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class="styl_ntaer__ZKkl3" data-activy-map="social-share-lks-article-top" data-ttid="social-share-menu"><li data-ttid="social-share-facebook" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_facebook__bOW_X"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-facebook"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-twter" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_twter__ww7sF"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-ptert" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_ptert__CaMm1"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-ptert"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-email" class="styl_em__b5A78"><a href="mailto:?subject=New York Cy LGBTQ bar set ablaze arson attack & target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-email"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-py" class="styl_em__b5A78 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class="byle-name">Tat Bellamy-Walker</span></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">A bar servg LGBTQ New Yorkers has closed after an arson attack over the weekend, the New York Cy Police Department nfirmed Wednday. </p><p class="">At approximately 9 p.m. on Sunday, a man walked to the Rash Bar Brooklyn’s Bhwick neighborhood wh a bottle of flammable liquid, poured on the bar’s floor, l a match and set the venue ablaze, acrdg to the NYPD. Police said the spect fled as the bar beme engulfed flam.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">Jake Sillen, one of the bar’s owners, told NBC News on Wednday that they are still shock. </p><p class="">“It’s so hard to believe and procs,” said Sillen, 26, who is nonbary and they/them pronouns. “It’s more nfg than anythg.” </p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_small__5hUB_ styl_portra__NRWbO"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1240px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source media="(m-width: 758px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="The Rash Bar Brooklyn’s Bhwick neighborhood." height="1080" width="718"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer" data-ttid="ptn__ntaer">The Rash Bar Brooklyn’s Bhwick neighborhood.</span><span class="ptn__source">Rash Bar / via NBC New York</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Three people — a bartenr, DJ and secury guard — were si when the venue was set on fire. A 25-year-old female was transported to nearby Wyckoff Heights Medil Center wh mor burns, while another victim was evaluated on the scene for mor burns to the shoulrs, the NYPD said. </p><p class="">Claire Bender, a -owner of Rash, had jt stepped outsi when the fire broke out. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“Everyone shed out,” <a href=">Bender told NBC New York</a>. “The si door has a glass ont, and I looked over and saw flam to the top of ceilg. It was crazy, happened so fast.”</p><p class="">The bar was left unregnizable and torched, NBC New York reported.</p><p class="">Bender, who they/them pronouns, said the spect boldly left behd evince. </p><p class="">“He left the gas nister si. Kd of lmly placed on the bar unter. Wasn’t knocked over or anythg,” they told NBC New York. </p><p class="">Police are reviewg surveillance footage that shows someone fillg up a gas n mut before the fire.</p><h2 class=""><strong>'Easy target'</strong></h2><p class="">Police are still vtigatg a motive for the cint, and no arrts have been ma. The bar’s owner cled to ment on the spect’s tentns but noted that servg a large LGBTQ clientele mak the space vulnerable. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“I don’t want to jump to any nclns, bee we don’t know anythg about the person that did this,” Sillen said. “It uld easily turn out to be a motive that we aren’t expectg.” </p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">“It’s easy to see why our space would be an easy target for someone lookg to do harm to the queer muny,” they said, addg that Rash Bar, “people feel safe to be themselv, and ’s a shame that anybody would do anythg to threaten this.” </p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">Sce the bar opened nearly five months ago, has bee a staple LGBTQ nightlife and a refuge for queer young adults and performers. It is also known for beg packed late to the night, acrdg to NBC New York.</p><p class="">This is not the only reported cint<strong> </strong>targetg bars or near the Bhwick neighborhood that are popular wh the cy’s LGBTQ muny: In Febary, someone threw a<a href="> pepper-bomb spray on the dance floor</a> at a party for the Black queer muny at Nowadays, and last summer there was a wave of attacks at <a href=">Happyfun Hiaway.