What most people think of when they think of the "gay lifestyle", including every bad stereotype of homosexual communities in general: people who hang out at disco-esque bars that play constant techno while popping tons of dangerous drugs and having as much promiscuous sex as possible.
Club Kids are also known as "scenesters" if they also adopt every tedious, shrieking gay cliché known to man, like worshipping whoever is the current pop diva when the story takes place.
Note: Within LGBT culture itself, the Club Kids were a group of performers and personalities known in the New York City scene for their outrageous, flamboyant avant garde performances and fashion as well as their dissolute lifestyle. If someone is described as a "club kid" in this context, picture someone dressed like Lady Gaga.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Films — Live-Action
- Zach Braff plays one such character in The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy, or at least his character is trying to be one to impress his Gym Bunny boyfriend. He eventually OD's on magic nose powder just in time for a cast catharsis. He lives.
"I feel like Demi Moore in St. Elmo's Fire"
- Party Monster was about the Club Kids of the early 90s, and the figures the group grew up around.
- Bent has the protagonist start off as the 1930's equivalent to this trope, being a drug-abusing promiscuous cabaret goer.
Literature
- Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous But True Tale Of Murder In Clubland by James St. James is about the club scene and the murder of club kid Angel Melendez by club kid ringleader Michael Alig. The book was re-titled Party Monster and re-released in conjunction with the film.
- Dorian in The Picture Of Dorian Grey is the 18th century version of this. Loves partying, uses drugs like opium and has a LOT of hook-ups. Is also strongly implied to be bisexual, explicitly in the film version.
- Redfern Jon Barrett's alternate history novel Proud Pink Sky is set in the world's first gay state – and features Twinkstadt, a youth-obsessed party district.
- Danny in These Words Are True and Faithful tries to entice Ernie into going with him to the Esplanade, which is described as "the ultimate twink bar":
“What do you do there?”“You know, hang out with friends, dance, drink, watch videos, check out cute guys.”“Sounds fun.”“It is fun. Weren’t you ever in your twenties?”“Yeah, but that was a while ago. Anyway, hanging out with friends: Your friends hate me. Dancing: You’ve plainly never seen me dance. Drinking: I can only drink so much if you want me to drive. Watching videos: No, thank you. Checking out cute guys: If we’re going together, we’re not doing that.”
Live-Action TV
- Subverted on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Marco considers a Club Kid look, and Spinner says "Enrique called. Wants his shirt back." Of course, it took a straight guy to point it out.
- Fellow Travelers: The younger gay men whom Hawkins Fuller hangs out with on Fire Island fit into this largely from what's seen. Several of them are Camp Gay, they take cocaine frequently, have casual sex often, and dance at a club. Timothy Laughlin also briefly gets into the drug use and dancing when he's there.
- Sahil on Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys aspires to be a Club Kid to an utterly astounding degree, at least as of the pilot episode, to the point where his defining scene was dragging his female best friend out of a club and complaining that he needs to be better looking and more comfortable with [long, detailed, vulgar speech that gets cut off by his friend right before turning pornographic].
- Hightown: Provincetown not only is a Gayborhood but also a major vacation spot. Because of this, a lot of LGBT+ people (but straight folks too) like to party there. This makes it a major center of drug trafficking. Jackie, the series' protagonist, is a lesbian who's also very into partying starting out. She gets into recovery after a DUI, but goes Off the Wagon later repeatedly too.
- The Party and Play (PNP) character suffering from advanced HIV on the House MD episode "Hunting" relates that his dangerous lifestyle developed as a response to his shortened lifespan rather than a cause of it.
- Vince Noir on The Mighty Boosh, though he's bisexual rather than gay. He isn't as bad as some examples, thanks to his best friend Howard's calmer influence. The character of The Crack Fox, a homeless drug addict maniac who spent all his cash on booze and drugs in a gay club, is essentially what Vince would be if Howard wasn't there to reign him in.
- Pretty much the entire cast of Queer as Folk (UK) and American remake.
- Club kid Vivacious competed in season 6 of RuPaul's Drag Race and season 9 included a club kid runway challenge.
- During seasons 35 to 39, Saturday Night Live featured the "Weekend Update" "city correspondent" Stefon (played by Bill Hader), who is one of the more benign examples of the trope. There are implications that he's on drugs (he rarely sleeps, occasionally seems disoriented, admits to living in a trash can, and has several nervous tics—including Hader's near-constant Corpsing thanks to writer John Mulaney throwing in last-minute jokes), and he's gay (he once dated Zoolander and, after flirting with him for years, actually married Seth Meyers). Although he repeatedly recommends Seth incredibly bizarre clubs when the anchor asks for family friendly spots, you can tell he means well.
- David and Keith in Six Feet Under both share elements of this trope. Salsa Guy ( David's one time boyfriend)is a more extreme example, without quite being a scenester.
- Maxxie Oliver from Skins. Even ignoring the fact that he has possibly the most "scene" name imaginable, he also wants to be a tap dancer in musicals, does plenty of pills at underground raves, wears a white vest and cargo shorts with his gelled blond hair and happily snogs a guy who just moments ago was yelling homophobic slurs and sent his mates to beat up Maxxie's friend.
- Dante of The Wire; downplayed for the most part until the end of season three, when he is found Where Everybody Knows Your Flame drowning his sorrows in a Cosmopolitan.
Music
- Danny Boy and the Serious Party Gods' "Castro Boy" is a six-minute monologue of this nature set to disco music and robotic backup singers:
So, my friend Bill calls — oh, no, we're not lovers; we're like, y'know, sisters — and anyway, he says, "C'mon, girl, let's go dancin' tonight!"...You got any crystal? So, all he's got is MDA. This stuff makes you horny! Ooh, for days!
- The narrator of Soft Cell's "Bedsitter" lives so much for the nightlife that he has no money to buy food after spending it all going clubbing.
- In Eminem's "Medicine Ball", Slim is imagined as a Serial Killer who roams the clubs in Greenwich Village
, seducing gay men, binging on ecstasy with them, "bisexually wreck"ing them and killing them. And then stealing their drugs.
Visual Novels
- Flynn from Echo. He, through clues, takes Chase and (accidentally) Carl and Daxton to a gay bar. A place where Everyone Has Lots of Sex, including Flynn.
Western Animation
- Evan, from LOGO's Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. He's so loaded on club drugs and diet pills that if he ever slept, he would die from the drugs taking effect and wreaking havoc on his body.
