Police Raided A Pittsburgh Queer Bar For “Surprise Inspection”
Around 20 officers raided P*Town on Friday night, forcing patrons and drag performers to exit.
A Pittsburgh queer bar was raided by police on May 2 in the middle of a drag show starring icon Amanda Lepore. Approximately 20 officers entered P*Town to conduct, what the bar’s owners have called, a “surprise inspection,” forcing patrons and drag performers to exit while they searched the building.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey explained in a statement that the search was conducted by members of the Pittsburgh Nuisance Bar Task Force, who were doing a compliance check based on a report made to the fire department concerning overcrowding. Gainey wrote, “inspectors found that the bar, with an occupancy permit for 70, had 133 people inside.”
P*Town’s owners said that they would be making improvements to the space and obtaining the correct crowd permits. Additionally, the statement affirmed that “the officers acted professionally” and “no patrons were mistreated.”
Despite the owners affirmation that the officers acted professionally, many patrons and queens alike were shaken up by the surprise raid that, for many, conjured up images of historical raids of queer bars. “The raid was a jarring experience in 2025. Dozens of state police, geared up with bulletproof vests, flooded the bar and told us to get out. None of the officers would explain what was happening,” a witness told QBurgh.
Mayor Gainey acknowledged these historic echoes, writing, “We need to be thoughtful about the fear that the sudden appearance of multiple armed officers can cause. We also need to have safeguards in place that ensure that NBTF complaints cannot be used to target vulnerable populations.”
The drag performers scheduled for that night did not immediately fold to the presence of the officers. When the officers entered, performer Blade Matthews was in the midst of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and forced the officers to wait before they could pause the event.
@belowtheheath #ptownbar #pittsburgh #ptown #amandalepore #followme #resist #stayloudandproud #pride #thefirstpridewasariot ♬ original sound – BELOWtheHEATH
When the patrons were outside, local drag icon and host of the event, Indica, created a moment of queer solidarity as she broke into an acapella performance of “Pink Pony Club” right there on the street. In a statement later shared to social media, Indica wrote of the raid, “It was traumatizing, but I’m truly so proud of the community for sticking around & loudly saying in 2025 you cannot f**k with queer people.”
