As You Are, a queer bar, café, and dance boutique in D.C.’s Barracks Row neighborhood, has successfully raised over $156,000 through a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign. The amount exceeds the $150,000 goal set by the bar’s owners.
Co-owner Rach “Coach” Pike told Axios that the space, which opened fewer than two years ago, is in debt due to slow business during the winter months, increased operational costs, and an expensive lease.
“We need to get over this hump and out of debt, or we’ll be put out of business,” Pike said.
The funds raised through the GoFundMe campaign will be used to pay rent and back taxes, allowing the bar to qualify for community grants under the District’s “Clean Hands” mandate.
“We have faced some particularly tall and costly hurdles that have set us back significantly since the beginning,” Pike wrote on the GoFundMe page. “As we are tapping every resource we can imagine with creativity and open minds, we need urgent assistance…. [T]he funds raised will be applied immediately to saving AYA from closure.”
The campaign was launched earlier this week. So far, more than 2,900 individual donors have contributed.
As Axios notes, As You Are previously faced significant obstacles to opening due to social distancing restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and a lengthy process of negotiating a settlement agreement with its local Advisory Neighborhood Commission — which establishments serving alcohol are not required to enter under city regulations, but often do in order to extend an olive branch to their soon-to-be neighbors.
While negotiating the settlement agreement, local neighborhood leaders raised several objections or concerns about how the bar would mitigate noise, avoid disturbing nearby residents, maintain the property in good condition, and implement security plans to reduce instances of loitering, drunken behavior, or possible disturbances.
Despite being more than accommodating and engaging with those neighbors about their concerns, As You Are was financially impacted by the delay in getting that settlement agreement approved, and by the general drop-off in business that occurred at the height of the pandemic, which impacted many D.C. establishments.
As You Are’s niche is unique due to its status — and marketing — as a queer-affirming space at a time when queer bars across the nation have struggled to stay open.
According to the Lesbian Bar Project, there are fewer than 30 lesbian-centric bars or nightclubs remaining in the United States. Understandably, then, there are plenty of people — not only in D.C., but nationwide — willing to contribute to keep such a space up and running.
Pike told Axios they’re “shocked” by the outpouring of support from the LGBTQ community. “The queer community never surprises me, but it blows me away every time,” she said.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly summarized the nature of settlement agreements. Under District regulations, no alcohol-licensed business is under any obligation to enter a settlement agreement. If a venue refuses to sign a proposed settlement agreement, the parties involved may bring the disagreement before the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board for adjudication.
Putting the v-a-i-n in vanity project, writer-director Steve Balderson's Sex Love Venice might set records for solipsism in a queer indie protagonist, a category with an epic list of contenders.
But the film's hero Michael (David Bateman), lovelorn in L.A., takes the cake among gay movie leads whose entire world is presented as a series of interactions centered solely around him and his search for romance.
To friends Liza (Suzanna Akins) and Dave (Zaramok Bachok), Michael expresses his frustration with his life of casual hookups, revealed in flash-cuts to frank nude scenes, usually depicting a lack of enjoyment in one party or the other.
Put on your ruby slippers to strut down the red carpet as we ask what queerness means for Academy Awards voters past and present.
By Paul Klein
March 1, 2025
On March 2, Hollywood's elite will gather at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles for the glitziest night of the year -- The 97th Academy Awards. When the Oscar-cast goes live on ABC Sunday evening -- and, for the first time ever, simultaneously streams on Hulu -- seven LGBTQ individuals will sit in hushed anticipation at the possibility of winning Hollywood's highest honors.
For a body often criticized for its lack of diversity and inclusivity, and with the arts under a prolonged political attack from far-right politicians, Sunday night offers a number of potentially groundbreaking moments for queer representation in front of and behind the screen.
Several corporate sponsors of San Francisco Pride, including beer giant Anheuser-Busch, have pulled their funding for the celebration's annual festivities.
Over the past four weeks, the companies have informed organizers of San Francisco Pride that they would not be able to support 2025 Pride, claiming a lack of funds as the reason.
None of the companies cited the political climate, but Suzanne Ford, the executive director of San Francisco Pride, said that it was "very abnormal" for several multi-year sponsors to drop their support.
"I just interpreted that companies are making decisions that at this time it’s not good to be sponsoring Pride," Ford told SFGATE magazine, alluding to decisions by several major corporations to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
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