District of Columbia
Spark Social House: D.C.’s first non-alcoholic LGBTQ bar debuts
New LGBTQ ‘bar’ is redefining sober nightlife looks on 14th and U Streets
The intersection of 14th and U Streets has become a focal point of Washington’s growing LGBTQ presence.
As the city’s LGBTQ population has steadily increased, the intersection has reflected this shift. Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has emerged as one of the gayest corners in D.C.
The transformation accelerated with the opening of Bunker, an LGBTQ dance bar that fulfilled the longtime wish of many queer Washingtonians for a new gay dance club after the city lost two beloved venues — Town Danceboutique and Cobalt — before the pandemic. Since then, the corner has only grown more queer.
Three other LGBTQ bars have opened at the intersection of 14th and U since Bunker debuted in 2023: Crush Dance Bar, District Eagle, and, most recently, Spark Social House. Each of these venues offers a distinct environment for Washington’s LGBTQ community to socialize and connect. However, the newest addition to the corner is taking a different approach by removing one key element that ties the others together: Spark is an alcohol-free bar.
Nick Tsusaki, founder of Spark Social House, sat down with the Washington Blade to discuss what sets Spark apart from other LGBTQ spaces in the city, and how his experience working in LGBTQ nightlife has set him up for success.
“I had been bartending at some of these other [gay] bars when I decided, ‘Oh, maybe I could open one too and this could be my whole life,’” Tsusaki said. “I didn’t want to compete against my friends. I tried to think about it, and I noticed alcohol isn’t really me. So I was like, ‘Okay, well, what can I bring to the table that’s filling a gap? And that’s not taking any business from right next door, Crush?’ Those are my friends. And so the way I thought about it was ‘What’s missing in D.C.?’ And it was when I realized ‘Oh, we don’t really have a daytime place to hang out.’
Spark Social House, created by Tsusaki and Shua Goodwin, is Washington’s first LGBTQ alcohol-free bar.
By day, the staff serves coffee and tea, creating a cozy café atmosphere where you can work ‘from home.’ By night, the space transforms into a vibrant sober party spot — complete with DJs, dancing, and an emphasis on expertly crafted mocktails.
“It took us a really long time to figure out what to call it, because there really isn’t another kind of space like this,” Tsusaki said. “That’s why we just ended up going with house. I want you to feel like you’re coming over to our house for a hang out.”
One of the major reasons the pair decided not to include alcohol in Spark was because of Tsusaki’s personal experiences with alcohol when he was younger.
“I myself don’t really drink that much,” Tsusaki said. “Basically, because I’m Asian, I get Asian glow,” he continued, laughing. “I tried so hard in college to fit in. I remember on my 21st birthday I was supposed to go to Town and have fun with all my friends. So I drank and then fell asleep on the couch because my body just doesn’t process alcohol well.”
His lack of a relationship with alcohol only grew after he began working.
“Then for the next eight years of my life, I was almost involuntarily sober because I was in the military. I couldn’t do drugs, and my body couldn’t tolerate alcohol. I just had to figure out how to have fun without that. And then my ex boyfriend, who is part of the Spark team, is sober. That’s really when I realized, like, ‘This is a huge community that isn’t coming out.’”
People choose sobriety for many reasons; whether to prioritize their health, save money, or simply prefer an alcohol-free lifestyle. Ultimately, it’s a personal decision. One reason that LGBTQ individuals may choose to become sober is because they are more likely to engage with alcohol abuse than their straight counterparts. Alcohol abuse within the LGBTQ community may be as high as 25 percent, compared to 5–10 percent in the general population, according to recent research conducted by the American Addition Center.
“One statistic that I found when I was doing my market research for this was that 38% of American adults don’t drink alcohol for whatever reason,” Tsusaki said. “Having bartended at four bars now around the city, Dacha, Dirty Goose, Shakers, and Crush next door, we would always get asked, ‘Oh, do you have any mocktails?’ And there was always a twang or tinge of shame when people would ask for that.”
Tsusaki hopes that by creating a space dedicated to queer nightlife without alcohol, he can help shift the culture — making it easier for people to embrace sober socializing without shame.
“It’s [LGBTQ nightlife] very difficult for somebody who’s sober. I was always so impressed with how he [my ex] navigated it. Being sober in these spaces can be difficult when you don’t have a buzz going on. And so I figured there’s a lot of people that like that. Alcohol is not a requirement for hanging out with your friends. I don’t have alcohol in my house, so when they come over we just make tea and we hang out and chat. That’s kind of the vibe.”
Another group that is now invited to take space in Spark that had not been given the opportunity to in the past is younger members of the LGBTQ community.
“What’s really cool about being non alcoholic is that we now can have anybody come in,” Tsusaki said. “We’re gonna be 18 and up after 9 p.m. but during the day we’ll be in a space where any queer person under 21, any college student, can come and experience being in a queer space. Anyone under 21 previously didn’t really have access to a queer space. We know that the highest risk of suicide is in LGBTQ youth, from 10 to 14. For me, when I went to Town for the first time when I was 18, that was the first time that I was like, ‘Oh, being gay could actually be cool. Like, this is actually kind of cool. This could be a really fun life.’ I’m excited that other people might be able to have that moment earlier in their life.”
