A Philadelphia gay sports bar will close its doors this weekend after members of the LGBTQIA+ community accused it of a cocktail of egregious behavior, including transphobia, misogyny and a host of microaggressions.
With Game 1 of the WNBA Finals scheduled for Saturday afternoon, instead of a celebration of all things strange, Marsha’s South Street will hold its own funeral. After facing serious allegations that the bar wasn’t gay enough, black queer bar owner Chivonn Anderson tried to hold on, but ultimately had no choice but to quit during the holy grail of gay sports bars.
In 2026, it is possible for gays to rally against a gay bar and shut it down on the eve of the WNBA finals. Marsha in Philadelphia discovered what happens when the gay community launches a war against an establishment. (Getty Images)
“It is with heavy hearts that we have decided to close Marsha’s doors for good. We have loved serving this community and still believe that more than ever, this city needs more women/queer/BIPOC owned businesses,” Anderson wrote Thursday on the bar’s Instagram page.
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“To all our beloved regulars and supporters, we will miss you! Come see us this weekend and say goodbye. We will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday for one last hurrah before we close,” she added.
How is it possible that a gay sports bar in Philadelphia isn’t gay enough? It all started in April when Olivia Rhodes, a black trans manager and bartender, claimed the place was hell for gay people. “Marsha’s may claim to be a queer safe space, but it’s nothing like that,” Rhodes said on Instagram.
It was the ultimate insult.
The news spread quickly. Fair or not, Marsha was in trouble. Rhodes also claimed that the bar’s general manager, Rylan, said that non-binary gay men were “too emotional, too sensitive” and that the place needed to hire more men because the bar could use “more testosterone.”
You understand. The workers wanted this place to be much gayer. No more trans.
“Marsha’s has a long history of misogyny and racism that is inconsistent with the queer identity she claims and represents,” Rhodes charged.
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Another former worker, a mixed-race, bisexual woman, said she was also treated poorly. There have also been allegations made on Reddit by an employee who claims the head chef misgendered workers. “Marsha’s is actively and explicitly not a queer space, it’s at BEST a space for cis white lesbians who come to ogle the 3-4 minorities who pass by each night and at worst it’s just a straight sports bar half-heartedly marketed as vaguely lesbian adjacent,” one Reddit user added.
Anderson did his best to weather the storm. She even bent the knee in a September Instagram post that was clearly an all-court shot to save her business as the WNBA playoffs were in full swing.
“We have trained staff on biased language and microaggressions,” the bar owner wrote. “We have a zero tolerance policy against hatred and prejudice. We have worked and will continue to work with incredible restorative justice practitioners in our community who have held us accountable. We’ve done the work and we want to continue growing.
Too late. The gays have already canceled you, Chivonn. Now you’re having a funeral as Angel Reese announces her first WNBA Finals.
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“It needs to be liquidated,” the angry Reddit user wrote about the bar in April.
Mission accomplished.
Gn sports
