CHANGING HANDS AND
LOSING SHOWS
After Pride weekend, Queer/Bar will be sold to the owners of The Cuff Complex. Queer/Bar’s drag performers and staff are now looking for other places to work.
WRITTEN BY JAS KEIMIG
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KK AND REMY STYRK
[MONDAY, JUNE 22] On a recent Friday night, Capitol Hill drag and dance bar Queer/Bar was packed to the gills.
The crowd had come out to see Live Nude Mammals, a nude variety show led by drag queen Kitty Glitter that celebrates stripping, burlesque, drag, and unabashed sluttiness. While performances by the likes of Pussy Willow, Porcelain, and Johnny Moon were sexy, the mood was a bit sour: It was the show’s last-ever night at Queer/Bar.
Queer/Bar owners Joey Burgess and Murf Hall are selling the bar and getting out of the queer nightlife space entirely. They’ll be selling to Scott Walent, the owner of The Cuff Complex, and his business partner Dustin Akers. Walent and Akers will take over the reins at Queer/Bar next month after Pride weekend. Burgess, Hall, and Walent have transacted property before; Burgess and Hall sold The Cuff to Walent in March 2025.
Queer/Bar performers and staff say they have been largely left in the dark about the status of their jobs and programming, and many say they feel uncomfortable with new management. Earlier this year, The Cuff came under fire and eventually apologized for working with an event producer accused of misconduct. In January, The Cuff stated in an Instagram post that the venue was no longer working with the event producer “or his production company in any capacity,” and apologized to “members of our community [who] were made to feel unsafe in spaces that should exist… for queer joy, care, and connection.” Many drag performers stopped working at The Cuff after those allegations surfaced, and some performers told CHUM News they will stop working at Queer/Bar altogether if the sale to The Cuff’s management goes through.
Scott Walent did not respond to multiple requests for comment. In an email, Joey Burgess wrote that a deal is “still in the early stages,” and that he did not have “anything definitive to share just yet.” Seattle Gay Scene has confirmed the impending sale through a more descriptive statement provided by Burgess. While performers say Burgess gave them some details earlier this month, they say a lack of clear communication is encouraging them to cut their losses: Many of Queer/Bar’s longtime performers have now moved their marquee programs to other venues, and are reconsidering where and how they do drag in Seattle.
As shows continue to announce their last-ever nights at Queer/Bar, we’re witnessing a swift wrap on the iconic venue’s programming as we currently know it.
WHAT QUEER/BAR HAS BROUGHT TO SEATTLE
Burgess originally founded Queer/Bar back in 2017 in the space formerly occupied by the beloved gay bar Purr. After a contentious first year involving a controversy with drag performer Sharon Needles as well as a scandal featuring Robbie Turner, the bar’s entertainment director, Queer/Bar became a hot spot for burlesque and drag, regularly featuring well-known drag performers from RuPaul’s Drag Race on weekends. The venue came to host its own drag competitions, and incubated nascent drag talent with well-known regularly scheduled drag shows like MX. and Mothership. Four resident queens — Bosco, Irene the Alien, Arrietty, and Jane Don’t — have gone on to compete on Drag Race and have gained national acclaim.
The bar’s artistic emphasis has had some positive effects on the drag scene in Seattle, according to Glenn Coco, a drag performer and MX. cast member. “I think the appeal [of Queer/Bar] was that there was a higher expectation and higher caliber of drag in general that — for better or for worse — made all of us push ourselves to become better drag artists,” she said.
It also made drag a more financially sustainable artform for many performers. “Queer/Bar was a place where girls can work once or twice a weekend for an entire month and not only be able to afford bills and their day-to-day necessities, but also be able to invest back into their drag,” said Glenn, adding that the bar’s national prominence buoyed its performers’ profiles.
Drag queen Issa Man agrees. She’s done a lot over her five years performing at Queer/Bar: She’s a cast member of MX., she started a Black and brown strip show called “Bronze Babez” in 2022, and she took home the 10s Across the Board drag competition crown that same year. Is Queer/Bar mainstream? Yes, says Issa. But that’s also allowed the bar to bring in patrons willing to throw money at performers.
“I don't think mainstream drag always has to necessarily be a bad word… Sometimes there does need to be a space where the fucking straight people can just like fucking like throw their money and employ the girls,” she said. “I would not be able to do drag as well as I was and be able to invest in as much as I did if Queer/Bar wasn't a space. I feel like a lot of girls could say that.”
THOUGH DISCUSSED WITH PERFORMERS, SALE’S EFFECTS STILL UNCLEAR
Performers say rumors around a sale have been swirling for months, and add that it was only two weeks ago that Burgess sat down with the MX. cast to share more details. While the space will remain a gay bar in some capacity, a sale leaves Queer/Bar’s venerated stable of performers in a lurch.
