The owners of several of D.C.’s at least 24 LGBTQ bars, some of which also operate as restaurants or cafes, say they are being negatively impacted by the same forces impacting most other D.C. bars and restaurants at this time.

Among the lead issues impacting them have been the deployment by President Donald Trump of National Guard troops on city streets, the nearly two-month long federal government shutdown that just ended, and skyrocketing prices for food and other supplies brought about by the Trump administration’s controversial tariff program.

The Trump administration’s decision to lay off thousands of federal workers shortly after Trump took office in January also appears to have resulted in a decline in the number of people going out to restaurants and bars, including  LGBTQ restaurants and bars, according to some of the owners who spoke to the Washington Blade.

Observers of LGBTQ nightlife businesses have pointed out that although nationwide the number of LGBTQ or “gay bars” has declined significantly since 1980,  the number of LGBTQ bars in D.C. has increased from just six in 1980 to at least 24 so far in 2025.

If the popular Annie’s Paramount Steak House near Dupont Circle, Mr. Henry’s restaurant, bar and Jazz music performance site on Capitol Hill, and the Red Bear Brewing Company bar, restaurant and music performance site in Northeast near Capitol Hill – each of which have a mixed but large LGBTQ clientele  — are included in the D.C. gay bar list, the total number climbs to 27. 

As if that were not enough, yet another D.C. gay bar, Rush, was scheduled to open on Nov. 21 at 2001 14^th Street, N.W. at the intersection of 14^th and U streets, near the location of 10 other LGBTQ bars in the U Street nightlife corridor. That will bring the number of LGBTQ-identified bars to 28.

Among the first of the LGBTQ bar owners to publicly disclose the economic hardships impacting their establishment was David Perruzza, who owns the gay bar and café Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own in the city’s Adams Morgan neighborhood.

In an Oct. 10 Facebook post, Perruzza said he was facing “probably the worst economy I have seen in a while and everyone in D.C. is dealing with the Trump drama.”

He added, “I have 47 people I am responsible for, and I don’t know how to survive in this climate. If I have ever sponsored you or your organization, now is the time to show the love. Not only for me but other bars. I went out tonight and it was depressing. If you want queer bars, we all need your help.”

Asked on Nov. 10 how things were going one month after he posted his Facebook message, Perruzza told the Blade business was still bad. 

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” he said. “Again, we’re busy. The bar’s busy, but people aren’t buying drinks.” He added, “No, they’re coming in and drinking water and dancing. They’re not buying drinks.” 

Like most of the city’s bars, including LGBTQ bars, Perruzza said he provides water jugs and plastic cups for patrons to access drinking water by themselves as needed or desired.

Jo McDaniel, co-owner of As You Are, an LGBTQ bar and café in the Barracks Row section of Capitol Hill at 500 8^th Street, S.E., which has a large lesbian clientele, said she, too, was hit hard by the National Guard deployment. She said National Guard troops carrying guns began walking up and down 8^th Street in front of As You Are around the last week in August and have continued to do so.

“And then from the 7^th [of September] they went from pistols to rifles,” McDaniel said. “Nothing has happened. They’ve just been walking back and forth. But now they have big guns. It’s pretty terrifying.”

She noted that the National Guard presence and the other issues, including the federal shutdown, caused a sharp drop in business that prompted her and her partner to launch a GoFundMe appeal in August, a link to which was still on the As You Are website as of Nov. 16.

“We’re reaching out to you, our community, our allies, and those who believe in safe spaces for marginalized folks to help us get past this challenge so we can all ensure AYA’s survival and continued impact in D.C. and the community at large,” a message on the GoFundMe site says.

Freddie Lutz, owner of Freddie’s Beach Bar, the LGBTQ bar and restaurant in the Crystal City section of Arlington, Va., just outside D.C., said the federal shutdown, rising costs, and even the deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. appears to have had a negative impact on businesses across the river from D.C., including Freddie’s.

“Freddie’s is doing OK but not as good,” he said. “We’re down a little bit. Let’s  put it that way,” he added. “I just feel like with all the chaos going in this administration and everything that’s happening it’s like we just have to hang in there and everything will be alright eventually,” he told the Blade. 

