Arts & Entertainment
Calendar: Oct. 29
Events through Nov. 4
Editor’s note: Go here for Halloween events.
Today
Margaret Cho will be at the Warner Theatre (513 13th St., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. with her show, “Cho Dependent.” Tickets are $40.50 or $57.60 and can be purchased at livenation.com. An after party will be held at Ziegfeld’s/Secrets (1824 Half St., S.W.).
Zoom Urban Lesbian Excursions hosts “Night at the Museum” tonight at 8:30 p.m. at the Museum of Crime and Punishment (575 7th St., N.W.) as it turns into a haunted torture chamber. Attendees are welcome to wear costumes, but masks are prohibited. Tickets are $23 and can be purchased at zoomexcursions.com.
Caron is holding its annual Metro D.C. community awards breakfast today at 8 a.m. at Maggiano’s (5333 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) featuring Tara Conner, former Miss USA as the keynote speaker. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will receive the Educational Excellence Award for their performance of “Through a Glass Darkly.” Daniel O’Neill, chair of the D.C. Center HIV Working Group will receive the Unsung Hero award.
Peach Pit, a monthly ’90s dance party, will be held at Hirshhorn Museum (Independence Avenue and 7th Street, S.W.) tonight from 8 p.m. to midnight. DJs Matt Bailer and Robert Bozick will be teaming up to celebrate the first anniversary of the party. Members can get in for free. Tickets for quests are $18 and can be purchased online, by calling 202-633-4629 or from the Smithsonian IMAX theater box offices. For more information, visit hirshhorn.si.edu/afterhours.
Blackout, a blacklight and glow party will be at Ziegfeld’s/Secrets (1824 Half St., S.W.) tonight hosted by Latroya Nichole with music by DJ Steve Henderson. There is a $5 cover from 9 to 10:30 p.m. and $10 afterward.
Level One (1639 R St., N.W.) will be hosting a special dinner show with Sherry Vine tonight at 8:30 p.m.
Ganymede Arts presents Gerald Duval’s “Edie Beale Live at Reno Sweeney” starring gay actor Jeffrey Johnson, is tonight at Noi’s Nook at go mama go! (1809 14th St., N.W.) at 8 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ganymedearts.org.
Busboys & Poets will be hosting ASL open mic poetry tonight from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. at its 14th and V streets location (2021 14th St., N.W.). Anyone with sign language knowledge may sign up to recite a poem or sign a song by e-mailing [email protected]. There is a $5 cover.
Saturday, Oct. 30
Women in their 30s will be having its monthly outing today to the Rally to Restore Sanity on the National Mall in D.C. from noon to 3 p.m. The group is meeting up at the Archives Metro Rail stop around 11:45 a.m.
Douche Bag City, an exhibition of video-animation, painting and sculpture by Federico Solmi, opens today with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at Conner Contemporary Art (1358 Florida Ave., N.E.).
Tom Paxton and Janis Ian, “Together at Last,” will be at the Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave.) in Alexandia, tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com.
Busboys & Poets will be holding a post-rally event with Amy Goodman and Van Jones at 7 p.m. at its 5th and K streets location (1025 5th St., N.W.). Busboys & Poets will be participating with ColbertRally.com in an effort to raise funds for DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need.
Sunday, Oct. 31
Hard Times Require Furious Dancing: the Art Exhibit, inspired by Alice Walker’s new book of the same name, is showing at Busboys & Poets at the 5th and K streets location (1025 5th St., N.W.) featuring work by artists such as Liana Cohen-Matteini, Charles Jean-Pierre, Innocent Buregeya and JJ Tiziou.
Blonde Redhead will be performing at 9:30 Club tonight at 10 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at 930.com.
“Hair,” 2009 Tony award winner for Best Musical Revival will be at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) today at 1 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $115 and can be purchased at kennedy-center.org.
Monday, Nov. 1
Hope Operas, whose founder is openly gay, has its fourth week of five new shows tonight to raise money for charity. The shows are at 8 p.m. at the Comedy Spot, in Ballston Mall (4238 Wilson, Blvd.), in Arlington. Each show benefits a different charity. Tickets are $12 per show. For more information call 323-788-8970 or e-mail [email protected].
Cloud Cult, a band established as a non-profit, will be performing at Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) tonight with Fort Wilson Riot on the mainstage at 8 p.m. Tickets are $16 and can be purchased at blackcatdc.com.
Tuesday, Nov. 2
The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) will be having a discussion about crystal meth use in the LGBT community tonight from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The meeting will be facilitated by Michael Giordano and David Schwartz.
DC Cowboys Dance Company will be holding auditions from 7 to 8:30 p.m. tonight in Dupont Circle. The group is looking for dancers of all levels interested in performing with an exciting, high-profile dance group. Broadway-style or jazz training or experience preferred but not required. E-mail to [email protected] for audition information.
Wednesday, Nov. 3
The Tom Davaron Social Bridge Club will be meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E. across from Marine Barracks) for social bridge. No partner is needed. Visit lambdabridge.com and click “Social Bridge in Washington, D.C.” for more information.
Busboy & Poets will be holding an organic beer happy hour today at 4 p.m. at its Shirlington location (4251 S. Campbell Ave.) featuring Peak, a nut brown ale, Wolavers, a brown ale, and Bison, a chocolate stout.
Thursday, Nov. 4
The gay-helmed Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company will be performing works by Anna Sokolow in the Ina and Jack Kay Theatre in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. Tickets are $30 or $24 for subscribers, and can be purchased online at claricesmithcenter.umd.edu. There will be a pre-performance discussion led by dance professor Sandra Perez at 7 p.m. in the Lead M. Smith Lecture Hall, room 2200, in the same building. No ticket is required for this discussion.