</a> </p><p class="">“We, fely the last year, have seen a rise anti-LGBT vlence,” Sillen said, notg that more people are takg rs to and om parti. “The streets haven’t been as safe as they were three or four years ago.”</p><p class="">As of Wednday afternoon, the bar owners <a href=">had raised $52,000 of their $200,000 goal on GoFundMe</a> to help renstct the damaged buildg and re for the jured employe. Sillen said they are thankful for the outpourg of support. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“What we’re dog is important, and no matter what, we will be reopeng,” Sillen said. “We’ve never once thought about that not beg a possibily.” </p><p class="">Sillen, who is still on edge after the fire, said they have a msage for the arsonist. </p><p class="">“Turn yourself ,” Sillen said. “You’ve harmed so many people. Not jt physilly, but the wav that this is gog to create — between the loss of e, wag and jt the space for as long as ’s gog to be gone. … It’s a lot of loss.”<strong> </strong></p><p class="endmark"><strong><em>Follow </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>NBC Out</em></strong></a><strong><em> on </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>Twter</em></strong></a><strong><em>, </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>Facebook</em></strong></a><strong><em> & </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>Instagram</em></strong></a></p></div><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><div class="expand-byle-ntributors articleByleContaer"><div class="expand-byle article-expand-byle" data-activy-map="expand-byle-article-bottom"><div class="byle-thumbnail byle-thumbnail--has-image expand-byle__thumbnail"><picture><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="" height="48" width="48"/></picture></div><span class="byle-name expand-byle__name">Tat Bellamy-Walker</span><span class="byle-social expand-byle__social"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="byle-social--lk"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a></span><div class="expand-byle__b-wrapper"><p class="byle-b expand-byle__b">Tat Bellamy-Walker is the sk assistant for NBC News' diversy vertils. </p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxrail" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[300,250],[360,360]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="10" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div><span></span><div class="body-bottom-remend"><div class="ad ad--midrponsive ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="midrponsive" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[700,1],[5,5]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="300" data-reh-terval="0" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div id="hfs-footer" class="dn-prt" data-activy-map="hfs-footer"><footer class="hfsf" ><div class="ner"><div class="logo"><a href="><svg class="peack" viewBox="578 62 67 39" xmlns=" fill="currentColor"><g fill-le="evenodd"><path d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M597.563 75.863l9.442 21.613-19.478-13.35c-4.887-3.24-3.896-8.79-1.19-11.237 3.83-3.24 9.245-2.12 11.226 2.97"></path><path class="feather" d="M610.57 70.93l-3.433 24.19-9.772-23c-2.113-5.75 2.64-9.516 5.81-9.583 3.632-.396 8.188 2.38 7.396 8.394"></path><path class="feather" d="M625.494 72.103l-9.707 23.067-3.102-20.82c-.265-3.17 1.716-3.237 2.443-3.832-.133-.463-1.124-.463-1.124-.463h-1.848c-.198-5.42 4.028-7.8 7.462-7.535 3.697.132 7.856 4.428 5.876 9.583"></path><path class="feather" d="M635.338 84.167L615.86 97.584l9.177-21.348c2.775-6.742 9.245-5.42 11.556-2.842 2.51 2.51 3.235 7.6-1.255 10.773"></path><path class="feather" d="M637.448 99.9h-22.515l18.29-12.756c4.49-2.975 9.244-.266 10.498 3.635 1.327 4.36-1.65 9.12-6.27 9.12"></path></g></svg></a></div><nav class="lks"><ul class="lks__wrap" data-l-2="14" data-l-3=15><li><a href=" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Contact</a></li><li><a href=">Help</a></li><li><a href=">Careers</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ad Choic</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do Not Sell My Personal Informatn</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CA Notice</a></li><li><a href=">Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)</a></li><li><a href=">NBC News Semap</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Closed Captng</a></li><li><a href=">Advertise</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Shoppg</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Personal Fance</a></li></ul></nav><div class="py"><p>© 2023 NBC UNIVERSAL</p><div class="brands"><a href="><svg viewBox="0 0 120 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-labelledby="nbc_news_logo"><tle class="nbc_news_logo">NBC News Logo

