Green lantern gay bar lounge with special events

The bar, situated in what used to be a carriage house in an alleyway located off 14th between Massachusetts and L Streets NW, first debuted under the Green Lantern moniker in the early s, when it was owned by brothers Joel and Steve Weinstein. InGreg Zehnacker and business partner John Colameco purchased the property where the Weinstein-owned bar once stood.

Over the next two decades, the Green Lantern would weather economic downturns, the gentrification of the 14th Street corridor, the loss of longtime core staff, a shifting gay bar culture affected by the proliferation of online apps, a global pandemic, and even the sudden and tragic death of Zehnacker in Today, the bar, celebrating its 20th anniversary, is a staple of the D.

The bar has had long-lasting relationships with motorcycle clubs, particularly Centaur MC, and the leather community more generally. When Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend was held at the nearby Washington Plaza hotel, it was common for attendees to scurry over to the Green Lantern for a quick drink or a dance party.

The bar continues to hold kink demonstrations or specially-tailored theme nights with groups like ONYX, the leather fraternity for gay and bisexual men of color. Currently, the Green Lantern has a monthly party geared towards those interested in puppy play. Above all, the staff work hard to make sure everyone is respected and has a great time.

Many long-time patrons fondly recall their interactions with the late Zehnacker, who would frequently be seen perched on the corner of the bar, puffing a cigarette while reading the paper. Greg was in that bar almost every single day, and usually down on the floor, chatting with patrons. He wanted to be around people and wanted to watch them having fun.

And I think in our own way, that still happens. Hicks, who, by Memorial Day Weekend, will have worked in gay bars for nearly 40 years, says the ongoing COVID pandemic has highlighted the need for queer spaces, which had been steadily declining in number in the decade leading up to the pandemic-related shutdowns and restrictions imposed on nightlife spaces.

For a lot of people, 20, 30, 40 years ago, the gay bar was the first place that they were comfortable really being themselves.

Oh Green Lantern, how I’ve missed you

I think being separated for a year and not being able to go out and socialize, people realized that those spaces were important, that they are still integral to the gay experience or to gay life. But I think the pandemic reinforced the idea that the gay bar is one of those spaces that is needed.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Green Lantern will hold a special party on Sunday, March 6 at 7 p. Hicks adds that among those who need to be thanked are the members of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2F, who have helped the Green Lantern navigate the difficulties associated with pandemic-era restrictions over the past two years, ensuring it was able to remain open by creating outdoor seating at times when congregating in indoor spaces was all but impossible.

Regarding future plans for the bar, Hicks says the Green Lantern is always ready to host new theme nights or hold special events. The door is always open to new ideas. We want to create an environment where people feel they belong, where they feel that this is their home. For more information, visit www. When they arrived, they found a female victim -- later identified as Johnson -- suffering from gunshot wounds.

Calhoun, a sommelier and bartender at Annabelle restaurant, left work around midnight on June 29 and stopped at the Golden Age, a nearby bar, for a quick beer, according to The Advocate. In one of the stranger crime sprees of Pride Month, a masked man on an electric unicycle is reportedly stealing Pride flags across Longmont, Colorado.

Since Memorial Day weekend -- just ahead of Pride Month -- the man has vandalized homes by bending flagpoles and tearing down flags. Sheryl Colaur, one of the victims, told the Longmont Daily Times-Call that at least 10 -- and possibly as many as 15 -- of her neighbors in Longmont's Harvest Junction Village neighborhood have had their Pride flags stolen, allegedly by the same man.

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