In conjunction with the exhibit, “The Very Queer Portraits of Heyd Fontenot,” a discussion “The Queerest of Discussions: A Curator’s Talk with Heyd Fontenot and Anne Goodyear” will be held at the Art Gallery at the University of Maryland tonight from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. This is a free event. For more information, visit, artgallery.umd.edu.
History
Julius’ Bar ‘sip-in’ laid groundwork for Stonewall
Tuesday marked 60 years since four gay activists held protest
While Stonewall is widely considered the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the U.S., a lesser-known protest inside a Greenwich Village bar three years earlier helped lay critical groundwork for what would follow.
Tuesday marked 60 years since the Julius’ Bar “sip in.”
On April 21, 1966, four gay rights activists — Dick Leitsch, Craig Rodwell, John Timmons, and later Randy Wicker — walked into Julius’ Bar and staged what would become known as a “sip-in” to challenge state liquor regulations on serving alcoholic beverages to gay men — with a drink.
Modeled after the sit-ins that challenged racial segregation across the American South, the protest was designed to confront discriminatory practices targeting LGBTQ patrons in public spaces.
At the time, the Mattachine Society — one of the country’s earliest gay rights groups — was actively pushing back against policies enforced by the New York State Liquor Authority. One of those policies could have resulted in the loss of liquor licenses for serving known or suspected gay men and lesbians. The participants had visited multiple establishments, openly identified themselves as homosexual, and requested a drink — with the anticipation of being denied.
Their final stop was Julius’, where reporters and a photographer had gathered to document the moment. When Leitsch declared their identity, the bartender covered their glasses and refused service, reportedly saying, “I think it’s against the law.” The next day, the New York Times ran a story with the headline, “3 Deviates Invite Exclusion by Bars,” cementing the moment in the public record.
Though initially framed with disrespect — the term “sip-in” itself was coined as a play on civil rights protests — the action marked a turning point. It brought national attention to the systemic discrimination LGBTQ people faced and helped catalyze changes in how liquor laws were enforced. In the years that followed, the protest contributed to the emergence of licensed, more openly gay-friendly bars, which became central social and organizing spaces for LGBTQ communities.
The Washington Blade originally covered when the bar was officially added to the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Today, historians and advocates increasingly recognize the “sip-in” as a key pre-Stonewall milestone. According to the New York City LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, the protest not only increased visibility of the early LGBTQ rights movement but also exposed widespread surveillance and entrapment tactics used against the community.
Marking the 60th anniversary of the event, commemorations have taken place in New York and across the country. Reflecting on its enduring legacy, Amanda Davis, executive director of the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, spoke about the event.
“Julius’ Bar is a place you can visit and viscerally connect with history,” said Davis. “We’re thrilled to have solidarity locations across the country join us in commemorating the ‘sip-in’’s 60th anniversary and the queer community’s First Amendment right to peaceably assemble.”
For current stewards of the historic bar, the responsibility of preserving that legacy remains front of mind.
“It’s a privilege and a responsibility to be the steward of a place so important to American and LGBTQ history,” said current owner of Julius’ Bar, Helen Buford. “The events of the 1966 Sip-In here at Julius’ resonated across the country and inspired countless others to stand proud for their rights.”
The timing couldn’t have come at a more important moment, Kymn Goldstein, executive director of the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives, explained.
“At a time when our community faces renewed challenges, coming together in resilience and solidarity reminds us of the power in our collective resistance,” Goldstein said.
The American Civil Liberties Union, an organization dedicated to defending rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, is currently tracking 519 anti-LGBTQ bills across the U.S. The majority are targeted at restricting transgender rights — particularly related to gender-affirming care, sports participation, and the use of public bathrooms.
Some additional groups and bars that held their own “sip-in” as solidarity events to uplift this historic milestone are from across the country include:
Alice Austen House at Steiny’s Pub, Staten Island, N.Y.
Bellows Falls Pride Committee at PK’s Irish Pub, Bellows Falls, Vt.
Brick Road Coffee, Mesa, Ariz.
Brick Road Coffee, Tempe, Ariz.
Dick Leitsch’s Family at Old Louisville Brewery, Louisville, Ky.
The Faerie Playhouse & LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana at Le Cabaret, New Orleans
Harlem Pride & John Reddick at L’Artista Italian Kitchen & Bar, New York
JOYR!DE KiKi at Loafers Cocktail Bar, New York
Matthew Lawrence & Jason Tranchida / Headmaster at Deadbeats Bar, Providence, R.I.
Mazer Lesbian Archives at Alana’s Coffee, Los Angeles
New Hope Celebrates at The Club Room, New Hope, Pa.
Queer Memory Project at the University of Evansville Multicultural Student Commons / Ridgway University Center, Evansville, Ind.
Sandy Jack’s Bar, Brooklyn, N.Y.
St. Louis LGBT History Project at Just John Club, St. Louis
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch was held at Salamander Washington DC on Sunday, April 19. Gov. Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) was presented with the Allyship Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The umbrella LGBTQ sports organization Team D.C. held its annual Night of Champions Gala at the Georgetown Marriott on Saturday, April 18. Team D.C. presented scholarships to local student athletes and presented awards to Adam Peck, Manuel Montelongo (a.k.a. Mari Con Carne), Dr. Sara Varghai, Dan Martin and the Centaur Motorcycle Club. Sean Bartel was posthumously honored with the Most Valuable Person Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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