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Easily accessible for multiple universities in the area. Yes, Town is better, and technically has ONE 18+ night (on Fridays) with a cover charge, but this in no way makes up for Apex which was 1. I for one wouldn’t have come out nearly as early as I did if it weren’t for Apex. Honestly, this came as pretty shocking news to me and all my friends, if for nothing else than just the fact that Apex plays such an important formative role in closeted and just-out college kids in the area. This wouldn’t be as sad if there were another 18+ gay club in DC, but there isn’t. I still miss karaoke nights with Gladys Kravitz and the crazy outfits worn by Cookie Buffet. “Aww, shit!” he said as he stormed out towards the exit at light speed. He said, “Dude, do a lotta chicks come to this place?” “When do people start getting here, man?” He then asked if he could get a cigarette from me.Īs he lit his cigarette, he began to get impatient, looking around all over the place. He approached me and began engaging me in conversation. He looked as though it was his first time there as well. I watched him pace around exploring the place. Being in an empty one wasn’t making the experience easier.Īnother guy entered the club. I was still nervous about being in a gay nightclub for the first time. It was the early 90s, I was freshly out of the closet. No one else was there but the bartenders at the time (whose names I later learned were Anita and David – everyone thought David and I were brothers because we looked a lot alike, but I digress). It wasn’t my first gay BAR, but it was my first gay CLUB. The interior was only a little bit more appealing than the exterior but it was a sprawling space with multiple rooms that facilitated dancing.ĭC’s Metro Weekly has a good piece about the shuttering of Apex that I highly reccommend reading for more details.
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I also remember having to pre-game before we went out because, as an 18+ bar, they were very strict on IDs. I remember driving past its cinder block, windowless facade in high school and wanting so badly to venture inside, and I have fond memories of finally making it there with a group of friends for the first time when we were all home from college. It was the first gay bar I ever went to, and I have both fond and less-than-fond memories of it.
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Washington, DC‘s Apex (formerly known as Badlands) closed its doors for the final time on Tuesday, July 5th.Īpex opened as Badlands in 1983 and was DC’s longest running gay dance club. After Last week’s talk on this blog, Slate, and others about the history and future of the American gay bar comes some sad news.