a&e features
Town staff looks back on 10-plus years in business
Mega nightclub was home to lauded drag cast, famous DJs and more
Town Danceboutique takes its victory lap this weekend. For many years, the club was the hub of D.C. gay nightlife. Other spaces, such as Cobalt and the long-shuttered Apex and Omega, had dance floors, but Town was always the biggest and most heavily attended. (Washington Blade photo by Wyatt Reid Westlund)
Town Danceboutique, a staple in D.C. nightlife, shuts its doors permanently on Sunday, July 1 after more than a decade of serving the area’s LGBT community.
Owners Ed Bailey, John Guggenmos and Chachi Boyle announced the news last June after Bristol Capital Corp sold the building located at 2009 8th St., N.W. to the Jefferson Apartment Group. The space, which became a local gay hotspot, will be turned into an apartment complex.
Since 2007, Town has hosted bear happy hours, performances from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” favorites, appearances from adult entertainment stars, election night watch parties and much more. It was sort of an unofficial successor to shuttered LGBT hubs such as Tracks and Velvet Nation.
Bailey says Town has remained consistently crowded during its 11 years in business. The crowds kept the staff, which fluctuates between 40-50 people, busy. The number has dwindled as staff have begun seeking employment elsewhere as the closing approaches. Town won dozens of awards in the Blade’s annual Best of Gay D.C. readers poll. Its drag cast Ladies of Town were perennial winners for many years.
As for the DJs and drag performers that kept Town buzzing each weekend, it appears that relief and sadness are the consensus. While some have already sought gigs at other establishments, Bailey says others, including himself, are looking forward to a break.
“Many of the people who work with us haven’t had a weekend off in years and they’d like one. I jokingly say all the time I’d like to actually watch ‘Saturday Night Live’ when it’s actually live. It’s been years and years since I’ve actually been able to do that,” Bailey says.
However, the loss of Town weighs heavy on Shi-Queeta Lee who is the last drag performer from the original cast still performing. Lee has worked at the nightclub for more than 10 years.
“I’m very sad to see another one of our safe spaces/venues we call home for some and work for others lost to housing in D.C. Like we need more of them,” Lee says.
Town’s closing follows the shuttering of lesbian bar Phase 1, which ended its 45-year run in 2016.
“I have lived through many closings and openings of bars and how that has shifted over time,” Bailey says. “There have been some voids in there where there has been less nightlife. There have been times where there’s been more. The community adapts to that. It will adapt to this.”
For Bailey, the nightclub’s legacy is making gay nightlife more visible.
“Town has existed in a neighborhood that has taken the concept of the ‘big club’ out of the shadows and the other parts of town that aren’t as accessible and moved it into kind of a front-and-center location and a place that has established gay nightlife as being something that can happen in front of everybody, not just on the other side of town hidden away so that the rest of the city doesn’t have to see it or be confronted with it,” Bailey says.
He believes that the LGBT community is entering a new era in which the Internet allows individuals to connect and forge community in a way that was not accessible before. However, Bailey is still adamant on the importance of a physical space for LGBT people to gather.
Bailey and his Town co-owners are on the hunt for such a place.
“We are aggressively trying to find another opportunity to continue to do what we have done previously,” Bailey says. “We’re not retiring. We’re not stopping. We’re trying. The right opportunity has not presented itself yet and we’re not going to do it unless it’s the right opportunity.”
Town says goodbye with a weekend full of events that have been curated to give patrons the chance to say goodbye without feeling like they’re missing out by just attending one party.
The final Bear Happy Hour is June 29 at 5 p.m. with entry ending at 8:30 p.m.
Later, the final Friday night party for the 18-and-over crowd begins with a sold-out drag show at 9:30 p.m. Tatianna, Shi-Queeta Lee, Ba’Naka, Riley Knoxx and Sasha Adams will perform. Lena Lett, another Town original cast member, will host the show. Entry to the party begins at approximately 11 p.m. DJ Wess will spin tracks upstairs for the night and Back2Back will play music downstairs. GoGo boys start dancing after 11 p.m.