gay night club fire

Police say a mass shootg at a gay nightclub Orlando, Florida, has rulted at least 20 people ad, wh dozens more wound. Lol law enforcement officials say the shootgs uld be classified as an act of domtic terrorism. Erik Sandoval of CBS affiliate WKMG has the latt.

Contents:

NEW ORLEANS SEARCH FOR REMAS OF 4 VICTIMS OF 1973 GAY BAR FIRE THAT KILLED 31

Book chronicl 1973 arson at gay club that barely ma to the papers, or even to the nscns of the muny * gay night club fire *

The shootg six years after the 2016 massacre at Pulse, a gay nightclub Orlando, Florida, which left 49 people ad and dozens advot spoke out agast the shootg and support of the victims Sunday. ”Transportatn Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who as a ndidate the 2020 printial electn beme the first openly gay ndidate to n for the natn’s hight office, lled the news of the shootg “sickeng and heartbreakg” and part of a “pattern” a tweet Sunday. Jared Polis, who 2018 was the first openly gay man elected ernor and is currently quarantg wh Covid, lled the shootg "horrific, sickeng, and vastatg" a statement released Sunday morng.

Sunday marks the 45th anniversary of the UpStairs Lounge arson, a flash fire that killed 32 people the New Orleans gay bar on June 24, 1973.

FORTY FIVE YEARS AGO A FIRE NEW ORLEANS GAY BAR TOOK 32 LIV – AND WAS MET WH APATHY

* gay night club fire *

”But the UpStairs wasn’t jt a space for the New Orleans gay muny to e together and socialize. Some of those who were intified went unclaimed by fai who were too ashamed to llect the remas of their gay sons and brothers.

Bettmann via Getty ImagWhat happened the aftermath of the fire mak clear the pervadg homophobia at the time.

“It took a good five or six years before I would fally walk to a gay bar, ” he said.

A FIRE KILLED 32 AT A NEW ORLEANS GAY BAR. THIS ARTIST DIDN’T FET.

Colorado Authori said Sunday that a gunman who opened fire at a gay nightclub Colorado — killg five and jurg 25 — was subdued by “heroic” patrons who h him wh his own gun. * gay night club fire *

” Click below to see more pictur of the UpStairs Lounge before the earlier versn of this article was published June You GoGay Pri Around The World. Sillen Glenn, who moved to New York om Florida 2015, said the fire had ma them thk of the mass shootg at Pulse, a gay nightclub Orlando, Fla., where a gunman wh an asslt rifle and a pistol killed 50 people and wound 53 more 2016. Nearly a half-century after arson killed 32 people a New Orleans gay bar, the Cy Council has renewed the search for the remas of four victims, cludg three who were never intified.

Nearly a half-century after arson killed 32 people a New Orleans gay bar, the Cy Council has renewed the search Thursday, Aug, 4, 2022, for the remas of four victims, cludg three who were never intified. Rooted pervasive anti-gay sentiment" ma sufferg worse for victims' fai and iends, stat the motn wrten by Councilmember J.

The blaze was the 20th century's largt mass killg of gays, the Cy Council's apology and Thursday's motn noted. LeBlanc was tranged om his fay California — not bee of his homosexualy but bee he hadn't paid money owed to his grandfather, Fieler wrote "Trbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberatn.

GUNFIRE EPTS SI FLA. GAY NIGHTCLUB

The man who set a fire si a crowd Capol Hill gay nightclub on New Year&rsquo;s Eve was sentenced Thursday to 10 years feral prison for arson &mdash; double... * gay night club fire *

The other replied, g a slur for homosexuals, "Let 'em burn. An oasis for the cy’s sizeable but, for the most part, strictly closeted gay male populatn, a lack of visibily was many ways s most valuable 1973 when the club was set ablaze an act of arson that st a staggerg 32 liv, that lack of attentn endured, the news barely makg to the papers or, seemed, even to the nscns of the lol muny.

