces have often been as ephemeral as they were important. Today, Knoxville’s only other dedicated gay bar is CORE Knoxville (7211 Kingston Pike).

Club XYZ plans to host its “Last Dance” this Saturday from 7 p.m. until 3 a.m.