Performers say communication from existing management has been inconsistent and unclear. With no guarantees from the new owners about keeping them on, and not wanting to stick around and find out, resident performers face few options. They can either move their show elsewhere or perhaps do something new all together. All paths involve a complicated risk assessment, as work in queer nightlife often involves precarious financial outcomes, and local queer venues can come and go quite quickly.
Some queens are posting their Queer/Bar goodbyes to Instagram, and many who have weekly gigs at shows like MX. may soon be out of jobs. That’s to say, the vibes have been pretty sad behind the scenes.
“There's obviously a lot of emotions,” said Kitty Glitter, who also serves as Queer/Bar’s creative director. “There's this real sense of change and fear of loss. Seattle, compared to pre-COVID [times], has shrunk so much — there are so many bars that aren't here anymore, or that are being negatively impacted by how nightlife has shifted. It's been really sad and sobering for everyone.”
Some programming, like Bronze Babez, is moving just a few blocks away to bars like Massive. Others are moving to new neighborhoods like Beacon Hill, potentially shifting the extent to which Capitol Hill stands as the primary capital for drag in the city.
For burlesque performer Ruby Mimosa, Queer/Bar’s sale pushed her to find a new home for BurlesKaraoke, her interactive monthly show that combines burlesque and karaoke. She started the event at Queer/Bar back in 2019 and has since cultivated a dedicated niche of patrons who enjoy singing and watching interpretive burlesque performances. Starting this month, BurlesKaraoke’s new home is at the Clock-Out Lounge in Beacon Hill, which is also home to other queer events like Betty Wetter’s beloved Tush. The move, while difficult, also means more opportunity for growth both in terms of audience and creativity.
“BurlesKaraoke is a show that's built on community and playfulness and song and dance and improv,” said Mimosa. “So in terms of moving the show, it'll be a cool way to do the show in a new space, and it'll give us a chance to find different things that we like to do to create.”
Over email, Clock-Out Lounge owner Jodi Ecklund said her venue has “always featured diverse programming” and will remain “deeply committed to providing a safe place where all are welcome” in light of Queer/Bar’s sale. “Seattle benefits when multiple spaces exist where people feel represented and safe,” she said.
Regardless, the implications of a Queer/Bar sale mean drag and burlesque performers in the city will have to get creative. Drag has always been about transformation, making do with constrained resources, and usurping traditional power dynamics. As they move away from Queer/Bar, regulars are starting to think outside the box.
“It gives us a chance to work with people outside the community, and distribute the love and talent,” said Glenn. “We’re going to start seeing a lot of creative things happening now that we’re not stuck… to this establishment.”
But the fact that a sale will come just after Pride — the biggest weekend of the year for many in queer nightlife — rubs salt in the wound. Not only do the girls have to contend with wrangling their business moves during the busiest month, but they also have to find a way to properly say goodbye to a venue that has meant so much to them. Glenn Coco said she’s juggling a big upcoming project while also reaching out to other venues, looking beyond Capitol Hill.
“It’s stressful,” she said. “[I’m] also trying to manage being present when I’m performing now, taking in what seems like is going to be my last performance at Queer/Bar during Queer/Pride Fest.”
Despite the tough feelings, many performers have spent their formative years at Queer/Bar, and seem appreciative of what it offered them. Kitty Glitter, who’s been at Queer/Bar since 2018, called the bar her “church,” a place where she’s found real community. “It’s been more consistent in my life than where I’ve lived,” she said. “Not having this space in the future seems unimaginable.”
“I can anticipate what it's going to feel like, but there's so many unknowns of what it's going to look like,” said Kitty. “I think everyone's having to really reinvest in themselves and rethink, like, ‘Okay, what the fuck am I doing? What if my consistency goes away? How do I band with the community and take the lessons I've learned here and then apply it to do my thing somewhere else to be my own boss?’”
Back at Live Nude Mammals, the performers persisted. Kitty got her asshole waxed live onstage by Sugar Me Timbers, a local sugaring salon; Valentino Papixo and The Kattzz Meow did a debaucherous duo number, Porcelain dumped a bottle of champagne on herself to a Lana del Rey song. Everyone gave it their all despite not knowing what was around the corner.
Jas Keimig is a writer in Seattle. Their work has appeared in The Stranger, The Seattle Times, South Seattle Emerald, i-D and beyond. They also curate Unstreamable, a column and screening series featuring films you can’t find on streaming services.
KK (they/them) is a freelance photographer based in Seattle.
Remy Styrk is an Emmy-nominated and award-winning Black trans filmmaker, musician, and humanist. Remy is also the founder of the Halogen Project, which provides free photoshoots to trans people of color.