Phase 1 (bar)
Phase 1, also known as The Phase, is a lesbian bar and nightclub at 525 8th Street, Southeast in Washington, D.C. Located one block south of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE near Eastern Market in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, Phase 1 is the oldest continually operating lesbian bar in the United States and the oldest operating LGBT bar in Washington, D.C.
History
In 1971, Allen Carroll and Chris Jansen founded Phase 1 and would go on to open another LGBT bar in Southeast, Ziegfeld's. Phase 1 was originally located beside Plus One, a gay bar that broke the city’s “no same-sex dancing” code when owners Henry Hecht of the Hecht's department store family, Donn Culver, and Bill Bickford installed a dance floor. The current manager of Phase 1 is senait teklehaimanot.
Events
Phase 1 is a sponsor of Capital Pride, the LGBT pride festival held each year in Washington, D.C. and the fourth largest gay pride event in the United States. Phase 1 also works with local organizations such as the Whitman-Walker Clinic and D.C. Rape Crisis Center.
