Licht Café, D.C.’s Newt Gay Bar, Is a Cozy, Art-Filled U Street Hiaway  - Eater DC

Contents:

• A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
• GAY WASHGTON DC
• RH, “AN ALL NEW GAY BAR” G TO SHAW, POSTS LIQUOR LICENSE PLARD
• LICHT CAFé, D.C.’S NEWT GAY BAR, IS A COZY, ART-FILLED U STREET HIAWAY
• D.C.'S BT GAY BARS AND HANGOUTS
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

The bsman and his wife, Melissa, first plaed to the Front Porch proprietors about pre-dawn vendor liveri 2019, not long after the nservative Christian uple moved their fancial firm right next door to the rtrant, which fli a gay Pri flag. (Front Porch Market and Grill)What’s more, the Washers say, the ad rat was jt one more sult that the uple, who once planted an “all liv matter” sign their ont yard, have endured sce movg next door to a rtrant owned by a gay uple. They married 2020, five years after they opened the Front Porch, which quickly beme a statn The Front Porch has been flyg a Pri flag on s pat sce 2016, not long after a gunman killed 49 people a gay bar Orlando.

Waybourn was print of the Dallas Gay Alliance when sued Parkland Memorial Hospal for failg to provi readily available medic to AIDS patients. In 1991, he lnched the Gay and Lbian Victory Fund (now the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund) to elect openly gay policians to office.

GAY WASHGTON DC

He served as managg director of the Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn, or GLAAD, which he helped turn to a natnal group. He owned gay newspapers Hoton, Atlanta, New York and Washgton. “I had so many threats agast me that even the Dallas police statned squad rs outsi our home, ” Waybourn an activist, Waybourn says, his goals were clear: same-sex marriage, gays and lbians the ary, accs to lifavg medic.

To the activist, feels like a step backward after a lifetime of fightg for gay pack the seats at the Board of Zong Appeals hearg hosted at Grace Epispal Church. “I have que a few gay iends, clients and a fay member, and I have patronized a gay-owned rtrant for years, ” he whether the Washers are tryg to remake The Plas to their image of Ameri — Whe, nservative, Christian — Melissa said, “I n see where you’re g om. Washgton DC is home to a big gay scene.

Here before me were three men who were gay and died om AIDS. Then-Print Ronald Reagan did not mentn the word AIDS publicly for years until after his Hollywood iend Rock Hudson me out as gay and revealed that he was livg wh AIDS.

RH, “AN ALL NEW GAY BAR” G TO SHAW, POSTS LIQUOR LICENSE PLARD

The ernment was so adamant about not mentng AIDS that the topic was met wh lghter and homophobic remarks a 1982 prs nference which former Prs Secretary Larry Speak asked reporter Lter Ksolvg if he had AIDS. In that time of ernmental neglect, misrmatn, and homophobia, Jake posed a challenge his piece.

LICHT CAFé, D.C.’S NEWT GAY BAR, IS A COZY, ART-FILLED U STREET HIAWAY

In my muny, ’s not unmon to hear someone mentn that homosexualy isn’t “Ain” or that homosexualy is an “agenda” beg phed by the whe mastream media to stroy the Black fay stcture. Even though the Black church is currently experiencg drops attendance, not too many Black people are far removed om the fluence the church has had on our people and unfortunately, homophobia has been one of s fluenc.

Beg a Black gay man the 70s, 80s, and 90s, I wonr how Charl navigated the social issu. Owner Spencer Hurd moled Licht after his favore gay fé Mannheim, Germany. His dream: lnchg a cktail bar moled after his favore gay fé Mannheim, Germany.

D.C.'S BT GAY BARS AND HANGOUTS

“The goal is to foc on the classic cktails, rather than jt vodka-sodas and rose Kennedys, as you may get at other gay bars, ” he says. Licht Café is a reference to the spiratn om his go-to gay spot Mannheim, but also reflects his ial zy space. “I love art and sign, ” Hurd says, “and I wanted to make the bar unapologetilly gay.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

“I want the to be a bid edgy—this is a part of gay culture.

The U Street NW strip’s gay bar scene is on the up as of late.

Kiki owner Keaton Fedak, the former general manager at nearby gay bar Dirty Goose, will expand Kiki to the next-door space that formerly hoed dive Dodge Cy. “We’re hopg to make a gayborhood Shaw, ” he told Eater last month. Meet Kiki, an Excg New Gay Bar Replacg a Pair of Shuttered Shaw Div.