2012 Power List: Locals who made a difference this year

Ray Rodriguez and Phil Villotti

Owners of The Bar, a new bar in Denver, Ray Rodriquez and Phil Villotti are honored for their work building a new safe space for Denver’s gay community on South Broadway and for using their business to raise funds and awareness for LGBT nonprofits in Denver.

Hard at work in a bar on South Broadway, you can find Ray Rodriguez and Phil Villotti: business owners, proud parents, and contributors to local and national LGBT causes.

After their children graduated high school and went on to college, the couple of more than 12 years moved from Arizona to Colorado less than a year ago to buy an old bar and remake it as The Bar, leaving comfortable careers behind.

“We realized that we weren’t happy with general corporate life,” Rodriguez said. “If you’re going to take a leap, take a leap. We decided that if we were going to put in countless hours working, it might as well be for us as opposed to the corporate bank.”

It was the birth of one of Denver’s most unique bars: not quite a “gay bar” – but distinctly LGBT-welcoming.

“Our stance from when we opened has been it’s a comfortable and safe place for all people,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a social mix for people who just want to enjoy each other’s company.”

Sydney Andrews of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force of Denver said the two are very “community oriented.”

“Ray and Phil, since arriving in Denver, have been very open, supportive and caring of the Denver community,” Andrews said. “To their tireless efforts and great work, they revived a south Broadway bar into a staple of the community, where it has a diverse ray of light and activities.”

Rodriguez and Villotti also stand out for charitable donations and fundraising.

“It’s critical that everyone gives back to the community,” Rodriguez said. “While we are not rich by any means, we’re just two guys struggling to do anything we can.”

The couple’s charitable history began in Arizona, where they raised funds for organizations like the Child Crisis Center and the Arizona AIDS Project.

“We raised $6,000 in one day for the Arizona Aids Project,” Rodriguez said. “We had gone to a couple of different functions and then decided to put on our own show.”

Since coming to Colorado, Rodriguez and Villotti have raised money for local organizations as well as the Red Cross.

“We raised just under $1,000 in a day when the Colorado Springs fires were burning,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said that he and Villotti being honored by Out Front is humbling.

“That kind of recognition is just mind boggling to the both of us,” Rodriguez said. “We just think it’s best to reach out to the community and get involved in things as you believe in them.”