PHOTOS: 5 KILLED AFTER GUNMAN OPENS FIRE AT GAY NIGHTCLUB

At least 50 people are ad and more than 50 others are wound after a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub Orlando, early Sunday morng. * gay night club fire *

“An ordary reactn New Orleans society would have been effive sympathi and a large outpourg, ” said Robert Fieler, whose new book Trbox: The Untold Story of the UpStairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberatn, chronicl the blaze and s aftermath. “Homosexualy was not supposed to be talked about openly, and when was thst to the open ma a lot of people panic, ” he told the Guardian an the time, New Orleans was a place of strange dualy for LGBT people. “A gay man uld, 1973, live a very full life that he might not be able to enjoy other plac.

Acrdg to Fieler, unrver police would regularly nduct stg operatns to tch gay men solicg for sex public spac, and if ught and arrted on a dread “crim agast nature” charge, the ramifitns the wir world were absolute. You’d lose your job, your home, everythg, ” Fieler the time, a rince occupied by two spected gay men (or two “spsters”) uld be clared a hoe of ill-repute and seized wh ltle to no due the relatively safe space of the UpStairs lounge, a quietly well-known place where gay men (Fieler not that durg this era, the lbian scene was polilly and socially isolated om the gay scene) uld openly be themselv. “It almost highlights even more the gree of opprsn that many homosexuals lived this time perd.

” Fieler were reports 2016 that, like Nunez, the Pulse shooter was a sexually nflicted man who may have been engaged gay relatnships prr to his rampage. Thirty-one men and one woman died what was then the largt mass killg of gay people Amerin history.

ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB SHOOTG: MASS CASUALTI AFTER GUNMAN OPENS FIRE GAY CLUB

Fe’s rnage-filled imag and ribald tribut to gay life the early 1970s. Fe lls “a fantasia of gay culture” — imag of a cht-barg Burt Reynolds and the swimmer Mark Spz that appeared the origal club are there, as wood cutouts, as are other bawdy pictur om the time. Sexy ’70s tun play om a speaker Orleans Tim-Piyune, via Associated PrsIn his new book on the tragedy, “Trbox, ” the thor Robert Fieler lls the UpStairs Lounge a secret getaway for “an unrclass of closeted gays who feared fg themselv as a mory group.

It was also a kd of gay muny center: a gay Christian group met the back room for prayer, and theatril performers often took to the stage at Mr. Fieler not, 70 percent of Amerins 1973 thought adult homosexual relatns were “always wrong, ” acrdg to a survey by the Natnal Opn Rearch Center at the Universy of Chigo; and the L. Fieler pots out that “the UpStairs Lounge fire had not been a turng pot for homosexual rights Ameri.

THE 10 BEST PARIS GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS PARIS

Police say a mass shootg at a gay nightclub Orlando, Florida, has rulted at least 20 people ad, wh dozens more wound. Colorado Sprgs, the state’s send-most populo cy wh jt unr 500, 000 rints, is home to a number of ary bas and is the headquarters for Foc on the Fay, the nservative Christian group that says homosexualy and same-sex marriage are ss. He and his bs partner toured other succsful LGBTQ spac and noted a mon theme: “They were gay as hell, ” Grzecka told the outlet.

We knew we had to be gay as hell (to survive). Jared Polis, a Democrat and the natn’s first openly gay ernor, issued a statement Sunday llg the attack “horrific, sickeng and vastatg” and offered state rourc to lol law enforcement. Polis told CNN’s Jim Asta there are only two gay bars Colorado Sprgs, and Club Q was one of the ma venu.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY NIGHT CLUB FIRE

