Firefly Tapas Kitchen & Bar
Best Restaurant
Locals simply love Firefly, as evidenced by the overwhelming response on Qrific Award ballots cast this year. This famous tapas kitchen and bar is best known for its original location on Paradise Road just a few blocks from the Fruit Loop, open late every night for a little dining and a bit more drinking after partying down the street. A new location was recently opened downtown at The Plaza, right at the end of the Fremont Street Experience. Mmm.... I’m hungry now just thinking about it.

Town Square
Best Shopping
Originally debuting in late 2007 with only a fraction of its shops open for business, Town Square was largely a ghost town. By Spring 2008, the outdoor shopping mecca had become a boom town and continues to grow in popularity, staying busy year-round. It doesn’t hurt that arguably the best movie theater in Las Vegas (with all-digital projection and sound) anchors its west end. Most stores at Town Square are on the affordable end of things, which lures a wider spectrum of shoppers than the upscale malls mid-Strip.

The Fruit Loop
Best Cruise Spot
With four gay-focused clubs and bars, along with a bookstore, all in one small area, it’s no wonder the legendary Fruit Loop (located on Paradise Rd. at Naples St.) was chosen as this year’s best cruising spot. Where else in Las Vegas would you find as many locals and tourists from the LGBT community in a one-block radius on a Friday or Saturday night?

Erotic Heritage Museum
Best Museum
On Dean Martin Drive, behind Fashion Show, in a building formerly occupied (in part) by Deja Vu Love Boutique, sits a museum unlike any other this city has ever seen. Erotic Heritage Museum, which opened in 2008, encompasses more than 17,000 square feet of permanent and featured exhibits designed to preserve wonders of the erotic imagination as depicted through the artistic expression of acts of sex and love. The museum has graciously been home to several events and fund-raisers for organizations in our community as well.

Las Vegas Athletic Club
Best Gym
This chain of gyms, with its abundance of hardbody clientele for your inspiration and titillation, seems to be a perennial winner in this category. Las Vegas Athletic Clubs (LVAC) now has six locations throughout the valley, the newest of which is on West Flamingo Road at the 215 Beltway. Last year, LVAC also won the Qrific Award for Best Cruising Spot. Naughty gays!

Starbucks
Best Coffee Shop
Until someone opens another coffee shop geared toward the LGBT community (we still miss Pride Factory), Starbucks will almost certainly be the coffee of choice among our readers. This world-famous chain nearly has a monopoly on coffee in this town, with a Coffee Bean or Java Detour placed sporadically here and there to thwart its total dominance. Chances are, there’s a Starbucks within 100 yards of you at all times, or so it would seem.

Wynn Las Vegas & Encore
Best Casino/Gambling
When Steve Wynn opened his brown-glassed, curve-topped hotel a few years back near the north end of the Strip, everyone knew it would be opulent and over the top in every way. From the Esplanade with its high-priced shops up front, to the golf course in back, Steve sure knows how to create the ultimate resort experience. Next door, he opened Encore Las Vegas in 2008, continuing the breathtaking interior décor by renowned designer Roger Thomas (see our cover story, Feb. 2009). These sister resorts together hold more Forbes five-star awards than any other casino-resort in the world.

Naked Boys Singing and Peep Show (tie)
Best Vegas Show
Boy, our readers must enjoy a bit of nudity, since we had a tie in the Best Vegas Show category between a small group of male vocalists who sing songs in the buff and a show chock full of topless beauties in a twisted fairy tale. Naked Boys Singing is enjoying an extended run at the Onyx Theatre in Commercial Center while Peep Show at the Planet Hollywood Resort is keeping audiences entertained by the “talents” of Holly Madison and Aubrey O’Day. Be sure to check them both out before they’re gone.

Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas
Best Drag Show
Old queens never die; they simply move to another Strip property. After a quarter-century at the Riviera, Frank Marino and several of his former cast-mates from An Evening at La Cage moved just a few blocks south and settled in for a year-long run (after a successful Labor Day weekend trial) at Imperial Palace. Check out our cover story in this month’s issue and get to know the talented cast that makes Divas Las Vegas our readers’ choice for Best Drag Show in town.

DJ Axis
Best DJ
Axis is an independent dance music producer and enthusiast, music editor and mixer. Chances are, you’ve seen him spinning at any one of the numerous community events at which he shares his talents. His philosophy is that “music is essential and secondary at the same time. It should be heard and felt. The volume can be high or low. The source should be connected to the listener and vice versa. Sound should evoke emotion and memory. Music takes us on a journey through time and space.”

