The District is home to at least a dozen LGBTQ+ bars but until recently, none were Black-owned. Thurst Lounge’s opening over the weekend changed that.

Owners Brandon Burke and Shaun Mykals wanted to open a space that centers the Black queer experience because their community craved it, they tell DCist/WAMU. The name of the lounge touches on their desire to quench that thirst.

“When you see representation, you feel a sense of pride and you feel a sense of belonging,” Burke says. “One of our intents was to make it so that you walk in here and you feel like this is home.”

The bar is located in the former Sakerum space just off U Street, a historically Black corridor that’s become home to several LGBTQ+ bars including Bunker, The Dirty Goose, and Kiki.

Thurst Lounge immediately signals to Black LGBTQ+ patrons that this place is for them. At the entrance, there’s a mural of a rainbow flag draped over a Black singer and the words “LOVE WHO YOU ARE.” The names of Black queer icons like Marsha P. Johnson and James Baldwin are written up top, as if to watch over the bar and its patrons.

The first floor of the multilevel bar is for drinking, dancing, and live performances.  Upstairs, there’s a bar with a retractable rooftop decorated with images of divas including Beyoncé and Rihanna. There’s also a separate DJ booth there for special events. Televisions mounted on the walls on the second floor will play music videos or live performances from downstairs.

“We have certain intentions for this space, but I really believe that the audience is going to let us know what it’s going to be for them,” Mykals says.

Don’t expect a cover charge, but anticipate hip-hop and R&B to be bumping. There will also be full-time security that that the owners vetted to ensure they are LGBTQ+ friendly.

Queer artists and allies will be invited to perform on stage, and Mykals will likely perform too, as he’s a singer. The co-owners wanted a stage for live performances as they had regularly threw an open mic called Thursday Bliss at local bars for the last 12 years.

They decided to open their lounge because Thursday Bliss regulars often wondered why the Black LGBTQ+ community didn’t have their own permanent space. Burke and Mykals suspect there weren’t LGBTQ+ bars for and by Black people because of the financial risk that comes with opening a business. They saw that firsthand; Thurst Lounge has been two years in the making, and getting the startup funding was their greatest challenge, they say.

“It’s almost like you have to prove yourself before you can get funding, but you need the funding to prove yourself,” Mykals says.

They weren’t able to get bank loans, so relied on their community to manifest their dreams, they say. Family and friends donated and Mykals and Burke invested their own money too. They also partnered with bar owner Mosab “Moe” Salih of Club Elevate and his business partner, Doaa Aldoori. Salih and Aldoori both worked at the now shuttered Stonefish Restaurant & Lounge, where Burke and Mykals sometimes hosted Thursday Bliss. Salih and Aldoori were always supportive of the event over the years, Thurst’s co-founders say.

Their hard work is already paying off; they had a packed opening weekend. The D.C. Council also recognized the lounge for “filling a gap” within the LGBTQ+ nightlife scene for Black and brown people when Capitol Hill bar Bachelor’s Mill was sold, according to a resolution members passed earlier this month.

Mykals and Burke also got support from the local queer bar industry, including Q of Bunker and Ed Bailey of Number Nine and now-closed Town. (Bailey told the City Cast podcast in March the local scene doesn’t have enough queer bar options for people of color.)

While the bar caters to the Black LGBTQ+ community, the owners says Thurst Lounge welcomes everyone. And everyone will enjoy it because it centers Black culture, which is pivotal to American culture, they say.

“Everyone is already enjoying our music, our lingo — all of those things are already in the culture. And it will be great for people just to have a space where they can come and know that’s what you’re going to get here,” Mykals says.

Thurst Lounge is located at 2204 14th St. NW. It’s open Wednesday and Thursdays from 5 p.m.-12 a.m., Fridays from 5 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturdays from 2 p.m.-2 a.m. and Sundays from 2 p.m.-1 a.m.