Gay square dance

Gay square dance is square dance as it is generally danced in the Gay and Lesbian community. The first gay and lesbian square dance clubs formed in the mid-to-late 1970s in the USA. There are currently about eighty gay square dance clubs worldwide.

Gay square dance is typically open to all square dancers, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, ethnic background, or sexual orientation. The dancing is generally modern Western square dancing, as it is practiced throughout the world, standardized by Callerlab, the International Association of Square Dance Callers, and as generally practiced by clubs belonging to the International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs (IAGSDC), the umbrella organization for gay square dance clubs.

In addition to gay modern Western square dance clubs, there are gay and lesbian clubs for other dance forms, both square dance and non-square dance forms, including "traditional" and exhibition-style square dancing.

This article focuses on gay modern Western square dancing, and it is understood to be the same as gay square dancing within this article.

The primary differences between gay square dancing and that practiced in other clubs are:

It is worth noting that this style of dancing—casual dress, no couple requirement, all-position dancing, high energy level—has been adopted by some newer non-gay square dance clubs (and youth square dance clubs in particular). The continued flourishing of gay square dancing continues to influence the rest of the square dance community.

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