Owners of at least 24 LGBTQ bars in Washington, D.C., some of which also operate as restaurants or cafes, said they are being negatively affected by the same forces that are affecting most other bars and restaurants in D.C. at this time.
Among the major issues affecting them are President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to the streets, the nearly two-month federal government shutdown that just ended, and the soaring prices of food and other goods brought about by the Trump administration’s controversial tariff program.
Owners who spoke to the Washington Blade said the Trump administration’s decision to lay off thousands of federal employees shortly after Trump took office in January also likely contributed to a decline in the number of people going out to restaurants and bars, including LGBTQ restaurants and bars.
Observers of the LGBTQ nightlife business note that while the number of LGBTQ or “gay bars” nationally has declined significantly since 1980, the number of LGBTQ bars in Washington, D.C., has increased from just six in 1980 to at least 24 by 2025.
If you include the popular Annie’s Paramount Steak House near Dupont Circle, Mr. Henry’s restaurant, bar, and jazz music venue on Capitol Hill, and the Red Bear Brewing Company bar, restaurant, and music venue on the Northeast near Capitol Hill — each with its own mixed but LGBTQ clientele — the list would total 27 gay bars in Washington, D.C.
As if that wasn’t enough, yet another DC gay bar, Rush, was scheduled to open on November 21, 2001.th Northwest Street, intersection of 14th U Street near 10 other LGBTQ bar locations in the U Street nightlife corridor. This brings the number of LGBTQ-identified bars to 28.
Among the first LGBTQ bar owners to publicly reveal the economic hardships affecting their businesses was David Peruzza, owner of Pitcher’s, a gay bar and cafe, and the adjacent lesbian bar, A League of Her Own, in the city’s Adams Morgan neighborhood.
“We’re facing probably the worst economic situation we’ve seen in a while, and everyone in Washington DC is dealing with the drama of President Trump,” Peruza said in an Oct. 10 Facebook post.
He added: “I have 47 reps and I don’t know how to survive in this situation. If I’ve ever sponsored you or your organization, now is the time to show some love. Not just to me, but to other bars. I went out tonight and it was depressing. If you want a queer bar, we all need your help.”
Asked how things were going on Nov. 10, a month after posting the message on Facebook, Peruzza said business was still bad for Blade.
“I’m not going to sugar coat it,” he said. “Again, we’re busy. The bar is busy and people aren’t buying drinks.” “No, they’re coming in and drinking water and dancing. They’re not buying drinks,” he added.
Like most bars in the city, including LGBTQ bars, Peruzza said he provides pitchers and plastic cups for patrons to drink their own water if needed.
Joe McDaniel, co-owner of As You Are, an LGBTQ bar and cafe in the Barracks Row neighborhood of Capitol Hill, 500 8th South Carolina Street, which has many lesbian customers, said she too was hit hard by the National Guard deployment. She said the National Guard began moving up and down with guns.th The street in front of As You Are has been going on since around the last week of August.
“And from 7 onwardsth [of September] They went from pistols to rifles,” McDaniel said. They just come and go. But now they have big weapons. That’s pretty scary. ”
She said the presence of the National Guard and other issues, including the federal government shutdown, caused a sharp drop in business, which prompted her and her partners to launch a GoFundMe appeal in August, a link of which remained on As You Are’s website as of Nov. 16.
“We reach out to you, our community, our allies, and those who believe in safe spaces for marginalized populations to help us overcome this challenge and collectively ensure the survival of AYA and our continued impact on DC and the community at large,” a message on the GoFundMe site reads.
Freddy Lutz, owner of Freddy’s Beach Bar, an LGBTQ bar and restaurant in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Va., outside Washington, D.C., said the federal government shutdown, rising costs and even the deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., appears to be having a negative impact on businesses across the river, including Freddy’s.
“Freddie’s is doing well, but not that well,” he said. “We’re a little down, let’s do it,” he added. “Given all the chaos that’s going on with this administration and everything that’s going on, I feel like we just have to hang in there and everything will be okay in the end,” he told the Blade.
“But business has been a little down, and as David Peruzza said, we could use some community support,” Lutz said. He said the drop in business for at least some LGBTQ bars could also be due to the growing and growing number of LGBTQ bars in Washington, D.C.
“There are a lot of new gay bars popping up, and that’s impacting the rest of us,” he says. “I’m all for it. I want to support them. But I think it’s taken away from some of us.”
Mickey Neighbors is the owner of Sinners and Saints, an LGBTQ bar located at 2309 18th.th Located on Northwest Street in Adams Morgan, just a few doors down from the Pitchers and the American League of Her Own. He said business has largely recovered from the economic downturn caused by the National Guard deployment.
