LGBTQ groups boycott Charlotte gay bar, saying owner shouted drag queen off stage

A well-known South End gay bar that promotes itself as “The best LGBTQ friendly spot in Charlotte” is being accused this week of taking a particularly unfriendly stance toward one drag performer.

More than 250 individuals, community organizations and businesses have signed a letter announcing a boycott of The Bar at 316 near South and East boulevards, in the wake of a Saturday night incident in which local drag performer Shelby Savage alleges that the establishment’s owner angrily shouted them off the stage mid-performance.

In an email to The Charlotte Observer, Savage said they had performed one number at the club and then left the stage to change outfits. Upon returning for a second number, Savage alleges The Bar at 316 owner Jeff Edwards suddenly lashed out.

“He begins pointing directly at me saying, ‘You’re a freak! Stop!’” said Savage, who identifies as a bearded drag queen and uses they/them pronouns. “‘I don’t want that on my stage! Get this freak off my stage! You are not welcomed here!’”

Savage says they promptly left after Edwards’ alleged outburst.

The letter regarding the boycott of The Bar at 316 — co-signed by several of the area’s largest LGBT-rights-focused groups, including Equality North Carolina, Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, Carolinas CARE Partnership and Charlotte Pride — specifically points to Edwards’ alleged behavior toward Savage over the weekend. But it also alleges that the bar owner has a “history of aggression and racism, which has caused repeated harm to Black and Brown members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Savage is a person of color; and although Savage does not accuse Edwards of making racist remarks Saturday, both they and the boycott letter said his alleged outburst “again displayed his contempt towards BIPOC members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

When asked for other examples of incidents involving Edwards, the Observer was referred to online reviews for The Bar at 316.

Of the nearly 200 reviews of the club on Google, more than two dozen accuse it of racism. Although several have been posted just this week, many are older.

One from about six years ago was posted by “a 31 year old black male, recent MBA graduate” who claims he was refused a soda by the owner “and told that my ‘look’ was rude and inappropriate. Without thinking, I attempted to apologize. Before I could finish my apology, I was told to leave! As I am leaving, I am given a lesson on how my look came across. It was a re-enactment of negative African-American stereotypes.”

According to a 2019 story published in QNotes, a Charlotte-based LGBTQ community newspaper, the space occupied by The Bar at 316 has long been a haven for LGBTQ customers — first as a restaurant and bar called Amanda Rose, then as Steven’s, then as Liaisons.

In 2010, the staff of the Creative Loafing alternative newspaper picked The Bar at 316 as the city’s best gay/lesbian bar.

Over the years, the bar has hosted various high-profile events for the LGBTQ community, including the kickoff party for Charlotte Pride and — in 2016 — a candlelight vigil for hundreds of people in support of the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting.

Attempts to reach Edwards for comment were unsuccessful.

But in an August 2020 interview with WCNC, he said his bar “kind of gives people a safe haven, a place to have fun and be themself, and it’s more like a family than just a bar.”

The signers of the boycott, meanwhile, feel Edwards and his establishment don’t give off that vibe at all.

In their letter, the signers state they have “instituted a ban on any drag performer/entertainer that accepts a booking, or otherwise performs at The Bar at 316. This boycott will block any performer who collaborates with Jeff Edwards and The Bar at 316, in any way, from performing at any other venue in either state (North or South Carolina) run by the undersigned.”

Added Savage, in their email: “Mr. Edwards ... loves to welcome what he sees as good company into his bar. He wants white skinny men. Anything other than that, meaning if you’re a bigger white man or a skinny black man, you will be given a less than acceptable experience.”