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class="styl_ntaer__ZKkl3" data-activy-map="social-share-lks-article-top" data-ttid="social-share-menu"><li data-ttid="social-share-facebook" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_facebook__bOW_X"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-facebook"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-twter" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_twter__ww7sF"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-ptert" class="styl_em__b5A78 styl_ptert__CaMm1"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-ptert"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-email" class="styl_em__b5A78"><a href="mailto:?subject=New York Cy LGBTQ bar set ablaze arson attack & target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="styl_lk__RsJVU"><span class="in in-share-email"></span></a></li><li data-ttid="social-share-py" class="styl_em__b5A78 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class="byle-name">Tat Bellamy-Walker</span></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">A bar servg LGBTQ New Yorkers has closed after an arson attack over the weekend, the New York Cy Police Department nfirmed Wednday. </p><p class="">At approximately 9 p.m. on Sunday, a man walked to the Rash Bar Brooklyn’s Bhwick neighborhood wh a bottle of flammable liquid, poured on the bar’s floor, l a match and set the venue ablaze, acrdg to the NYPD. Police said the spect fled as the bar beme engulfed flam.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">Jake Sillen, one of the bar’s owners, told NBC News on Wednday that they are still shock. </p><p class="">“It’s so hard to believe and procs,” said Sillen, 26, who is nonbary and they/them pronouns. “It’s more nfg than anythg.” </p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_small__5hUB_ styl_portra__NRWbO"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1240px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source media="(m-width: 758px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="The Rash Bar Brooklyn’s Bhwick neighborhood." height="1080" width="718"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer" data-ttid="ptn__ntaer">The Rash Bar Brooklyn’s Bhwick neighborhood.</span><span class="ptn__source">Rash Bar / via NBC New York</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Three people — a bartenr, DJ and secury guard — were si when the venue was set on fire. A 25-year-old female was transported to nearby Wyckoff Heights Medil Center wh mor burns, while another victim was evaluated on the scene for mor burns to the shoulrs, the NYPD said. </p><p class="">Claire Bender, a -owner of Rash, had jt stepped outsi when the fire broke out. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“Everyone shed out,” <a href=">Bender told NBC New York</a>. “The si door has a glass ont, and I looked over and saw flam to the top of ceilg. It was crazy, happened so fast.”</p><p class="">The bar was left unregnizable and torched, NBC New York reported.</p><p class="">Bender, who they/them pronouns, said the spect boldly left behd evince. </p><p class="">“He left the gas nister si. Kd of lmly placed on the bar unter. Wasn’t knocked over or anythg,” they told NBC New York. </p><p class="">Police are reviewg surveillance footage that shows someone fillg up a gas n mut before the fire.</p><h2 class=""><strong>'Easy target'</strong></h2><p class="">Police are still vtigatg a motive for the cint, and no arrts have been ma. The bar’s owner cled to ment on the spect’s tentns but noted that servg a large LGBTQ clientele mak the space vulnerable. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“I don’t want to jump to any nclns, bee we don’t know anythg about the person that did this,” Sillen said. “It uld easily turn out to be a motive that we aren’t expectg.” </p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">“It’s easy to see why our space would be an easy target for someone lookg to do harm to the queer muny,” they said, addg that Rash Bar, “people feel safe to be themselv, and ’s a shame that anybody would do anythg to threaten this.” </p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend" data-ttid="remend-wrapper"></div><p class="">Sce the bar opened nearly five months ago, has bee a staple LGBTQ nightlife and a refuge for queer young adults and performers. It is also known for beg packed late to the night, acrdg to NBC New York.</p><p class="">This is not the only reported cint<strong> </strong>targetg bars or near the Bhwick neighborhood that are popular wh the cy’s LGBTQ muny: In Febary, someone threw a<a href="> pepper-bomb spray on the dance floor</a> at a party for the Black queer muny at Nowadays, and last summer there was a wave of attacks at <a href=">Happyfun Hiaway.