Tag Down Under Bathhouse

• Rainbow Story Hub
• October 30, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

Rob Browatzke – Part Two

Part Two: Rob Browatzke – Recovery and Evolution
In this second installment, Rob Browatzke reflects on his struggles with addiction and how it affected his work at Buddy’s, Down Under, and Boots. After the passing of the Boots Bar owner, he moved on to Prism Bar and the Junction Bar & Grill, eventually finding sobriety and a new sense of purpose. With support from his uncles, Rob helped launch Evolution Wonderlounge in 2013 — Edmonton’s premiere queer nightclub — and now shares how that legacy continues with the opening of EVO in the spring of 2025.

A powerful story of resilience, renewal, and the ongoing evolution of community.

• Rainbow Story Hub
• October 28, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 3 minutes Read

Rob Browatzke – Part One

Part One: Rob Browatzke – Finding Community
In this first installment, Edmonton writer and community builder Rob Browatzke reflects on coming out in high school, his first night at The Roost nightclub, and the early challenges of finding acceptance. Rob shares stories of moving to Lethbridge for college and returning to Edmonton, where he worked at the Georgia Bathhouse, Down Under, Boots Bar, The Roost, and Buddy’s Niteclub. He also talks about his shift into community activism and media — from volunteering with the Gay Men’s Outreach Crew and Edmonton Pride Festival to helping launch Fresh Magazine after writing for Times.10.

A candid look at the spaces, people, and moments that helped shape one of Edmonton’s most enduring voices in queer culture.

• Rob Browatzke
• January 22, 2022
• 1 Comments
• 4 minutes Read

The Great 1998 Cruising Controversy

In 2021, we acknowledged the 30-year anniversary of the Pisces Spa raid, a raid which led to Edmonton’s early Pride festivities, and to the closure of gay bathhouses like the Pisces and the Gemini. It wasn’t until 1998 that another gay bathhouse would open in Edmonton.