Dyking Out Presents: The Lesbian Bar Project

It feels absurd to say that I’ve visited 13 percent of all the remaining lesbian bars in America, but according to the Lesbian Bar Project, only 15 are left, so I apparently have. The honor belongs to Nashville’s Lipstick Lounge and Adams Morgan’s A League of Her Own, the inclusive basement space below Pitchers on 18th Street NW cleverly named after the 1992 classic that drips with subtext. (Great news: Many of the women in the real life league the movie is based on were actually gay.) While ALOHO’s monthly trivia continues virtually, the bar can only operate on a limited basis due to the pandemic, manager Jo McDaniel told City Paper this month. It’s not alone in struggling. So the Lesbian Bar Project has tapped some A-list queer talent to help raise money for these 15 bars, ALOHO included, in an all-out virtual revue. Performers on the bill include comedian Cameron Esposito, host of the podcast Queery, Leo Sheng of The L Word: Generation Q, Mary Lambert, best known for her song “She Keeps Me Warm,” Sydnee Washington, Rita Brent, and Carolyn Bergier and Melody Kamali, co-hosts of Dyking Out. “Without space, we lose power, validity, communal safety, and access to intergenerational dialogue,” according to the Lesbian Bar Project—and spaces like ALOHO aren’t just for cis lesbians; they’re important to queer women at large and trans people of many genders and sexualities. Maybe most importantly for a bar, they’re really, really fun, and many of us are hoping we’ll be able to return safely later. The event begins at 9 p.m. on Nov. 23. Registration is available at eventbrite.com. Donations encouraged.