Bailey wants the younger crowd to enjoy their last night at Town just as much as older patrons.
“I’m a proponent of figuring out how to provide an 18-and-over environment for our community because that’s generally a very formative time and you need to have opportunities, to enjoy yourself and to be around people who you feel comfortable around and figure out who you are in the world,” Bailey says. “I wouldn’t want the Friday night crowd to feel slighted as though Saturday is somehow more important even though it’s literally the closing night.”
On Saturday, June 30 Town hosts “The party to end all parties,” according to its website. The drag show, also sold out, starts at 9:30 p.m. with encore performances from Tatianna, Shi-Queeta-Lee, Ba’Naka, Riley Knoxx and Sasha Adams. Lena Lett hosts the show for the final time. Bailey will DJ upstairs and DJ Wess will keep the music going downstairs. Entry to the party begins at 11 p.m.
Admission to both Friday and Saturday parties will only be at the door. For more details on the final weekend’s events, visit towndc.com.
As Town prepares to bid farewell, Bailey says that patron support has made all their hard work on Town over the years “worthwhile.”
“The thing that allows me to keep getting up every day during this process is that inevitably at some point someone will come up to me on the street, in a bar or at the club and say, ‘I know you don’t know me but I just wanted to let you know that I met my husband here’ or ‘I came out here’ or ‘I moved to D.C. and I didn’t have any friends and I found your place and now I have this great group of friends and we all met here,’” Bailey says. “So when people tell us that we’ve accomplished that goal for them in their life and that their life is better for it, that’s the amazing moment that you live for.”
a&e features
Memorial for groundbreaking bisexual activist set for May 2
Loraine Hutchins remembered as a ‘force of nature’
The Montgomery County Pride Center will host a celebration honoring the life and legacy of Loraine Hutchins, Ph.D., on May 2. People are invited to attend the onsite memorial or a livestream event. The on-site event will begin at 10 a.m. with a meet-and-greet mixer before moving into a memorial service around the theme “Loraine a Force of Nature!” at 11 a.m., a panel talk at 12 p.m., break out sessions for artists, academics, and activists to build on her legacy at 1 p.m. and a closing reception at 2 p.m.
Attendees are encouraged to register for the on-site memorial gathering or the livestreamed memorial. The goal of this event is also to collect stories and memories of Loraine. Attendees and others can share their stories at padlet.com.
An obituary for Hutchins was published in the Bladelast Nov. 24, where people can learn more about her activism in the bisexual community. A private service for friends and family was held in December but this memorial service is open to all.
Alongside her groundbreaking work organizing for U.S. bisexual rights and liberation including co-editing “Bi Any Other Name: BIsexual People Speak Out” (1991), she also integrated faith into her sexual education and advocacy work. Her 2001 doctoral dissertation, “Erotic Rites: A Cultural Analysis of Contemporary U.S. Sacred Sexuality Traditions and Trends,” offered a pointed queer and feminist analysis to sex-neutral and sex-positive spiritual traditions in the United States. Her thesis was also groundbreaking in exploring the intersections between sex workers and those in caregiving professionals, including spiritual ones.
In an oral history interview conducted by Michelle Mueller back in August 2023, Hutchins described herself as a “priestess without a congregation.” While she has occasionally had a sense of community and feels part of a group of loving people, she admitted that “I don’t feel like we have the shape or the purpose that we need.”
“I’ve often experienced being the Cassandra in the room, the Cassandra in the community. Somebody who’s kind of way out there ahead, thinking through the strategic action points that my community hasn’t gotten to yet, and getting a lot of resistance and hostile responses from people who are frightened by dissent and conflict and not ready for the changes we have to make to survive,” she said.