“Everyone was a little scared at first,” he says. “But then that kind of blew over, and there aren’t that many other bars that the demographic that comes to my place actually goes to.” He explained that Sinners and Saints is aimed at a younger demographic of “BIPOC,” a term used to refer to Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
“After a few weeks of underperformance, everything is back to normal,” he said.
Stephen Rutgers, co-owner of LGBTQ bar Crush, 14/2007th Northwest Street, which is a few doors down from where the new bar Lush is about to open, said Clash, like most bars, has been affected by the National Guard deployment.
“Some bars will be fine,” he said. “We’re trying to do some creative things to keep people involved, but overall everyone has seen a reduction and I don’t think there’s anyone who hasn’t seen it,” he said.
Rutgers said the Crush has been drawing crowds on weekends in recent weeks, but he expects his bar and other LGBTQ bars to fully recover by the end of the federal government shutdown that took place in the second week of November.
Among other things, Rutgers said the decline in tourism to Washington, D.C., following the Trump administration’s policies, is impacting all bars and restaurants, including LGBTQ bars. He said that, combined with the record number of LGBTQ bars currently open in Washington, D.C., patrons going to at least some bars are likely to decline.
One DC LGBTQ bar that has implemented significant changes to the way it operates in response to developments affecting all bars is Spark Social House, a bar and cafe located on 14th Street.th Street, northwest, next to Crash. Last week, Spark Social House announced it was ending its position as the city’s only LGBTQ bar, which did not serve alcoholic beverages and instead sold a wide range of non-alcoholic cocktails.
Owner Nick Tsaju told the Blade that Spark Social made the difficult decision that it needed to offer both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages under the current economic climate in Washington, D.C., which is impacting all bars and restaurants.
“If bars that sell alcohol are struggling, you can imagine we’re struggling just like any other small business with the same issues,” he says. “And I don’t think introducing alcohol is actually an abandonment of our values.”
He said that starting in December, after Spark Social receives its liquor license, it will be “introducing a one-to-one menu with two options for all cocktails: alcoholic and non-alcoholic.”
Ed Bailey, co-owner of the DC gay bars Trade and Number Nine near the Route 14 intersectionth Northwestern’s P Street told the Blade in September that his two facilities were “preparing for a busy fall after an unusual summer” due to National Guard deployments.
His prediction of a busy fall appears to have come true, at least on weekend nights, including Halloween night. On Halloween night, there were long lines of mostly gay male customers waiting to get into the bar.
Stephen Thompson, a bartender at Fireplace, a longtime gay bar at 2161 P St. NW near Dupont Circle, said the National Guard presence and other issues affecting other bars haven’t negatively affected Fireplace.
“We’re doing well,” he said. “The National Guard has not had a negative impact on our business. We do have soldiers passing by a few times a week, but things have been pretty good for us over the past few months.”
One of at least 10 LGBTQ bars on U Street in Shakers’ northwest entertainment district, September 2014th Northwest State Street announced in a statement this week that it will close on Nov. 23.
“After many difficult discussions, we have finally decided that it is time for Shakers to close,” Shakers owners Justin Parker and Daniel Honeycutt said in a statement. “While we are very sad in many ways, we are looking forward to spending some more time with our 3-year-old son,” the statement said.
It also announced that Kiki, a nearby gay bar around the corner on U Street, will acquire the rights to the Shakers building and “maintain a space dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community.”
“Two LGBTQ+ bars will be opening at 9am,” Kiki’s owner Keaton Fedak said in a statement on social media.th &U, under Kiki, is a true full-circle moment, rooted in friendship, history, and the ever-growing community here. ”
Owners of several other LGBTQ bars in Washington, D.C., were either unavailable for comment or declined to comment for this story.
Edward Grandis, a Washington, D.C., attorney who has worked with some of the city’s LGBTQ bars, said the coronavirus pandemic temporarily closed all bars and restaurants and appears to have had a lasting impact on LGBTQ bars even after the pandemic subsides.
Among other things, Grandis said he has observed that happy hour sessions at most bars, including LGBTQ bars, have not returned to the level of patronage seen before the coronavirus pandemic. He noted that happy hour, which is typically late afternoon or early evening on weekdays, offers discounted drinks and some even offer free drinks to attract more patrons, but it hasn’t seen the same crowds as in years past.
“The COVID-19 shutdown helped online social meeting sites,” Grandis said. “As the bars closed, men turned to the internet to party,” he said of gay bars in Washington, D.C. “This continues even though there are more bars.” Grandis said gay men in their 20s and 30s appear to be the largest group that is going to gay bars less than older generations.
“So I think this trend started before the federal government was doing it,” he said, referring to the National Guard presence and the federal government shutdown. “And I think what we’re seeing now is just another hurdle where people in the gay and entertainment community need to figure out how to get 20-year-olds and young 30-somethings back into bars.”
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
