Community Members Boycott Denver Queer Women’s Bar Blush & Blu
Denver’s Blush & Blu, the city’s only lesbian bar, has found itself in hot water again. The establishment is no stranger to controversy, and this time, a post from a former employee has spurred a community-led boycott of the bar over pattern of racism and harassment.
In 2021, Blush & Blu and its owner, Jody Bouffard, were sued by three former employees over alleged failure to pay them minimum wage. In addition to that, the lawsuit alleges the bar’s ownership stole tips from the staff and actively discriminated against the bar’s only Black employee. However, this time, a boycott has stemmed from what a former employee sees as a failure for the bar’s ownership to take accountability. The lawsuit alleges that the bar’s ownership weaponized the bar’s status as Denver’s only lesbian bar and the idea that it’s a safe space to guilt employees into accepting harassment and low pay.
Beccah Schechter quit working as a bartender at Blush on November 3 following an incident involving the owner and her wife. A few days later, Schechter shared her story on Instagram, and from there, the story took on a life of its own. Beccah sat down with OFM to discuss what had happened at Blush and the boycott that has stemmed from her post.
For some context, Beccah had worked at Blush & Blu for about two years, and while she told us had seen issues with the bar’s work environment, she stuck it out because she had hoped things would change. As Schechter tells it, the issue at hand was a case of overt racism from Bouffard’s wife, Tannaz Sharbaz.
“The day that I quit … I had my final straw. The owner’s wife said ‘Fuck Muslims’ to my face, and as much as I gave them the chance to rephrase or correct themselves, they were adamant about what they said,” Beccah says. “I had asked her, ‘All of them? That’s a huge generalization.’ And she just said ‘Yeah, fuck them, they ruined my country.’”
Schechter says that this type of behavior was not new from Sharbaz, who has been deeply involved with bar’s operations since her marriage to the owner, Jody Bouffard. According to Beccah, Sharbaz is just as involved in Blush & Blu as Jody is, noting that if one is there, they usually both are. Usually, Sharbaz seems to police the door of the establishment. Beccah further recalled several instances of racial profiling that had occurred as a direct result of Sharbaz’s involvement.
“She will tell random people at the bar, ‘Keep your eyes on that one. Keep your eyes on that one.’ And I can see who she’s talking about. I’ve talked with the owner about her racially profiling people,” Beccah tells us. “It’s also not anyone else’s job, aside from security, to have ‘eyes’ on other people, and it creates an unsafe environment for both patrons and workers.”
Schechter was shaken after her interaction with the owner’s wife, and while she says that she tried to brush it off, it just felt wrong. After telling one of her coworkers, Schechter went to Jody.
“I started crying and told her, ‘I have dealt with you wife… she can call me whatever she wants, but to make my friends feel uncomfortable and make people in the community feel uncomfortable, walking around and harassing them, racially profiling them is unacceptable, Jody.’” Schechter adds that, “Even if you don’t see the ethical dilemma here, this isn’t good for business. Your wife is literally pushing people out of here.”
Beccah was not impressed with Jody’s response. According to her, Bouffard turned the situation back on her, saying that she knew, she’s married to Sharbaz, and asking, “How do you think I feel?” Beccah saw this as making the issue about herself. Schechter expressed further frustration as, in the employee handbook, it says that if you have a problem, like if you see discrimination or harassment taking place, to go to management. But what happens if the source of that discrimination is coming from management or someone who is management-adjacent?
Beccah tells us that she had also been subjected to degrading harassment from Sharbaz, who frequently commented on her weight and figure. “They have made remarks about my body, saying that I am overweight, gesturing with their hands that I am overweight. Saying stuff that just should not be said to your staff.” Furthermore, Schechter, who is Latina, tells us that Jody guilted her into working Wednesdays, even when she was sick or had other obligations, because, “that’s Latin night.” While she put up with this verbal abuse, Schechter thought she could at least make the bar a safe place for others. Schechter also tells us she had customers who would only come in if they knew neither Bouffard or Sharbaz would be there.
Schechter’s account of what it’s like working at Blush & Blu is not dissimilar from the allegations made in the lawsuit that is pending litigation. The lawsuit alleges that Bouffard herself has a history of making racialized comments to her staff. A former employee named in the suit, Jessica Savage, recalled several instances of Bouffard telling Savage she had “jungle fever” to indicate an attraction to Black women. Savage, who is of Haitian descent, added that there was one occasion where Bouffard accused her of “playing the race card” and of several instances of saying that rap and hip-hop is “her music” (referring to Savage).
At the very least, both Schechter and Savage’s allegations speak to a work environment that is especially hostile to women of color. This is further backed up by the response Schechter’s Instagram post received.
View this post on Instagram
Beccah tells us she was surprised by the way the post took off. People started commenting on the post, sharing their own stories of discrimination and harassment at Blush. After prompting from a friend who works in activist circles, Beccah started compiling these stories so that people knew this wasn’t an isolated issue.
These first-person accounts illustrate a slew of hostile behavior from management towards patrons, staff and guest performers at Blush. Several of the responses recall Jody referring to a trans-masc person she hired as a “confused lesbian” and her chasing a customer out of the bar because she confused them with someone who left a bad review.
A common theme in the stories are reports of people who present as more butch having to wait longer for drinks and being regarded with more hostility from security.
Beccah tells us that the push to boycott the bar happened organically, that she only had meant to explain why she wasn’t going to be behind the bar at Blush anymore. It was people in the community sharing their stories online, until several commenters said they planned to boycott the establishment, that led to the boycott.
To be clear, Schechter doesn’t want the boycott to result in Blush & Blu shutting down; rather, she wants a change in ownership. Beccah recognizes that there are incredibly few lesbian-centric bars left in the U.S., and, as it currently stands, Blush is Denver’s only lesbian bar.
Schechter says, “There are options to keep a lesbian bar open; we are asking for new ownership, not for Denver’s one lesbian bar to be shut down … If Jody really cared about the community and wasn’t just focused on making money off us, then that space could remain and could be better.” She went on to point out that in asking for accountability and progress, she has found several people who would be willing to buy the bar and keep it open as a lesbian bar.
Lesbian bars are few and far between. In fact, according to The Lesbian Bar Project, there are only about 23 bars primarily serving queer women left in the U.S. This is a far cry from the 80s and 90s when there were over 200 hundred across the country.
One of the last comments Beccah made to OFM regarded alternatives to Blush & Blu, as a space for queer women. One space Beccah sees as showing promise is a venue that is slated to open next year in Five Points, Sister Outsider, which takes its name from the works of the Black, feminist writer, Audre Lorde. “We will evolve with or without older generations of queer people who don’t see the need to evolve. There is a new generation of queer people that are demanding safe spaces, and whether they see that change or not, we will keep demanding that for people from diverse backgrounds.” Beccah tells us.
OFM reached out to Jody Bouffard and Blush & Blu for comment and at this time have not received a response.
Photo courtesy of OFM
This article was amended on December 19, 2023 to correct an error about the lawsuit formerly impacting Blush & Blu. The piece originally stated the suite had not been dropped, when it fact it has been dismissed.
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