</a> </p><p class="">“We, fely the last year, have seen a rise anti-LGBT vlence,” Sillen said, notg that more people are takg rs to and om parti. “The streets haven’t been as safe as they were three or four years ago.”</p><p class="">As of Wednday afternoon, the bar owners <a href=">had raised $52,000 of their $200,000 goal on GoFundMe</a> to help renstct the damaged buildg and re for the jured employe. Sillen said they are thankful for the outpourg of support. </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div><p class="">“What we’re dog is important, and no matter what, we will be reopeng,” Sillen said. “We’ve never once thought about that not beg a possibily.” </p><p class="">Sillen, who is still on edge after the fire, said they have a msage for the arsonist. </p><p class="">“Turn yourself ,” Sillen said. “You’ve harmed so many people. Not jt physilly, but the wav that this is gog to create — between the loss of e, wag and jt the space for as long as ’s gog to be gone. … It’s a lot of loss.”<strong> </strong></p><p class="endmark"><strong><em>Follow </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>NBC Out</em></strong></a><strong><em> on </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>Twter</em></strong></a><strong><em>, </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>Facebook</em></strong></a><strong><em> & </em></strong><a href="><strong><em>Instagram</em></strong></a></p></div><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><div class="expand-byle-ntributors articleByleContaer"><div class="expand-byle article-expand-byle" data-activy-map="expand-byle-article-bottom"><div class="byle-thumbnail byle-thumbnail--has-image expand-byle__thumbnail"><picture><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="" height="48" width="48"/></picture></div><span class="byle-name expand-byle__name">Tat Bellamy-Walker</span><span class="byle-social expand-byle__social"><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="byle-social--lk"><span class="in in-twter"></span></a></span><div class="expand-byle__b-wrapper"><p class="byle-b expand-byle__b">Tat Bellamy-Walker is the sk assistant for NBC News' diversy vertils. </p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxrail" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[300,250],[360,360]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="10" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div><span></span><div class="body-bottom-remend"><div class="ad ad--midrponsive ad-ntaer dn-prt" data-ttid="ad__ntaer"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="midrponsive" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[700,1],[5,5]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="300" data-reh-terval="0" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-ttid="ad__ntaer__ner"></div></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div id="hfs-footer" class="dn-prt" data-activy-map="hfs-footer"><footer class="hfsf" ><div class="ner"><div class="logo"><a href="><svg class="peack" viewBox="578 62 67 39" xmlns=" fill="currentColor"><g fill-le="evenodd"><path d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M597.563 75.863l9.442 21.613-19.478-13.35c-4.887-3.24-3.896-8.79-1.19-11.237 3.83-3.24 9.245-2.12 11.226 2.97"></path><path class="feather" d="M610.57 70.93l-3.433 24.19-9.772-23c-2.113-5.75 2.64-9.516 5.81-9.583 3.632-.396 8.188 2.38 7.396 8.394"></path><path class="feather" d="M625.494 72.103l-9.707 23.067-3.102-20.82c-.265-3.17 1.716-3.237 2.443-3.832-.133-.463-1.124-.463-1.124-.463h-1.848c-.198-5.42 4.028-7.8 7.462-7.535 3.697.132 7.856 4.428 5.876 9.583"></path><path class="feather" d="M635.338 84.167L615.86 97.584l9.177-21.348c2.775-6.742 9.245-5.42 11.556-2.842 2.51 2.51 3.235 7.6-1.255 10.773"></path><path class="feather" d="M637.448 99.9h-22.515l18.29-12.756c4.49-2.975 9.244-.266 10.498 3.635 1.327 4.36-1.65 9.12-6.27 9.12"></path></g></svg></a></div><nav class="lks"><ul class="lks__wrap" data-l-2="14" data-l-3=15><li><a href=" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Contact</a></li><li><a href=">Help</a></li><li><a href=">Careers</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ad Choic</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do Not Sell My Personal Informatn</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CA Notice</a></li><li><a href=">Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)</a></li><li><a href=">NBC News Semap</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Closed Captng</a></li><li><a href=">Advertise</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Shoppg</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Personal Fance</a></li></ul></nav><div class="py"><p>© 2023 NBC UNIVERSAL</p><div class="brands"><a href="><svg viewBox="0 0 120 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-labelledby="nbc_news_logo"><tle class="nbc_news_logo">NBC News Logo .

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