By 2019, researchers believed only 15 remained.Įrica Rose and Elina Street both credit New York’s Cubbyhole, an LGBTQ bar in the West Village for helping them come out and find their community. (The Panic Bar shuttered for good in November after first closing temporarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.) In the late 1980s, an estimated 200 lesbian bars existed in the United States.
Across the country, nightlife spaces dedicated to queer and gay women have been closing at a staggering rate over the past 30 years. is far from the only city to lose its beloved lesbian bars. Another declared, “There is no place left.”ĭ.C. “Wow! I thought that I would never see the day that Phase 1 would close down,” wrote one. “Losing such an institution was incredibly difficult for D.C.” Upon learning of the bar’s unexpected closure, patrons expressed their shock on Facebook. “It was a force,” she says of the establishment that was once the longest operating lesbian bar in the country and where she tended bar. ‘s Capitol Hill neighborhood that closed its doors permanently in 2016. “I was 21,” she says, “Maybe 20.” Gay describes the bar, which closed this fall, as a dive, and summed up why it was special: “It was just cool to go, and know that there were other lesbians in the world.”īar manager Jo McDaniel has similar reminiscence of Phase 1, an iconic lesbian bar in Washington D.C. One visit to this long running bar and you will know why locals call it “DC’s Queer Cheers.Writer and social commentator Roxane Gay chuckled while describing her first visit to a lesbian bar-Panic Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Let any of the friendly bar staff know you are visiting and they will be happy to introduce you around and get the conversation started.
If you are looking for an attitude free place, something often hard to find in a larger city, the Green Lantern is the place. Be sure to check out the special events page for a complete listing of parties and events. The Green Lantern also hosts many special events and theme nights ranging from dance parties featuring the best of today’s music to a monthly leather party on the second floor. Make sure you check out the Lantern on Facebook and Twitter for the most up-to-date information and events. The Green Lantern offers something for everyone, be it a happy hour drink after a long day at work or hundreds of shirtless men out on a Thursday night, kick starting their weekends. Other DC bars have tried to imitate this event, but the Lantern was the first to offer this long-running event. Make sure you do not miss the Lantern’s famous “Shirtless Men Drink Free” event every Thursday night from 10pm-11 pm. The second floor bar offers a more club-like atmosphere with great sound, lighting and video systems. This is the one place in DC where everyone gets along with each other. Open for happy hour everyday at 4pm, the first floor rectangular, granite-topped bar lends itself well to easy interaction among both long-time regulars as well as new arrivals. Now open for over 10 years, the “Lantern,” as most regulars call it, has long been known for its exceptionally friendly and welcoming staff. Located in a brightly lit alley just off Thomas Circle at the southern end of Washington DC’s trendy 14th Street corridor, the Green Lantern offers a comfortable friendly ambience that will make anyone feel right at home.