Arts & Entertainment
Calendar: Feb. 8-14
Shows, meetings and events in the week to come
Friday, Feb. 8
Tony-Award winner John Cameron Mitchell, co-creator of the hit musical “Hedwig & the Angry Inch,” presents “The Origin of Love: The Songs and Stories of Hedwig” at the National Theatre (1321 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) tonight at 8 p.m. Mitchell will perform songs from the musical and preview songs from his new musical “Anthem.” Tickets range from $54-79. For more details, visit thenationaldc.org.
Gamma D.C., a support group for men in mixed-orientation relationships, meets at Luther Place Memorial Church (1226 Vermont Ave., N.W.) tonight from 7:30-9:30 p.m. The group is for men who are attracted to men but are currently, or were at one point, in relationships with women. For more information about the group, visit gammaindc.org.
Qrew: Werq, a queer women’s dance party, is at Union Stage (740 Water St., S.W.) tonight from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Late night happy hour is from 9-10:30 p.m. The first 65 21-and-over guests will receive a free drink ticket. DJ Tezrah will play music and Pretty Boi Drag will perform. There will also be giveaways. Tickets are $10. Attendees must be 18 or over. For more information, visit facebook.com/qrewdc.
The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) presents Birds of Prey Drag Show, an 18-and-over event, tonight from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. Ba’Naka hosts the show. Brooklyn Heights, Iyana Deschanel, Sasha Adams Sanchez, Crystal Edge, Alicia Love and Bambi Nicole Ferrah will perform. Doors open at 10 p.m. and the show starts at 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more details, visit dceagle.com.
The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts Sashay, a weekly college dance party, tonight from midnight-3 a.m. DJ C Dubz will spin tracks. Sir and gay porn star Adam Ramzi will go-go dance all night. Attendees must be 18 to enter. Cover is $5 after the drag show. For more details, visit dceagle.com.
Saturday, Feb. 9
Scarlet’s Bake Sale is at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) today from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. The bake sale will benefit Brother Help Thyself. Cocktails start at 3 p.m. and the live auction is at 4 p.m. Cake drop-off is from 1:30-3 p.m. For more details, visit facebook.com/scarlets.foundation.
D.C. Rawhides takes over Ziegfelds/Secrets (1824 Half St., S.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. There will be a beginner two-step lesson on one floor and line dancing on another floor. Deejay Mein will play music. The lesson is from 7-8 p.m. and open dancing is from 8-10:50 p.m. Cover is $5 until 9 p.m. and then $10 after 9 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/dcrawhides.
Freddie’s Beach Bar (555 23rd St., S Arlington, Va.) hosts Freddie’s Follies Drag Show tonight at 8 p.m. A rotating cast of queens will perform. Showtime is 8 p.m. Karaoke starts at 10 p.m. Cover is $5. Reservations are highly recommended. For more details, visit freddiesbeachbar.com.
Mim Entertainment and Jaywalking Productions hosts Vamp, a ladies dance party, at XX+ (1926 9th St., N.W.) tonight from 10 p.m.-2:30 a.m. DJ Mim and special guest DJs will spin tracks. Craft cocktails and small bites will be served. Tickets are $10. Reserved tables are $50. For more information, visit facebook.com/mimentdc.
The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts SirCuit: Vanity tonight from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. DJ Ryan DoubleYou will spin tracks all night. Gay porn star Adam Ramzi will dance all night. Online tickets are $10. Tickets at the door are $20. For more information, visit dceagle.com.
Distrkt C celebrates its third anniversary at Karma D.C. (2221 Adams Pl., N.E.) tonight from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. DJ X Gonzalez and DJ Nacho Chapado will spin tracks. Tickets are $30. For more details, visit distrktc.com.
Sunday, Feb. 10
SMYAL for the New Year is at Franklin Hall (1348 Florida Ave., N.W.) today from 3-5 p.m. Ring in the new year with SMYAL’s Young Donors Committee, the SMYAL allies and members of the board and staff. The event will celebrate SMYAL’s successes of the past year and look forward at upcoming plans for 2019. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served. There is a suggested donation starting at $10. For more details, visit smyal.org.
Nacho Mama’s (2 West Pennsylvania Ave., Towson, Md.) presents a new drag brunch today from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sabrina Sommers, Nubia Love-Jackson, Venus Starlight and KC Florence will perform. Tickets are $34 and include an all-you-cat-eat buffet. For more information, visit facebook.com/nachomamastowson.
Hotel Indigo (24 West Franklin St., Baltimore) hosts a Sunday Drag Brunch today from 12:30-3:30 p.m. Sue Nami and other drag performers will appear. Tickets are $35 and include a buffet, entertainment and bottomless Bloody Marys or mimosas. For more details, visit baltimoreindigohotel.com/sunday-drag-brunch.
Monday, Feb. 11
Brother Help Thyself will screen “Tongues Untied,” in celebration of the film’s 30th anniversary at the Shaw Library (1630 7th St., N.W.) at 6 p.m. “Tongues Untied” was created by filmmaker Marlon Riggs and celebrates black men loving black men. Essex Hemphill, Wayson Jones, Ron Simmons and Christopher Prince are all featured in the film. For more details, visit brotherhelpthyself.net.
Tuesday, Feb. 12
Logan’s Hardware (1723 14th St., N.W.) hosts Ladies’ Night tonight from 6-9 p.m. There will be hands-on-tool demonstrations, DIY activities, free food, beverages and giveaways. The first 50 people will receive gift bags and other prizes and gift bags will be given away throughout the night. There will be DIY demos on basic caulking, best painting practices, best toilet repair, how to patch drywall and more. Guests can also shop 20 percent off the entire store. Admission is free. For more information, visit facebook.com/loganhardware.
Wednesday, Feb. 13
Big Gay Book Group meets at 1155 F St., N.W. tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss “No One Can Pronounce My Name” by Rakesh Satyal. Newcomers welcome. For more details, visit biggaybookgroup.com or email [email protected].
The Lambda Bridge Club meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No reservations required and new comers welcome. If you need a partner, call 703-407-6540.
Thursday, Feb. 14
Pretty Boi Drag hosts Open King Night at the Bier Baron Tavern and Comedy Loft (1523 22nd St., N.W.) tonight at 8 p.m. Both amateur and seasoned kings are invited to perform. Admission is $10 in advance and $15 at the door. For more details, visit facebook.com/prettyboidrag.
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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