Colorado lost its only lesbian bar. Then a new joint opened.

DENVER — Dom Garcia always dreamed of opening a tiki bar.

The idea became a reality when Garcia, a lesbian with Pacific Islander background, heard Blush & Blu — Colorado’s longest-standing and only lesbian bar — would be shutting its doors.

“I thought ‘we need something to fill the hole, so why not, I’ll do it,” Garcia said.

Garcia turned to their community and opened a new lesbian bar, Pearl Divers, at 608 E 13th Avenue on Dec. 1.

Before opening Pearl Divers, Garcia took to Facebook last October and asked members of the LGBTQ Denver Facebook group what they’d want from a potential new lesbian bar.

Answers included ambient lighting, quality cocktails, a mocktail menu, wheelchair-friendly tables and events for transgender people and people of color.

Garcia expected a months-long process to open the bar but an opportunity arose the day after their post. Owners of Mora Pizza and Your Mom’s House — a restaurant and live music venue located in the same building but separated by a wall — offered Garcia use of the lounge space in Your Mom’s House.

“It was the perfect coincidence because they’re not in the LGBTQ Denver Facebook group,” Garcia said. “So I thought ‘now is the perfect opportunity. I have to take it.’”

Shortly after Garcia secured the space, Ashlee Cassity offered to create a mocktail menu. 

The two hit it off in their first meeting and decided to co-open and operate Pearl Divers, whose name is a triple entendre for the bar’s location on Pearl Street, the Pearl Diver tiki drink and a sexual euphemism.

Booths, high tops and a dart board make up the bar from Saturday through Thursday. On Fridays, Your Mom’s House dedicates its space next door as a dance floor for Pearl Divers.

Garcia went with the tiki theme to honor their Pacific Islander heritage and give the community a nicer option than a “thrown-together dive bar,” they said.

“It’s something I’ve always kind of wanted to do and a lesbian tiki bar is something we haven’t seen before,” Garcia said. 

When Pearl Divers opened its doors on Dec. 1, it became the 33rd lesbian bar in the United States, a list that hit a low of 16 in 2020.

“I think there was a little bit of a belief that there was less of a need for lesbian or non-men queer spaces,” said Erica Rose, a co-creator of the Lesbian Bar Project, a documentary series exploring lesbian bars in the U.S. 

“But as the years have gone on, more people have explored their identities and we’ve brought some attention to how few lesbian bars there are, that’s changed.”

Cassity, who has a background in food and beverage, said she and Garcia were intentional about giving the community a dignified space: nice lighting, cocktails served in glasses and events catered to different groups.

“Usually we, as lesbians, just get dive bars or something that feels kind of thrown together,” Cassity said. “We’re trying to fill a hole for something that has been lost in Denver but also something that doesn’t exist much elsewhere.”

Located at the intersection of Pearl and 13th Streets, Pearl Divers sits in the heart of Capitol Hill, long known as Denver’s “gayborhood.” Garcia said the location was a lucky coincidence, but “now that we’re here, we wouldn’t want to be anywhere but Cap Hill.”

While the bar is explicit in its mission to serve lesbians and other LGBTQ+ people who do not identify as cisgender men, Garcia and Cassity said they welcome all demographics into their space. 

“We don’t ask about your sexuality when you come through the door,” Garcia said. “I want people to know this is, first and foremost, for our community, but anyone is welcome through our door, as long as they’re an ally.”

Rose said lesbian bars are often held to higher standards of inclusion. This, combined with rising rents that owners often can’t afford to pay, are two of her theories as to why there are so few lesbian bars in the country.

“It's very nuanced because the fact that we have so few spaces to begin with means that there's an extra burden on the owners, the party organizers and the event organizers,” Rose said. 

“There’s also extra pressure because this community is not monolithic and those in oppressed communities want to make sure their spaces are held to high standards.”

Garcia and Cassity agree that owning a queer space inherently means being aware of power and privilege structures. But they welcome the high expectations: both bathrooms in the bar are gender-neutral, the bar has held all-transgender cast drag performances and is hosting an all-Black drag show in February. All of their food items — courtesy of Mora Pizza — are also vegan.

“We’re always asking for feedback in-person and on social media and we’re definitely willing to adapt as we get it,” Garcia said. 

The bar is open to all, but Garcia and Cassity said they have no issue kicking out patrons causing problems. 

“Our staff does a great job at noticing problematic cues and acting quickly,” Cassity said.

Mary Ettner, a Pearl Divers bartender who moved to Denver from Arizona seven months ago, said the bar truly is a “house” for her, filled with chosen family members.

“I think a lot of us in the community don’t have the best relationships with our biological families, so we look for chosen family and this is a place where you can really do that,” Ettner said. “Denver is known as such a safe space for queer transplants from other cities and we want to be a haven for people here.”

The bar sees about 50 patrons each night. Their events calendar is booked until June. Garcia and Cassity want the bar to keep growing and expanding.

“We want to keep this space, where people can come and be with safe, like-minded individuals, for as long as we can,” Garcia said. “And hopefully continue to offer even more.”