The New Cobalt
Mark Rutstein, general manager of Cobalt/30°/LevelOne, submitted this piece. 
The District has changed a lot over the last few years: people, neighborhoods, administrations. Nightlife in DC has evolved, as well. In the fall of 2008, Cobalt/30° hired me as their new general manager, resulting in a staff overhaul, a new restaurant, LevelOne, and, most importantly, a reversal of many of the old exclusionary policies.
The “no high heel” rule is gone. Done. Check out this article in the Washington City Paper. So, welcome back ladies, we’re sorry. We are also working on recreating our identity. While Cobalt/30° will always self-identify as a gay bar, it is in no way meant to be strictly a “gay establishment for gay people.” Dupont Circle is no longer the gay ghetto it was in the past; it is now a mixed neighborhood, filled with all sorts of people of different sexualities, races and socioeconomic backgrounds. And all are welcome.
We’ve also begun holding a series of events reaching out to often-marginalized queer communities. Our rotating Saturday nights include the successful aZen, produced by Aqua for the Asian and Pacific Islander queer community. Bare, by luRe, catering to queer women. And at the end of this month we will be debuting SHIFT, an indie/electro night geared towards the alternative queer community.
Cobalt/30° strives to be a neighborhood bar; a space where anyone can feel welcome and comfortable. Change takes time (we know, the website needs work), so please be patient with us, we’re working on it. So, come by, have a drink (we’ve got buy-one-get-one-free happy hours every day, $1 drinks on Thursdays and open bar Friday nights – hey, times are tough!) and check out the New Cobalt. And if you’ve got any suggestions or ideas, let us know; we’re listening.
See you all at the bar!
8 comments:
Bravo. A female friend told me about a time that she was refused entry to Cobalt because of the infamous "high heel" rule... and how she's hated the place ever since.
At the time I defended the place -- maybe high heels really were bad for the floors. Ever the naive optimist, I just couldn't imagine that a gay bar of all places would put a blatantly discriminatory policy like that into place, then wallpaper it with some bullshit rationalization. Silly me.
But I'm glad the policy's gone, and glad that you're getting out there and making things right.
As a gay woman who has been denied entry in he past for my footwear (and felt pretty uncomfortable the other times I'd been there-- I can't explain how hard it was to get a drink unless I asked one of my male friends to order for me) I definitely applaud the steps you're taking.
Keep up the good work, hopefully you'll earn back the parts of the DC community that you lost in the past.
Worry less about admiting straights and more about making the place less boring.
I was at Cobalt after a LONG hiatus and it does feel quite different. Keep up the good work... nice to have a place other than the Fox to go on 17th street :)
I don't go to Cobalt b/c it is sad. Its like going back in time 20 years.
Can you do something about the body bag sized purses straight women carry in and then proceed to bump, smack and whack every other person in sight with nary an apology?
When I'm in any gay bar and women are there getting drunk and shrieking I feel like I'm in Disneyland at the It's a Small World Ride. Except I'm the ride and they are just traveling through on little boats staring at me/us and pointing as we sing and dance for them like animatronic puppets.
I don't care most of the time if they're in a gay bar but sometimes it really ruins my evening and I feel like saying, "get the fuck outta my bar". It's not that their women but that they're straight. It's not like any random gay dude can go to a straight bar and do the same without getting beaten up or at least fearing that will happen.
As long as they keep the outdoor/sidewalk area open for drinks in the warmer months, I don't care who's there!
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