“For somebody who’s bisexual in an out political way and who’s been a spokesperson for the polyamory movement in an out political way, it’s very exposing. And it’s very important to me to be able to try to explain and help other people understand the connection between spirituality and sexuality,” she explained citing how even as a graduate student she was “exploring how to feel erotic and spiritual, and not feel them in conflict with each other in my own spiritual contemplative life and my own sensual body awareness of being alive in the world.”
“Every religion has a sense of sacred sexuality. It’s just they put a lot of boundaries and regulations on it, and if we have a spiritual practice that is totally affirming of women’s priesthood and of gay people, queer people’s ability to minister to everyone and to be ministered to be everyone, what does that do to the gender of God, or our understanding of how we practice our spirituality and our sexuality in community and privately?”
“There’s no easy answer,” she concludes, and she continued to grapple with these questions throughout her life, co-editing another seminal text, “Sexuality, Religion and the Sacred: Bisexual, Pansexual, and Polysexual Perspectives,” published in 2012. Her work blending spiritual and queer liberation remains groundbreaking to this day.
Rev. Eric Eldritch, a local community organizer and ordained Pagan minister with Circle Sanctuary who has worked for decades with the DC Center’s Center Faith to organize the Pride Interfaith Service, is eager to highlight this element of her legacy at the memorial service next month.
a&e features
Queery: Meet artist, performer John Levengood
Modern creative talks nightlife, coming out, and his personal queer heroes
John Levengood (he/him) describes himself as a modern creative with a wide‑ranging toolkit. He blends music, technology, civic duty, and a sharp sense of wit into a cohesive artistic identity. Known primarily as a recording artist and performer, he’s also a self‑taught music producer and software engineer who embodies a generation of creators who build their own lanes rather than wait for one to appear.
Levengood, 32, who is single and identifies as gay and queer, is best known as a recording artist who has performed at Pride festivals across the country, including the main stages of World Pride DC, Central Arkansas Pride, and Charlotte Pride.
“Locally in the DMV, I’m known for turning heads at nightlife venues with my eye-catching sense of style. When I go out, I don’t try to blend in. I hope I inspire people to be themselves and have the courage to stand out,” he says.
He’s also known for hosting karaoke at Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Va., on Thursday nights. “I like to create a space where people feel comfortable expressing themselves, building community, and showcasing their talents.”
He also creates social media content from my performances and do interviews at LGBTQ+ bars and theatres in the DMV. Follow the Arlington resident @johnlevengood.
How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?
I have been fully out of the closet since 2019. My parents were the hardest people to tell because my family has always been my rock and at the time I couldn’t imagine a world without them. Their reactions were extremely positive and supportive so I had nothing to fear all along.
I remember sitting on the couch with my mom, dad, and sister in our hotel room in New Orleans during our winter vacation and being so nervous to tell them. After I finally mustered up the nerve and made the proclamation, I realized my dad had already fallen asleep on the couch. My mom promised to tell him when he woke up.
Who’s your LGBTQ hero?
My LGBTQ heroes are Harvey Milk for paving the way for gays in politics and Elton John for being a pioneer for the fabulous and authentic. My local heroes in the DMV are Howard Hicks, manager of Green Lantern, and Tony Rivenbark, manager of Freddie’s Beach Bar. Both of them are essential to creating spaces where I’ve felt welcome and safe since moving to the DMV.
What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?
Trade tops the list for me because of the dance floor and outdoor space. It’s so nice to get a break from the music every once and a while to be able to have a conversation.
We live in challenging times. How do you cope?
I’m still figuring this out. What is working right now is writing music and spending time with family and friends. I’ve also been spending less time on social media going to the gym at least three times a week.
What streaming show are you binging?
After “Traitors” Season 4 ended, I was in a bit of a show hole, but “Stumble” has me in a laughing loop right now. The writing is so witty.
What do you wish you’d known at 18?
At 18, I wish I would have known how liberating it is to come out of the closet. It would have been nice to know some winning lottery numbers as well.
What are your friends messaging about in your most recent group chat?