David Draper was one of the invited guests to Spark’s soft opening on March 7. While sipping “The Wanda, Not Cosmo” in the sitting room past the bar he told the Blade this is a needed space in Washington’s LGBTQ scene.
“I’m friends with Shua and Nick, and I was grateful to be invited,” Draper said. “I’m also on a new sobriety journey within the last year, and excited. I wanted to support my friends, but also wanted to see this space. Just because you start a sobriety journey doesn’t mean you stop liking to go out. I still enjoy going out, and I am just excited to have a unique space like this.”
The space, Draper went on to explain, will help provide a space for members of the LGBTQ community who had been left to the side of an alcohol-centered culture.
“It makes me feel great. I think a lot of people are looking for options when they’re going out,” he said. “And I think the traditional gay bar is important, and an important part of gay culture and gay life, but I think there’s somewhat of a culture shift, as people have started abstaining from alcohol and other substances. So I think it’s cool to have a space like this”
Jerry Krusinski was sitting across from Draper, sipping on another signature mocktail, the “Jalapeño Business” that uses zero proof tequila.
“I’m pretty newly sober — like just over a month, and so I’m still just kind of exploring what that life means,” Krusinski said. “It’s been really surprising to me how much is actually out there. When you’re not in the sober community, you don’t really see it that much. It’s kind of comforting to see that the world has really kind of embraced it a lot more than I feel like its used to. It leaves me excited for the future.”
Spark Social House is located at 2009 14th St., N.W, and opens daily at 8 a.m. It closes at 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 p.m. on Thursday and Sunday, and midnight on Friday and Saturday. For more information visit their website at https://spark-dc.com/ or their Instagram @sparksocialdc.
District of Columbia
Over 2,000 turn out for Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest
Drag performer Tara Hoot serves as MC, Gay Men’s Chorus of DC performs, attendees shout for Trump to keep ‘hands off’ Kennedy Center
More than 2,000 supporters of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts turned out on Sept. 18, for a rally in support of the performing arts center and a vocal protest against President Donald Trump’s threats to permanently close the center and possibly demolish it.
The event was organized by a group called Hands Off the Arts, which initially called for participants to form a “human chain” around the Kennedy Center’s main building following a rally on the plaza in front of the building.
However, due to a decision by the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center’s board of trustees to close the center earlier in the week and install fencing around part of the building, participants could only form the chain around part of the building, according to organizers.
Drag performer Tara Hoot, who co-organized the event and served as master of ceremonies for the rally preceding the “human chain,” said the large turnout could have fully surrounded the building at least twice had the fencing not prevented a full encirclement.
Among the musicians and singing groups that performed at the rally was the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, which, like other rally performers, had performed at the Kennedy Center in past years. They drew loud applause after singing one of their favorite songs from the Broadway musical show Ragtime, which includes the lyrics, “Will justice be demanded by 10 million men? Make them hear you. When they hear you, I’ll be near you again.”
View on Threads
Prior to their performance, Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s artistic director, Thea Kano, spoke at the rally, reminding participants that shortly after the Trump takeover of the center last year, Kennedy Center officials cancelled a concert the chorus was scheduled to perform there for World Pride 2025.
A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the cancellation was due to a scheduling conflict, but chorus members and LGBTQ activists believe it resulted from policies put in place by Trump and his leadership team at the Kennedy Center following Trump’s statements that he would end controversial “woke” performances that he claimed the majority of Americans disapprove of.
“Now this building sits empty in silence,” Kano told the crowd at the rally. “Let us raise our voices together and bring back the Kennedy Center as it was intended, a place where American culture could be celebrated and elevated, embracing the vibrancy with the spectrum of identify without censure and without politics,” she said.
Among the others who spoke at the rally were U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), and D.C. Councilmember Robert White (D-At-Large).
Most speakers, along with LGBTQ participants in the hands-around-the-building event expressed strong opposition to Trump’s demand that the Kennedy Center name be changed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
At Trump’s request, his appointed board initially made that name change and placed Trump’s name on the front wall of the building along with the Kennedy name. But following legal action taken by opponents who pointed out that Congress must approve such a name change, a judge ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the building. Trump has said he will take steps to reverse that order and has said he will stop plans to renovate the Kennedy Center building and possibly demolish it if his name is not restored in the Kennedy’s Center’s official name.
Throughout the Sept. 18 rally, LGBTQ participants repeatedly responded to the Trump threats by shouting, “Hands Off!”
Chris Raleigh, one of the founders of Hands Off the Arts and a lead organizer of the Sept. 18 event at the Kennedy Center who spoke at the event told the Washington Blade that more similar events are being planned and he welcomes the support the event has received from the LGBTQ community.
“The LGBTQ community was here first, and we’re following them,” he said. “They’ve been the spearhead; they’ve been the vanguard. And I’m so thankful for heroes like Tara Hoot,” he said, adding, “It’s because they know what it means and how this is a safe place – the theater – for many LGBTQ people.”
