D.C.’s newest queer cafe and lounge, As You Are Bar, is one step closer to opening. Its owners on Tuesday reached an agreement with its Barracks Row neighbors over noise and safety concerns.

After resolving complaints from some neighbors, As You Are Bar reached an agreement over its tavern license during a virtual meeting with Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6B that lasted more than two hours. The ANC vote was unanimous. The director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, Japer Bowles, called the meeting, which at times got emotional, “a therapy session and acknowledgment of how amazing our LGBTQ community is.”

The Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, a government agency that regulates liquor licenses, weighs the recommendations or protests of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions heavily. Reaching a settlement means neighbors agreed to not protest the queer establishment’s opening. As You Are Bar still needs to pass health inspections and handle more paperwork — including obtaining the actual liquor license from ABRA — but the bar could open as early as March.

About two dozen neighbors and members of the queer community attended the virtual meeting. Several of them thanked the owners for opening a space for the queer community, in a time when those are disappearing. Since the 1980s, the number of lesbian bars in the U.S. has dwindled from 200 to just 21, according to The Lesbian Bar Project. Notably, As You Are Bar is opening on the same street as Phase 1, a historic D.C. lesbian bar that closed in 2017.

McDaniel tells DCist/WAMU they plan to offer a “loving space” with a cafe on the first floor where people can relax with a cup of coffee, and a dance floor and arcade games on the second level. The owners imagine hosting a variety of events, including trivia nights, community meetings, and dance parties.

The owners emphasized that their mission is to shift bar and nightlife culture. The owners have worked in the service industry for years, including at Adams Morgan’s bar for queer women, A League of Her Own, where McDaniel was a manager. McDaniel says queer bars have been pigeonholed as being dark, loud, and full of booze. As You Are Bar will offer that — but not always.

“It’s not just for any one group,” McDaniel says. “Every community has queer people. We’ve always been everywhere. So if we can offer experiences to as broad a group as possible, then we’re doing a good job.”

Initially, not all neighbors were on board. McDaniel and Rach Pike announced plans to open As You Are Bar nearly a year ago, and in November signed a 10-year lease at 500 8th St. SE. While the area is zoned as mixed commercial and residential, several people live a few hundred feet from the establishment.

An earlier ANC meeting regarding the opening of As You Are Bar was contentious, according to Washington City Paper. One neighbor reportedly wrote in a email that circulated on social media that the neighborhood would rather have any other kind of business — including a Popeyes with its rats — than the queer bar and lounge.

“We once had a porno studio on 8th between E and G. … But ‘As You Are’ is a step too far,” Pope Barrow wrote in the email, as reported by City Paper. “We will be miserable if it gets licensed, and when the calls to the owners, the police and ABC enforcement authorities begin to flood in, together with fines, the new owners will be miserable as well.”

The bar is located along an already-busy row of restaurants and bars, including Ted’s Bulletin and Ambar, and other bars along 8th Street include Valor Brewpub and The Ugly Mug. (Meanwhile, the previous tenant at the As You Are Bar site, District Soul Food, closed during the pandemic. The restaurant was repeatedly cited for failing to adhere to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, according to The Wash. The owner, David Roundtree, told the outlet that he believes the business was being unfairly targeted because it was Black-owned.)

A few supporters, both on social media and those who commented during the meetings, per City Paper, viewed the criticisms lodged at As You Are as homophobic.

“I think privilege and entitlement can cloud vision,” McDaniel says now in response to such comments. “There have been a couple of comments on Zoom calls referring to us as, like, ‘your people’ or ‘people like you.’ Those moments don’t read on the surface as mal-intended, [but they] cut to the quick. It hurts.”

McDaniel says Tuesday night’s meeting carried a more hopeful air than previous ones. The support from the community brought Pike and McDaniel to tears. “This is our life’s work,” McDaniel told neighbors. “And to the neighbors who have questions … I promise, your block is safe with us.”

Pike and McDaniel took a number of steps to address the sound and safety concerns of the community. They scheduled back-to-back sound checks at the space ahead of the meeting to ensure next-door neighbors couldn’t hear and feel any sounds or vibration from music. They’ve installed special panels and drapes designed to dampen sound from inside. The agreement As You Are reached with the ANC last night also outlines hours the bar can sell alcohol and play music, capping dancing and live entertainment at midnight, Sunday through Thursday, and prohibiting DJs after 8 p.m. As for security, Pike told neighbors they would staff four employees to monitor the sidewalk after closing.

“It’s really obvious they invested a lot of time, money, and energy into addressing people’s concerns,” said Sarah Greenberg, a neighbor who supports As You Are Bar, during the meeting.

Various neighbors thanked Pike and McDaniel for their due diligence in making the neighborhood comfortable with their opening. The bar/lounge’s attorney, Richard Bianco, says Pike and McDaniel provided the ANC more information than is typically offered in these situations.

“Their involvement with the community before even applying for the license was extraordinary,” Bianco tells DCist/WAMU. “The thing that stands out the most is the multiple sound tests and adjustments and mitigating measures. There are very few, if any, establishments that have that kind of engagement. And it’s really impressive to see them bending over backwards to try and make accommodations.”

For now, As You Are Bar needs to wait out the rest of the protest period, which ends early February. A neighboring building owner could still protest, but McDaniel says they are meeting regularly to address any remaining concerns. The fact that the bar reached an agreement with the ANC means it is near the finish line in terms of opening.

“Did we make concessions that maybe other spaces wouldn’t have in their settlement agreement? Sure, absolutely,” McDaniel says. “And is it worth it so that we can be in the Southeast quadrant and be accessible to our patronage east of the river? 100 percent. Having to cut the music a little early is a concession we’re willing to make in order to have the space we’re all working so hard for.”