We are planning our next trip to New York City. If you can believe it, I visited NYC for the first time in 2025 for Pride and I’ve been back every quarter since. Growing up in the country, I was subconsciously primed to be scared of the city. But my mind has been blown. I can’t wait to go back.
Why Washington?
It’s the closest metropolitan area to my family, but not too close. I love the museums, the diversity, the history, and the proximity to the beach and mountains. It’s also nice to live in a city with public transportation.
Aging RFK Stadium has come down, but the RFK grounds are still getting lit up. Welcome back to the stage Project GLOW, D.C.’s homegrown electronic festival, on May 30-31. Back for its fifth year on these musically inclined acres, Project GLOW returns with an even more diverse lineup, and one that continues to celebrate LGBTQ antecedents, attendees, and acts.
Project GLOW 2026 headliners include house and techno star Mau P, progressive house legend Eric Prydz, hard-techno favorite Sara Landry, and bass acts Excision b2b Sullivan King, among the lineup of trance, bass, house, techno, dubstep, and others for the fifth anniversary year.
President & CEO Pete Kalamoutsos — born and raised in D.C. — founded Club GLOW in 1999. In 2020, GLOW entered into a partnership with global entertainment company Insomniac Events to produce live events like Project GLOW, which kicked off in 2022.
As in past years, Project GLOW not only makes space, but is intentionally inclusive of the LGBTQ community, one of its most dedicated fan bases. The festival’s LGBTQ-focused Secret Garden stage blooms again — a more intimate dance area that stands on the strength of DJs and musicians who draw from the LGBTQ community. D.C.’s LGBTQ nightlife mastermind Ed Bailey is the creative mind behind Secret Garden again. He joined Project GLOW in 2023.
“Kalamoustos says that “he’s proud of his partnership with Ed Bailey, along with Capital Pride and [nightlife producer] Jake Resnikow. It’s amazing to collaborate with Bailey at the Secret Garden stage, especially after the curated lineup we worked on at Pride last year.”
The Secret Garden will be a bit different from other stages: Eternal (“At the Eternal stage, time stands still. Lose yourself in the dance of past, present, and future, surrendering to the eternal rhythm of the universe”) and Pulse (“Feel the rhythm of the beat pulse through your veins as the heartbeat of the crowd synchronizes into one. Here, every moment vibrates with life as it guides you through a new dimension of euphoria”). The Secret Garden stage is in the round, surrounded by 16 shipping containers. The containers play canvas to muralists from around the world, who are coming in to paint them in a vibrant garden-style vibe. “We gave this stage some extra love with this layout,” K says, “ we finally cracked the code.”
K says that this will be the biggest lineup yet for the Secret Garden, featuring Nicole Moudaber b2b Chasewest, Riordan b2b Bullet Tooth, Ranger Trucco, Cassian, Eli & Fur, Cosmic Gate and Hayla. The stage is also the largest yet, featuring an expanded dance floor and 360-degree viewing.
Across all stages, K says that his goal for the fifth anniversary is “More art and fan interactive experience, more like a festival, strive to be like a Tomorrowland, as budget grows to add more experience.” Last year’s Project GLOW alone drew 40,000 attendees over two days.
K, however, was not satisfied with one festival this spring. GLOW recently announced a “pop-up” one-day event. Teaming up with Black Book Records, GLOW is set to throw a first-of-its-kind dance-music takeover of Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., headlined by electronic music star Chris Lake. Set for April 18, this euphoric block party will feature bass and vibes blocks from the White House. Organizers expect as many as 10,000 fans to attend. Beyond music, there will be food, activations, and plenty of other activities taking place around 6th St and Pennsylvania Ave NW – a location familiar to many in the LGBTQ community, as this sits squarely inside the blocks of the Capital Pride party that takes place in DC every June.
Over the past two decades, Club GLOW has produced thousands of events, from club nights to large-scale festivals including Project GLOW, Moonrise Festival, and more. Club GLOW also operates Echostage.
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