Phoenix Gay Bar Named One of the Best in the US

Posted on by Vaseline

Boycott Bar, a Melrose District destination, is one of the last lesbian bars still standing in the U.S. The bar has been named to USA TODAY’s 2024 Bars of the Year list.

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Boycott Bar, the Melrose District’s longest-running lesbian bar, made national news this week when the Phoenix favorite was named one of 27 to the 2024 USA TODAY Bars of the Year list. The list is compiled by USA TODAY Network food journalists across the country and includes everything from unpretentious dives to chic cocktail bars.

“Are you serious?! You made my whole week,” said owner Audrey Corley. “What an honor to serve people. I came from West Phoenix and I dreamed of owning a bar and it happened and now I have another one and a restaurant,” she said, referring to Dahlia Tapas, Tequila and Wine.

What sets Boycott Bar apart

Boycott Bar is modest inside and out, cozy couches and high tops line the perimeter of the open space where women meet, dance the night away, and sing karaoke. It’s also a place where people gather for fundraising and political actions in support of women’s rights.

Large photos of iconic women like Audrey Hepburn, Frida Kahlo, Billie Holiday, Amelia Earhart and Marylin Monroe adorn the walls. But the one photo that matters most hangs behind the bar, showing the owner’s young mother holding Corley’s then-baby sister. The tables are also decorated with photos of suffragettes, girlfriends and Corley’s partner.

Corley started Boycott as a traveling group on July 16, 2004. When her shift at the bar where she worked ended, she said she had nowhere to go. She didn’t think she was alone. “So I did an event for non-smoking women at a restaurant and I said, ‘I’m going to pack this place out.'”

That night, 452 women showed up. “I knew that night that I had something special.”

Who needs the apps? Boycott, a lesbian party turned iconic bar, celebrates its 20th anniversary in Phoenix

Boycott is a place to ‘come together and celebrate’

She kept the events going and their popularity grew. “We were handing out tickets at events with my friends,” she said. “It was old-fashioned marketing.”

Then, in 2017, she got the chance to take over the building that now houses Boycott, one of only 33 lesbian bars left in the United States, where she could fulfill her mission to create a safe space for women, for the LGBTQ+ community, for anyone looking for a place to “gather, celebrate, and even grieve.”

“I’m so proud of Boycott. Boycott has opened doors for me to do other things. I’m grateful to the Lesbian Bar Project for the attention,” she said. “But most of all, I’m grateful to our communities, our allies, family and friends. Without them, I wouldn’t be who I am.”

Boycott Bar in Phoenix

Details: 4301 N. Seventh Ave., Phoenix; 602-825-6240, linktr.ee/boycottbar1.

Contact the reporter at [email protected]. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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