Major US metros are
losing their only
lesbian bar.
We’ve documented 6 lesbian-bar closures across 5 US cities — each with a date and a source. In Denver and Portland, the last one closed between October 2024 and April 2026, leaving each city with no standalone lesbian bar at all.
Major metros,
down to one or none.
- Denver
- Portland
- South Florida (Ft. Lauderdale)
- Honey's at Star Love (was 2 before The Ruby Fruit closed Jan 2025)
- Boycott (Arizona's only lesbian bar)
- Pearl Bar (Houston's only lesbian bar)
- Gossip Grill (the only lesbian nightclub in California)
- Walker's Pint (the last lesbian bar in Wisconsin)
Documented closures.
| Status | Source | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Pearl Denver's only lesbian bar at the time, in the historic Mercury Cafe space. The community raised $83K via GoFundMe, but the LLC was dissolved and donations refunded within days. With Blush & Blu already gone, Denver now has no standalone lesbian bar. | Denver | lesbian bar | Apr 2026 | closed | Rocky Mountain PBS |
| Doc Marie's Portland's last lesbian bar, named for labor/women's-rights activist Marie Equi. Reported as Portland's FIFTH LGBTQ+ bar to close within ~365 days. Portland now has no standalone lesbian bar. | Portland | lesbian bar | Oct 31, 2025 | closed | Willamette Week |
| The Ruby Fruit Silver Lake wine bar 'for the Sapphically inclined,' opened Feb 2023. Closed citing the financial impact of the January 2025 LA wildfires; it did not reopen. Was one of LA's two lesbian bars; Honey's at Star Love is now LA's only one. | Los Angeles | lesbian bar | Jan 2025 | closed | NBC News |
| Blush & Blu Denver lesbian bar opened in 2012 by Jody Bouffard; last day of service Oct 5, 2024. With The Pearl's April 2026 closure, Denver has no standalone lesbian bar. | Denver | lesbian bar | Oct 2024 | closed | Denverite |
| New Moon Longstanding Wilton Manors lesbian bar (closed 2014). Its 2440 Wilton Dr site later became Progress Bar, now LIT Wilton. South Florida has no standalone lesbian bar. | Wilton Manors | lesbian bar | 2014 | closed | Autostraddle |
| Cash Inn Country Phoenix lesbian/country bar that rebranded and relocated (becoming The Cash Nightclub & Lounge, now 1730 E McDowell, a general LGBTQ+ venue); exact date unverified, before 2022. As of 2022 Boycott was already Arizona's only dedicated lesbian bar. | Phoenix | lesbian bar | — | rebranded | KJZZ (NPR Phoenix) |
Documented closures surfaced during Out x Out city audits — sourced examples, not a complete count of every closure. Sort by any column; some sources are pending URL verification.
How to read this.
The closures listed here are documented, individually-sourced EXAMPLES surfaced during Out x Out's city content audits. They are NOT a comprehensive count of every LGBTQ+ bar that has closed. Cities shown are cities Out x Out has audited — not 'the hardest-hit' cities. Where an open-venue count is given, it reflects venues Out x Out verified as open during that city's audit, not every bar in the city.
- — Not a 'net openings minus closings' census.
- — Not a per-city total of closures (we report documented examples, not totals).
- — Not a 'live' feed — v1 is a hand-compiled snapshot. A live, DB-backed version is planned but does not exist yet.
- — Cities included reflect Out x Out's audit coverage, not a ranked list of decline.
Per-venue closures are individually sourced from public reporting, and each metro’s “only / last lesbian bar” status reflects local news coverage. A couple of sources are pending URL verification and are labeled accordingly in the table. We compile this ourselves from public data — no third-party index is used.
Free to cite.
This data is free to use with attribution to Out x Out. Reporters: for a custom city cut, an updated figure, or an interview, email info@outxout.com.
Out x Out, "The State of the Lesbian Bar" (2026), https://outxout.com/data/state-of-the-lesbian-bar