Washington, D.C.’s lesbian and queer women’s community will once again have a bar. A League of Her Own or “The League” comes equipped with a separate and well-lit street entrance, bathrooms, a bar, and a dance floor only steps away. Although the area is unfinished, the projected opening is scheduled for late July. The League will be directly beside the new gay sports bar, Pitchers DC in Adams Morgan.
With rainbow flags billowing from one of the two patios, a foosball table, gender neutral bathrooms, and expert bartenders, David Perruzza, former manager at JR’s Bar in Dupont Circle, has created a space that’s welcoming and fun. “While working at JR’s I would often have to tell ladies, when they asked, that they didn’t have a space in D.C. that was just for them,” says Perruzza. It was conversations like these and a walk-through of the new building that inspired him to create The League. “I won’t pretend to know what [women] want. I also want to make sure they are comfortable in a space of their own,” he says.
David Perruzza, Owner of Pitchers DC & The League and Jo McDaniel, Manager of The League
To ensure this space is a success, Jordan “Jo” McDaniel, was chosen to manage The League. “It’s a pretty huge honor to be tapped to do it,” says McDaniel. “It’s incredibly exciting that there’s a part of our city that will be ours again…I feel very fortunate that there’s such support from the owners of Pitchers and from David Perruzza for recognizing that this is something that the city needs. He handed me so much autonomy and said, ‘Do what needs to be done to make this the space what it needs to be.’”
McDaniel has plenty of experience running a bar, but will be calling on many of the district’s established promoters for advice. She wants The League to represent the diverse community it was made for. “The bigger thing that I find important about my role is including the community,” says McDaniel. “I will be involving as many promoters and performance producers and just anyone who wants to do more for our community. I really want A League of Her Own to be a conduit for that.”
McDaniel is the first woman and D.C. representative to win the Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic. As the champion, she was Grand Marshall for Key West’s pride and earned $10,000 for local non-profit organization Casa Ruby. McDaniel, who has been mixing elixirs at Freddie’s Beach Bar and Cobalt, is searching for talented drink makers who will reflect the array of lesbians and queer women McDaniel and Perruzza hope will patron the space.
“When I saw this space I thought of all the amazing things I have always wanted to do in the past but couldn’t. I saw gay men and lesbians talking,” Perruzza says. “I saw a way to help Casa Ruby and other charities with the venue room; I saw a separate entrance to a bar so I could finally give the [queer womens’] community a League of her own.”
Currently, while you walk through Pitchers DC there is a familiar smell of bar food, nostalgic video games, an outdoor patio, and much more. Do you go left and linger for delicious eats? Or stay to the right and climb the stairs to discover what the other floors have to offer?
Possibilities are already plentiful at Pitcher’s DC, and soon The League will provide even more.
David Perruzza and Jo McDaniel play foosball. (Photo by Courtney Ramsey)