6Pak
Best Entertainer
Andrew Citino, a transgender male relatively new to the Las Vegas area, performs under the stage name of 6pak and is most known for his spot-on impersonations of Kid Rock and Frank Sinatra. Perhaps you’ve seen him on stage at Goodtimes or performing at our National Coming Out Day Street Festival. To learn more about him, check out his QPeople profile in our Sept. 2009 issue and read his letter in the current issue of QVegas.

David Parks
Best Community Leader
Many people have made a tremendous impact on our LGBT community in various ways this past year, but perhaps the most notable in 2009 was Senator David Parks, the primary sponsor of Senate Bill 283, which opened doors for couples in Nevada (both same-sex and opposite-sex) to register as domestic partners. Of course, he couldn’t have done this alone, and we’re certain he’d like to share this honor with the thousands of persons throughout the state who urged their legislators to help pass this bill. It’s certainly not marriage, and that’s a fight to fight another day, but it’s a promising step toward equality and we are all grateful to Senator Parks for his vision and dedication.

SinCityQSocials
Best Social Group
Once again, gay socialite Terry Hernandez and his SinCityQSocials network for gay professionals and friends has been honored with this Qrific Award. The group, which hosts Trendy Tuesdays at venues all throughout the valley, is dedicated to helping gay and lesbian professionals meet others of their kind through innovate events. This summer, SinCityQSocials hosted a monthly pool party at Green Valley Ranch, and the group has recently launched a VIP program so members can drink free at the weekly events, among other perks.

Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN) and The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (tie)
Best Non-Profit Organization
AFAN and The Center, two of Gay Vegas’ best known non-profits, tied for this honor. AFAN provides support and advocacy for adults and children living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS in southern Nevada. The group holds two major fund-raisers each year, an AIDS walk in the spring and the Black & White Party in the fall. The Center, on the other hand, supports and promotes activities directed at furthering the well-being, positive image and human rights of the LGBT community and its allies. For good reason, both organizations are deserving of this recognition.

National Coming Out Day Street Festival and Las Vegas Pride (tie)
Best Gay Event
Las Vegas’ two largest festivals for our gay community tied for the Best Gay Event winner this year, with a portion of our readers preferring a daytime event and the other half enjoying a later festival. Neither event competes with the other, as they occur in different seasons and the hosts of each actively participate in the other’s event. Las Vegas Pride was bigger and better than ever in 2009 and promises to have even bigger name main stage entertainment in 2010. The NCOD Street Festival (produced by QVegas Foundation and The Center) was moved to a bit earlier time this year so as to help avoid the cold, late-night October temperatures and allow attendees to carry the celebration onward throughout the night at area clubs.

Glee
Best Gay TV Series
Sure, a lot of shows have LGBT characters these days, and old favorite Will & Grace is still running in syndication, but perhaps the most popular TV series in our community right now is Fox’s new musical hit, Glee. We weren’t really surprised by the massive number of votes Glee received on the Qrific ballot, since we’ve also become full-fledged Gleeks who can’t resist discussing each week’s new songs and situations among our friends for days after each viewing. What really stinks is that the series is on a hiatus for the next several months while American Idol goes through another season (now featuring Ellen Degeneres as a judge... woohoo!), but at least we have two soundtracks of their catchy cover tunes to tide us over until the spring.

FreeZone, Charlie’s Las Vegas and Krave Las Vegas (3-way tie)
Best Gay Nightclub
Wow, a three-way tie! Each located in a distinctly different area of town, FreeZone (in the Fruit Loop), Charlie’s (on the west side) and Krave (on the Strip at Harmon Ave.) all have distinctly different atmospheres as well. The oldest of these three Qrific winners is FreeZone, which is known for its relaxed vibe, entertaining drag shows and ladies night. Charlie’s (part of the well-known chain) is popular among the local cowboy community yet fills up to the brim with every type of LGBT personality imaginable during its famous beer and liquor busts. Krave is popular among the younger crowd and many tourists due to its big-city feel, larger size, well-known DJs and location close to all the major casino resorts.

"Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga
Best Gay Dance Single
For the second year in a row, 23-year-old New Yorker Lady Gaga (real name: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) has charmed us with a catchy hit single. Last year, when “Just Dance” won the Qrific Award for Best Gay Dance Single, Gaga was relatively new on the scene. This year, she’s become world-famous, been nominated for every major music award (and won many of them), and has embarked on an amazing concert tour full of the over-the-top costumes and stagings she’s become known for. She’s even recorded two songs with Beyonce (whose “Single Ladies” was the second place winner in this category). But it’s the catchy “Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah / Roma, Roma-ma / GaGa, ooh la la” that makes “Bad Romance” the undisputed hit dance single of 2009 among our readers.