“But business is down a little bit, and we can use the support of the community just like David Perruzza has been saying,” Lutz said. He said the drop in businesses for at least some of the LGBTQ bars may also be caused by the large and growing number of LGBTQ bars in D.C.

“There are a lot of new gay bars, which are also impacting the rest of us,” he said. “I’m all for it. I want to support them. But it is taking away from some of us, I think.”

Mickey Neighbors is the owner of Sinners and Saints, an LGBTQ bar at 2309 18^th Street, N.W. in Adams Morgan located a few doors away from Pitchers and A League of Her Own. He said his business has mostly rebounded from a slowdown caused by the National Guard deployment. 

“At first, everyone was kind of scared,” he said. “But then it kind of blew over and there really aren’t that many other bars where the demographic people that come to mine really go to.” He described Sinners and Saints as catering to a younger “BIPOC” crowd, a term that refers to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. 

“We had a downturn of business for a few weeks, but everything is back to normal,” he said. 

Stephen Rutgers, co-owner of the LGBTQ bar Crush located at 2007 14^th Street, N.W., a few doors down from where the new bar Rush is about to open, said Crush like most other bars was impacted by the National Guard deployment. 

“Some bars are going to be fine,” he said. “We are trying to do some creative things to keep people coming in. But overall, everyone is seeing cutbacks, and I don’t think anyone is not seeing that,” he said. 

Rutgers said Crush, which in recent weeks has had large crowds on weekends, said he was hopeful that his and other LGBTQ bars would fully rebound when the federal shutdown ends, which occurred the second week in November.

Among other things, Rutgers said a decline in the number of tourists coming to D.C. in  response to the Trump administration’s policies has impacted all bars and restaurants, including LGBTQ bars. He said this, combined with the record number of LGBTQ bars now operating in D.C., is likely to result in fewer patrons going to at least some of them.

One of the D.C. LGBTQ bars that put in place a significant change in the way it operates in response to the developments impacting all bars is Spark Social House, a bar and café  located on 14^th Street, N.W. next door to Crush. In the past week, Spark Social House announced it was ending its status as the city’s only LGBTQ bar that did not serve alcoholic beverages and instead sold a wide range of alcohol-free cocktails.

Owner Nick Tsusaju told the Blade he and his associates made the difficult assessment that under the current economic environment in D.C., which is impacting all bars and restaurants, Spark Social would need to offer both alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages

“You can imagine that if the bars that are selling alcohol are struggling, we are struggling just like other small businesses with the same issues,” he said. “And I think that introducing alcohol is not really an abdication of our values.”

He noted that beginning in December, after Spark Social obtains its liquor license, “we’re introducing a one for one menu where every cocktail comes in two options, booze and boozeless.”   

Ed Bailey, co-owner of the D.C. gay bars Trade and Number Nine located near the intersection of 14^th and P Streets, N.W., told the Blade in September his two establishments were “ramping up for a busy fall after an unusual summer” impacted by the National Guard deployment.

 His predictions of a busy fall appear to have come about at least on weekend nights, including Halloween night, where there were long lines of Trade’s mostly gay male clientele waiting to get into the bar.

Stephen Thompson, a bartender at the Fireplace, a longtime gay bar located at 2161 P Street, N.W., near Dupont Circle, said the National Guard presence and other issues impacting other bars have not negatively impacted the Fireplace. 

“We are doing fine,” he said. “The National Guard has not hurt our business. The soldiers do walk by a few times a week, but we’ve been looking pretty good the last couple of months.”

One of the at least 10 LGBTQ bars in the U Street, N.W., entertainment corridor, Shakers, at 2014 9^th Street, N.W., announced in a statement this week that it will close its doors on Nov. 23. 

“After many, many difficult discussions, we ultimately decided it is time for Shakers to close its doors,” says the statement posted by Shakers owners Justin Parker and Daniel Honeycutt. “While we are in so many ways saddened, we are also looking forward to spending a bit more time with our three-year old son,” the statement says.

It also announces that the nearby gay bar Kiki, located around the corner on U Street, will acquire use of the Shakers building and “keep the space dedicated to our LGBTQ+ community.”