The DMV’s own furry group was on full display on the Metro on Sept. 12.
Shutterpaws is a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Maryland.
The furry group has been doing the FurRide event since 2024 and has blown up in popularity for furries around DMV. They showcased themselves on the Silver and Blue Lines near the Smithsonian on Sept. 12.
“A lot of careful planning goes into running these events, with the goal being a seamless and enjoyable experience for everyone who attends,” says Zayre, a Shutterpaws staff member. “There’s a lot that you learn just by trial and error, and as Shutterpaws hosts more and more events, our team of event organizers continues to learn and refine our approach to keep things running smoothly and finding new ways to engage with our community.”
With a larger growth of participation in the community comes many challenges with the group, especially when it comes to the Metro rides and organizing.
“The biggest challenge that we face as organizers is keeping things fresh and finding new and engaging venues to host events,” says Zayre. “Recently we saw a lot of success hosting a meet at On Target Battlezone, an indoor NERF gun battle arena where our crew was welcome to show up and play both with and without a fur suit.”
Nevertheless, Shutterpaws receive overwhelming support from the community and partners.
“Across the DMV there are so many amazing places to host a Shutterpaws event so we can pursue our mission of helping connect fur suiters and photographers, and we’re blown away with the amount of support we’ve received from our community partners,” says Zayre.
Shutterpaws plans to do more events for anyone in the DMV who is interested.
Their next event in collaboration with DC Fur Meet will take place at Pitchers (2317 18th St., N.W.) on Saturday. Visit Shutterpaws’ website for more information.
District of Columbia
Hands Off the Arts to form ‘human chain’ around Kennedy Center
Drag performer Tara Hoot among event organizers
An organization called Hands Off the Arts has announced it is holding a protest on Friday, Sept. 18, in which between 400 and 800 participants are expected to create a “human chain” around the Kennedy Center to voice their strong objection to President Donald Trump’s call for possibly demolishing the Kennedy Center.
“Hands Off the Arts is organizing a rally Sept. 18 against the president’s defacing of JFK’s memorial, his removal and censorship of art, and the threat to demolish the center if he can’t remake the site in his image,” a statement released by the group says.
The statement says the event will start with a rally at 6:30 p.m. on the Kennedy Center steps and culminate with a “human chain” around the building. “There will be musical performances, testimonials from current and former employees, along with other special guest speakers,” it says
A separate announcement by the group says longtime D.C. drag performer Tara Hoot, who has performed at the Kennedy Center in past years, was among the organizers of the Sept. 18 protest.
The planned protest follows Trump’s decision last year to use his authority to replace the existing members of the Kennedy Center’s board of directors with new members loyal to him. Over the objection of longtime Kennedy Center supporters, the Trump-appointed board changed the name of the center, at Trump’s request, from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
But following the threat of legal action by opponents who pointed out that the name change could not be legally made unless approved by Congress, the name change was cancelled, with Trump saying he would take steps to restore it later.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, reports in a Sept. 13 news story that because of negative publicity related to Trump’s actions, the Kennedy Center was facing “fiscal collapse” and possible bankruptcy and could be forced to shut down as early as this week.
According to the Post report, a 57-page document presented to the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees says the center was facing a financial and structural building crisis, with the recent collapse of part of the building’s inside ceiling, indicating the building was unsafe for employees and the public. Among other things, the document says the Kennedy Center may not be able to make payroll or pay for routine maintenance “within a matter of weeks,” the Post reports.
Some LGBTQ advocates were among those who joined others in boycotting the Kennedy Center to express their objections to Trump’s actions, including a statement by Trump that he objected to the Kennedy Center’s practice of hosting drag performances.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington has been among the LGBTQ performing arts groups and artists that have performed at the Kennedy Center.
“With the future still very much uncertain, now more than ever, the Center needs you to stand up for freedom of expression and against authoritarian overreach into arts and culture institutions,” the Hands Off the Arts group says in its announcement of the Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest.
“You have the opportunity to make a difference — show up with Hands Off the Arts and show your power as part of Hands Around the Kennedy Center,” it says.
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Moving presents a chance to ‘clean house’
EV ecstacy: BMW iX3, Rivian R2
Curl up with a good book this fall
What LGBTQ veterans are building after ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
Over 2,000 turn out for Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest
Trump’s Cabinet: Dumb, dumber, dumbest, and evil
More than 150 people detained outside Istanbul courthouse
Virginia Anti-Violence Project struggles to fill federal funding gaps
Gay man sues Delaware AG for not prosecuting partner in domestic violence case
D.C.’s fall theater season is already well underway
-
Opinions4 days agoTrump’s Cabinet: Dumb, dumber, dumbest, and evil
-
Turkey4 days ago
More than 150 people detained outside Istanbul courthouse
-
Virginia4 days ago
Virginia Anti-Violence Project struggles to fill federal funding gaps
-
Delaware4 days ago
Gay man sues Delaware AG for not prosecuting partner in domestic violence case
