“To me, removing many of the exclusionary stipulations that are inherently in gay bars,” says McDaniel, the former manager of lesbian bar A League of Her Own. The co-owners of As You Are Bar, which opened in Washington, D.C., last week, are much more interested in shifting what they see as the exclusionary nature of gay bars, a mission they refer to as “queering the gay bar agenda.” Jo McDaniel and Rach Pike know that, but they don’t care. A bar that caters to family, doesn’t center around alcohol, and allows 18+ entry isn’t necessarily the best business model in a city.