In his own statement on social media, Kiki owner Keaton Fedak said, “To now have two LGBTQ+ bars at 9^th & U under the Kiki umbrella is a true full-circle moment – rooted in friendship, history, and the community that continues to grow here.”

The owners of several other D.C. LGBTQ bars couldn’t immediately be reached for comment or declined to comment for this story.

Edward Grandis, a D.C. attorney who has worked with some of the D.C. LGBTQ bars, said the COVID pandemic, which led to the temporary shutdown of all bars and restaurants, appears to have had a lasting impact on LGBTQ bars long after the pandemic subsided.

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 prior to the COVID pandemic. He notes that happy hour times, usually in late afternoon or early evening during weekdays, where bars offer reduced price drinks and some offer free drinks to attract large numbers of patrons, have not been drawing the crowds they did in past years.  

“The COVID shutdown assisted the online social meeting sites,” Grandis said. “Bars were closed so guys turned to the internet for setting up parties and this has continued even though there are more bars,” he said in referring to the D.C. gay bars. According to Grandis, the gay men in the age range of their 20s and 30s appear to be the largest group that is no longer going to gay bars in large numbers compared to older generations. 

“So, I think the trend started before what the feds are doing,” he said in referring to the National Guard presence and the federal shutdown. “And I think what we are witnessing right now is just sort of like another obstacle that people in the gay and entertainment community need to figure out how to attract the 20-year-olds and young 30s back to the bars.” 

When Nic Kelly finishes her 6 a.m. shift as a manager at PetSmart, she walks to her bartending job at Alamo Drafthouse in Crystal City to serve cocktails, beers, and milkshakes for hundreds of guests.

Kelly, 26, doesn’t work a combined 60-65 hours per week to pocket extra cash –– she does it to barely make her almost $1,700 rent each month.

“I’m constantly working, and some days I work two jobs in the same day,” Kelly said. “But twice now I’ve had to borrow money from my mother just to make sure I pay my full rent.”

Yesim Sayin, D.C. Policy Center executive director, said this is unfortunately how the D.C. area is structured –– to keep essential workers, service employees, and lower-income people out and those with greater economic mobility in.

The DMV area’s high cost of living makes it near-impossible for employees who keep the area running to make a living, Sayin said. In 2022, only 36% of D.C.’s essential workers lived in the city, according to a D.C. Policy Center report. D.C. is also ranked 13th in the world for highest cost of living as of Nov. 7.

But for Sayin, there’s more work for policymakers to get done than simply acknowledging the high cost of living. Take a look at how current policies are impacting residents, and what long-term solutions could help the DMV thrive.

Feeling the high cost of living 

D.C. has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 6.0% as of August. Sayin said the city’s high unemployment rate reflects a lack of geographic mobility in its population, meaning those who can’t find jobs can’t afford to look outside of the DMV area.

Though there are job training groups working to close the unemployment  gap, securing a job –– let alone two –– rarely guarantees a comfortable lifestyle for essential and service employees.

A single-person household in D.C. with no children must make at least $25.98 an hour to support themselves, according to the Living Wage Calculator. That number jumps to $51.68 an hour for a single adult with one child. Minimum wage in D.C. is $17.95 an hour and $10 an hour for tipped employees.

Whether it’s utilizing free meals at the Alamo to save on groceries or borrowing money to make rent, every week could bring a different sacrifice for Kelly. 

While Kelly lives and works a few minutes south of D.C., Sayin said the connectedness of the DMV means you don’t have to travel far to feel the withering effects of the area’s high cost of living.

“People don’t really care what flag adorns their skies,” Sayin said. “They’re looking for good housing, good schools, cheaper cost of living, and ease of transportation.”

For those that stay in the DMV area, those conditions are hard to come by. This can lead to people working multiple jobs or turning to gigs, such as Uber driving or selling on Etsy, to fill income gaps. Sayin said there are short-term benefits to securing these gigs alongside a primary job, such as helping people weather economic storms, avoid going on government assistance or racking up debt.

But she said the long-term implications of relying on gigs or other jobs can harm someone’s professional aspirations.

