“We Will Not Back Down”: Queer BIPOC Bar Reopens After Suspected Hate Crime In D.C.
Sinners and Saints reopened the same night it was vandalized, refusing to let a suspected hate crime silence D.C.’s only QTBIPOC bar.
Sinners and Saints, the only bar in Washington, D.C. created by and for queer and trans Black, Indigenous, and people of color (QTBIPOC), is recovering after a suspected hate crime left the Adams Morgan venue damaged and shaken just ahead of D.C.’s Black Pride weekend.
The break-in, which occurred Thursday afternoon, resulted in a shattered front door, stolen bottles of alcohol, and a homophobic slur spray-painted inside. Before entering, the suspect is believed to have cut power to the entire building. Staff from the upstairs restaurant, La Grotta, discovered the vandalism after arriving to find the electricity out and the bar’s entryway in disarray.
“It was really scary,” Blair Nixon, general manager and co-partner of Sinners and Saints, told the Washington Blade. “To know that somebody was in our space, vandalizing it—it was very scary and honestly, devastating.”
Police responded to the scene and classified the incident as a second-degree burglary with a hate bias motivation. No arrests have been made, but footage from a neighboring hostel has been handed over to the Metropolitan Police Department.
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“They wrote a slur on our wall, and unfortunately, we’re not sure to the extent that it was, but there’s a bunch of inventory missing from our liquor closet,” Nixon said. “It does seem like it was targeted because of what they wrote on the wall.”
Despite the violation, the bar reopened that same night and hosted its previously scheduled “Sapphic Sailor Moon” party.
“I was working—actually bartending,” Nixon told the Blade. “I wasn’t originally supposed to be working, but I thought it was important for all the partners to be there. Obviously, we were dealing with the incident, but being there the entire night, we thought that the response from the community was really strong.”
The bar’s owners posted a statement emphasizing their refusal to live in fear.
“This space exists to protect and celebrate Queer and Trans BIPOC communities, and this attack only strengthens our resolve. We will NOT be silenced. We will NOT be intimidated. We will NOT back down.
“To those who tried to harm us: hate fuels our defiance. To our community: we see you, we love you, and we will continue fighting for you.
“Sinners and Saints is resistance. We will rebuild. We will STAY OPEN. And we will keep our doors—and hearts—wide open for all who need refuge.”
Community response has been strong.
“It doesn’t really happen here, and he apparently went in there when they were closed,” David Perruzza, owner of the gay bar Pitchers next door, told WUSA. “Yeah, he screwed up. We have a good mayor who is pro gay establishments. She’s all about Pride, so for someone to do this right now is not a smart decision.”
Related: Police Raided A Pittsburgh Queer Bar For “Surprise Inspection”
Other patrons voiced concern and solidarity.
“I think we’ll always be fighting in the face of this as long as we are in DC, no matter what the presidency is but I think this is being magnified by that for sure,” Skyler Schubert said, referencing the current administration.
Franz Martinez offered this reflection to WUSA: “It’s okay to be afraid of something you don’t understand. A better avenue is curiosity and kindness and love.”
Sinners and Saints has launched a GoFundMe to raise funds for repairs and lost inventory. Fifteen percent of all donations will go to QTBIPOC support groups.
