New drag venue to open in Five Points South
The Opulence Drag Lounge and Taqueria will bring Birmingham’s Five Points South neighborhood both dine-and-go taco cuisine and performance this summer. The new business is planned for the former Hush Lounge location which closed after a mass shooting last year.
At Opulence, tacos come first.
“For part of the day, part of the restaurant, we’re just a taco place,” Co-owner Scott Charby said. “My partner is from Texas so he loves himself a taco.”
Then comes drag. Opulence will host drag performances four nights a week and drag brunches on the weekends. Charby and his partner, Wade Brooks, were inspired to combine taco and performance concepts after moving to Birmingham from Las Vegas six months ago. Charby said most drag venues offer meals along with the show.
“It is very different here,” Charby noted.
Not only does Birmingham have fewer established places for drag, Charby said he and Brooks noticed that queer spaces in Birmingham, like the Quest Club and the Our Place Lounge, were closing down.
“There’s just less and less queer spaces available for folks in Birmingham,” Charby said.
With Opulence, they hope to fill that gap. Charby said shows will feature Birmingham-based queens and maybe even burlesque shows.
“As long as it works and it’s respectful, we’re 100 percent going to make a space for them,” Charby said.
Supporting drag artists is the priority for Charby and Brooks.
“The art of drag is coming under attack,” Charby said. “As long as we can pay the bills, I don’t even particularly care if we’re really super successful. It’s more about the safe space for everybody.”
Charby and his partner feel like this is a good time to open a business in Five Points South and added that other businesses have responded in kind. Some have even reached out offering to volunteer to help get the place up and running.
“I’m like ;Oh my gosh, like that’s insane to me,’” Charby said. “I love it. The city has reached out with both arms and I couldn’t have asked for more.”
Charby hopes Opulence will open in June, just in time for Pride month.
Trump announces ‘major combat operations’ in Iran
Israel and the U.S. have launched strikes against Iran, with explosions reported in Tehran and air raid sirens sounding across Israel.
Trump says he is ‘not happy’ with the Iran nuclear talks but indicates he’ll give them more time
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he's "not happy" with the latest talks over Iran's nuclear program but indicated he would give negotiators more time to reach a deal to avert another war in the Middle East.
Bill Clinton says he ‘did nothing wrong’ with Epstein as he faced grilling over their relationship
Former President Bill Clinton told members of Congress on Friday that he "did nothing wrong" in his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and saw no signs of Epstein's sexual abuse as he faced hours of grilling from lawmakers over his connections to the disgraced financier from more than two decades ago.
Pentagon puts Scouts ‘on notice’ over DEI and girl-centered policies
After threatening to sever ties with the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts, Defense Secretary Hegseth announced a 6-month reprieve
President Trump bans Anthropic from use in government systems
Trump called the AI lab a "RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY" in a social media post. The Pentagon also ordered all military contractors to stop doing business with Anthropic.
HUD proposes time limits and work requirements for rental aid
The rule would allow housing agencies and landlords to impose such requirements "to encourage self-sufficiency." Critics say most who can work already do, but their wages are low.
