New Documentary Honors Ohio’s First And Longest-Running Lesbian Bar
Summit Station’s legacy as a hub for connection and activism is being preserved in a new documentary.
Featured Image: Via ‘Free Beer Tomorrow’ doc
Summit Station opened its doors in 1971 and for nearly four decades it stood as a gathering place for lesbians in Columbus, Ohio. Known first as Jack’s A Go-Go and later renamed by owner Petie Brown, the bar became a center of community life until it closed in 2008.
Brown, a trumpeter and singer, had started bartending at Jack’s to make ends meet while pursuing her music career. When word spread that a lesbian woman was behind the bar, the space quickly became a magnet for women looking for safety and companionship. A decade later, Brown bought the business herself and gave it a new name. Under Summit Station, the bar became far more than a watering hole. It sponsored sports teams, hosted billiards and dart leagues, welcomed performers, and raised money for everything from breast cancer awareness to HIV support.
Related: Remembering Jewel Thais-Williams: Activist, Healer, Visionary
A new documentary project, Free Beer Tomorrow, is working to preserve that history. Led by former patron and Ohio State University lecturer Julia Applegate, the project combines film, podcast interviews, and a public health study.
“This was a safe space in a time over decades where it just wasn’t safe to be LGBTQ+ outside of those doors,” Applegate told NBC4. “As things got better through the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, that space was still important because things weren’t better enough.”
The filmmakers have interviewed more than 50 people across 13 states, including Brown and pioneering Columbus attorney Rhonda Rivera. Some stories appear in the film, while the Free Beer Tomorrow podcast will preserve the full conversations. “We just talked to people… and the stories that we captured were so rich,” Applegate said.
Screenings of the rough cut are already underway, from retirement communities to film festivals, with a full release planned for 2026. The team is committed to meeting people where they are. “We will come to do a screening,” Applegate said. “We’re doing screenings almost anywhere that we’re asked to do them. We want to go into spaces, as opposed to asking people to leave their space.”
Related: What’s On Tap? 10 New Queer Women’s Bars You Need To Know About
For Applegate, the project is about carrying forward the lessons of Summit Station and passing them on. “Love does win, it wins in lots of different ways,” she said. “It will triumph over time and so I hope the film will inspire people… our straight allies who we need now more than ever.”
More information about screenings and the project is available at WatchFreeBeerTomorrow.com
