Denver Lesbian Bar Closes Despite Raising $83K on GoFundMe
The Pearl, closed after racking up tens of thousands in back taxes and facing mounting financial troubles, refunded the $83K in donations.
The Pearl, Denver’s only lesbian bar, has closed despite raising $83,000 through a GoFundMe campaign aimed at keeping the business afloat.
The Pearl’s co-owner Dom Garcia said in an April 11 Instagram post that the bar would close at the end of the month. He wrote on the GoFundMe page that the campaign was launched to cover back rent and employee wages.
Garcia told Denverite that the campaign’s initial $80,000 goal would not be enough to sustain the bar long-term, noting the business was behind on rent, property taxes, and salaries, and had incurred additional costs repairing the aging building that once housed the iconic Denver Mercury Cafe, which shut down last year.
Within 24 hours, the GoFundMe had reportedly raised more than $83,000. But on April 14, several staff members wrote in a separate 12-page Instagram post that they could not “in good conscience accept the GoFundMe funds with the likely chance of ending up in the exact same position in three months.”
The post encouraged people to report the GoFundMe as fraudulent and explained how to do so.
“Due to the lack of accountability as well as the mismanagement of finances, trust between specific people on the ownership team and staff has been broken,” the staffers alleged, accusing The Pearl’s owners of lacking a plan to keep the bar afloat.
The statement also claimed staffers had shown up to work without pay for more than a week, underscoring their commitment to the LGBTQ community.
“It deeply saddens us that the trust and respect that we have worked tirelessly to earn from our community was jeopardized and we cannot continue sacrificing our integrity to keep the space open,” they wrote.
In response, Garcia requested that all donations be refunded, writing on the GoFundMe page, “I want to again thank you for your support, however we are working with gofundme to return all donations to you.”
On April 15, the city of Denver locked the doors and seized the property, claiming that Dom Garcia and Ashlee Cassity, operators of The Pearl, owe more than $56,000 in back taxes.
The bar operated for just over a year after taking over the former Denver Mercury Cafe space in March 2025.
The building’s owners — Danny Newman, Christy Kruzick, and Austin Gayer — purchased the space from Marilyn Megenity, founder of the Mercury, in 2021 for $2.07 million. According to The Denver Clarion, they later leased it to the operators of a pop-up bar called Pearl Divers, who renamed the venue The Pearl after taking over the space.
Operating the bar proved to be an overwhelming undertaking, with owners reportedly spending $11,000 per week on live music and staffing, including security, bartenders, and kitchen and cafe workers, according to co-owner Ashlee Cassity. Plumbing problems — including broken pipes, a broken water heater, and malfunctioning coolers — further drained the bar’s finances.
Cassity told Westword that maintenance for the aging building, along with operating costs and property taxes, strained the business. Although the bar tried to boost revenue by moving its open mic poetry night from Friday to Sunday to make room for ticketed Friday events, it continued to struggle.
“It just took a downturn,” Cassity said of business. “One bad week put us in the hole, the next week we were playing catch-up, and the next week we couldn’t pay payroll. The way we keep our doors open — and it costs so much to keep open — is bodies in the door. And we do have bodies in the door, but buying drinks has slowed down a whole lot, and that’s how we make our money.”
While the bar is now closed, staffers wrote in their Instagram post, “Trust us when we say this, this is not the end of The Pearl.”
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