“You can spend three extra hours on your own profession every work week, or you can spend three hours driving Uber. One gives you cash, but the other gives you perhaps a different path in your professional life,” Sayin said. “And then 20 years from now, you could be making much more with those additional investments in yourself professionally.” 

There’s a strong demand for work in D.C., but when the city starts suffering economically, those who live outside the area –– usually essential or remote workers –– will likely find work elsewhere. Sayin said this negatively impacts those employees’ quality of life, giving them less professional tenure and stability.

D.C.’s cost of living also centralizes power in the city, according to Sayin. When lower-wage employees are priced out, the residents who make up the city don’t always reflect the ones who keep it running. 

“Ask your Amazon, Uber or FedEx driver where they live. They’re somewhere in Waldorf. They’re not here,” Sayin said.

Working toward an accessible D.C.

Build more. That’s what Sayin said when thinking of ways to solve D.C.’s affordability crisis.

But it’s not just about building more –– it’s about building smartly and utilizing the space of the city more strategically, Sayin said.

While D.C. has constructed lots of new housing over the years, Sayin noted that they were mostly built in a handful of neighborhoods tailored to middle and upper-class people such as The Wharf. Similarly, building trendy small units to house young professionals moving to the city take up prime real estate from struggling families that have much less geographic mobility, she said.

“The affordability problem is that today’s stock is yesterday’s construction,” Sayin said.

Solving these issues includes ushering in a modern perspective on outdated policies. Sayin cited a D.C. policy that places restrictions on childcare centers built on second floors. Since D.C. parents pay the highest rates in the country for childcare at $47,174 annually, she said loosening unnecessary restrictions could help fuel supply and lower costs for families.

Sayin said policymakers need to consider the economic challenges facing residents today, and whether the incentives and tradeoffs of living in D.C. are valuable enough to keep them in the city.

For Kelly, the incentives and tradeoffs of staying in the DMV area aren’t enough. She’s considered moving back in with her mom a few times given how much she has to work just to get by.

Aside from wanting higher compensation for the work she does –– she noted that businesses can’t operate without employees like her –– Kelly also questioned the value of the tradeoff of moving so close to the city.

“There’s no reason why I’m paying $1,700 for a little studio,” Kelly said. “You also have to pay for parking, utilities aren’t included and a lot of residents have to pay for amenities. We are just giving these property management companies so much money, and we’re not really seeing a whole lot of benefit from it.”

Sayin said placing value on the working people of the city will inject fresh life into D.C.’s economy. Without a valuable tradeoff for living in or around the city, there’s little keeping essential and service employees from staying and doing work taken for granted by policymakers. 

LGBTQ activist and businessman Joshua Patel hosted a community Diwali party on Nov. 9.

Patel organized the event as a community gathering amid the Trump-Vance administration’s policies against LGBTQ inclusion and DEI. The event, held at the Capo Deli speakeasy, drew more than 120 attendees, including local business leaders.

Patel is a franchise owner of ProMD Health, recently awarded as the best med spa by the Washington Blade. He is also a major gift officer at Lambda Legal.

Patel noted that upon moving from New York to Washington in 2022, he desired a chance for community-based Diwali celebrations. He stated that the city offered minimal chances for gatherings beyond religious institutions, unless one was invited to the White House’s Diwali party. 

“With our current administration, that gathering too has ended — where we cannot expect more than Kash Patel and President Trump lighting a ‘diya’ candle on Instagram while simultaneously cutting DEIB funding,” Patel said.

In addition to celebrating the festival of lights and good over evil, Patel saw the event as a moment to showcase “rich, vibrant culture” and “express gratitude.”

Patel coined the celebration a “unifier.”

“From a spiritual angle, Shiva was the world’s first transgender God, taking the form of both “male” and “female” incarnations,” Patel said. “The symbolism of our faith and concepts are universal and allows for all to rejoice in the festivities as much or little as they desire.”

Savor Soiree, DMV Mini Snacks and Capo Deli catered the event. DJ Kush spun music and Elisaz Events decorated the Diwali celebration.

The Diwali party also featured performances by former Miss Maryland Heather Young Schleicher, actor Hariqbal Basi, Patel himself and Salatin Tavakoly and Haseeb Ahsan.