Beloved Dupont Circle Soho Coffee and Tea has closed unexpectedly.

During the early evening of Nov. 25, Soho Coffee and Tea employees began taking down artwork and menus of the establishment. Within 12 hours, everything from the rolling counters to the patio furniture had disappeared. Today, only the yellow walls remain.

On May 30, 2018, Eduard Badalyan received his new business license: Group Soho and closed on the sale of Soho Tea and Coffee at 2150 P St., N.W., in Dupont Circle. Eduard’s sister Liana Badalyan became the manager. Conveniently, they lived in the neighborhood.

Eduard Badalyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia and earned his master’s in Public Administration. Liana had experience in the service industry. She was front office manager for the Remington Hotel Marriot in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, Calif.   

So the stage was set for a great neighborhood coffee and tea shop.

Owner Edward and manager Liana transformed it into a clean and organized establishment. But business gradually fell off and the rent continued to rise so Edward closed Soho unexpectedly.  

For many older gay residents, the closing brought back fond memories when Soho Coffee and Tea was the gay hub of West Dupont Circle. At that time, 22nd and P Streets, N.W., aka West Dupont Circle, was D.C.’s gayborhood. Across the street from Soho was a section of Rock Creek Park known as P Street Beach, a large grassy area perfect for sunbathing. For many years starting in 1972, this was home for the unofficial Gay Pride celebration. In fact, for many years the Gay Pride Parade kicked off at 22nd and P streets.

Adjacent to the so-called P Street Beach was the Black Forest, a popular cruising area occasionally raided by the National Park Police. They chopped down many bushes and trees so their cruisers could drive directly onto P Street Beach.

Entrepreneurs and lesbians Helene Bloom and Fran Levine opened Soho in 1994. At that time, this was the center of many gay bars including the dance bar Badlands (1984-2002 which then became Apex) on 22nd Street; Fraternity House, which became Omega, was located down the Twining Alley (closed 2013); Friends Piano Bar on P Street then became gay Latino bar Escandalo; and finally Deco Cabana, as well as P Street Station (rebranded as The Fireplace) and Mr. P’s. Each night when the bars closed, the patrons would flood to Soho for eggs, bacon, and coffee.

Helene and Fran had envisioned a New York City-style eclectic restaurant hangout. It became a spot for book clubs, art shows, political meetings and wine parties. 

Longtime Dupont Circle residents and Soho customers Gordon Binder and Michael Rawson lamented the loss of Soho.   

“Soho was around the corner from where we live, we’ve been going to Soho several times a week since it opened in the ‘90s, 30 years enjoying the atmosphere, the patrons, the friendly albeit ever changing staff, the chicken salad sandwich, and so much more,” Binder said. “Sad news indeed. We will surely miss this neighborhood hangout.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which is currently located at the city’s Reeves Center municipal building at 14th and U Street, N.W., was scheduled to move during the week of Dec. 9 to a new location at 899 North Capitol St., N.E., according to Japer Bowles, the office’s director.

Bowles said the LGBTQ Affairs office will be located on the seventh floor of the privately owned office building in which the city has rented space for several other city agencies, including the D.C. Department of Health.

The move comes about amid longstanding plans to demolish the Reeves Center and replace it with a redevelopment project that will include a mix of housing, office space, a hotel, and retail stores along with a public plaza and a 200-seat amphitheater.

The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center, which has been located in the Reeves Center for about 10 years, also expects to be moving out of the building in the spring of 2025, said Kimberley Bush, the LGBTQ center’s executive director.

Bush said the LGBTQ center looks forward to moving into its new, larger space in a building at 1827 Wiltberger St., N.W. in the city’s Shaw neighborhood, which is located one block away from the Shaw-Howard University Metro station.

The LGBTQ center entered a joint lease to rent space in the Wiltberger Street building with the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes most of D.C.’s LGBTQ Pride events, including the upcoming World Pride 2025 events set to take place in D.C. May 17-June 8.

In response to a request by Bowser, the D.C. Council earlier this year approved $1 million in funding for fiscal year 2025 to support the build-out and construction of the LGBTQ Center’s space in the Wiltberger Street’s converted warehouse building.

But shortly after the Council approved that funding, the D.C. Center and Capital Pride Alliance announced the launch of a fundraising campaign called “Welcome Home – Building Together, Thriving Together” to raise an additional $1.5 million needed to complete the renovation of the new building.

“This endeavor is more than just the construction of a building; it represents a commitment to carve out a generous 7,000 square feet of space devoted to nurturing unity, empowerment, and support across the LGBTQ+ spectrum,” a statement announcing the fundraising campaign says.

Several leading LGBTQ organizations in D.C. are coming together to make sense of the recent election and to discuss the future of advocacy and resilience as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. 

With Republicans in firm control of the federal government after winning majorities in the House and Senate, many are concerned about attacks on the LGBTQ community, including Trump’s pledge to ban trans people from serving in the military. In addition, many LGBTQ federal workers have expressed concerns about being targeted for reassignment or termination, as outlined in Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for Trump’s second term.

In response, D.C.’s LGBTQ community is coming together for an event on Thursday, Dec. 12, 6:30-8 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K. St., N.W.) featuring an array of speakers who will address issues, including: anticipated policy shifts; community resilience strategies; legal rights; immigration advocacy; and federal workers’ rights. 

The event, titled, “Charting Our Future: LGBTQ+ Advocacy & Resilience in a Changing Landscape” is free; visit washingtonblade.com/future to RSVP.

The event is being hosted by the Washington Blade and includes community partners: the DC LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition, HME Consulting & Advocacy, Eaton DC, DC LGBTQ+ Community Center, Capital Pride Alliance, and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs. Heidi Ellis of the DC LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition will moderate. A list of speakers will be released later this week.