Overview
Three former employees of Blush & Blu, one of the few remaining lesbian bars in the country, filed a lawsuit against the prominent Denver bar. The workers allege that Blush & Blu and its owner Jody Bouffard discriminated against one of the barโs only Black workers, habitually failed to pay its employees minimum wage, and, at times, failed to pay them at all. Lesbian bars have long played a crucial role in building queer community and creating a safe space for the queer and trans communities. But the complaint asserts that, for close to a decade, Blush & Blu weaponized the so-called โsafe spaceโ and โfamilyโ at the bar to create a culture of obligation and manipulate workers into enduring mistreatment, racism, and oppressive employment practices.