Owner of Philly sports bar for queer women responds to allegations of racism and transphobia

The owner of Marsha’s, a queer women’s sports bar in Philadelphia, has responded to allegations of racism and transphobia that have spread online in the past week.

These allegations were first leveled by a former employee, Olivia Rhodes, who took to social media to speak about the environment at Marsha’s following her termination earlier this month.

In a video released on social media on April 18, Rhodes claims that “Marsha’s may claim to be a queer safe space, but it is nothing like that.”

Rhodes accused the bar’s general manager, Rylan Murphy, of creating a hostile work environment and disparaging female employees and employees of color. At one point, Rhodes said Murphy made a comment that the women and nonbinary employees of the bar were “overly emotional” and should be replaced with men, because it needs “more testosterone.” Rhodes further claimed that, shortly after that comment was made, the bar started to hire more male employees.

Rhodes also claimed that Murphy yelled at her for 30 minutes when she approached him about the lack of representation on staff at the bar. Rhodes said that a week later, she was fired, despite having been told she “exceeds expectations” at her work in an employee review just one month earlier. The review also applauded her for “honest and open communication” and “professionalism and care,” per Philadelphia Gay News, which obtained the document.

Rhodes told Philadelphia Gay News that bar owner Chivonn Anderson called the police on her after she asked why she was being terminated. Rhodes said she left before police arrived, but that the police called on her again when she returned the next day to protest. Her termination paperwork claimed she was fired “due to a continued misalignment with the company’s operating practices and standards.”

Rhodes also alleged in her original video that leadership had made comments about playing music in the bar by Black artists, specifically about Megan Thee Stallion being “ghetto” and “too Black,” and suggested white artists to play instead.

Another former employee, Seisha Mason, told PGN that she has filed a complaint with the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission following her abrupt termination on April 12, just five days before Rhodes was let go. Mason said she was treated poorly and that management retaliated against her when she expressed her concerns. She also said she did not receive a response from Anderson when asked why she was being fired.

Anderson responded to the allegations in a video message issued Wednesday. She opened the video by explaining that she had opened Marsha’s as a space for women’s sports, the queer community, especially “Black queers and Black trans folk.”

“Y’all deserve a space that is meant to feel safe, respectful, and affirming,” Anderson said. Anderson said the bar had started an internal review process that included speaking with independent human resources and DEI consultants “to make sure we continue to hold ourselves accountable.”

“We are committed — I am committed — to regaining your trust,” Anderson added.

The video’s conciliatory tone was noticeably different from the one that Anderson posted the day before, in which she accused Rhodes of making “false statements” about Marsha’s that “could not be further from the truth,” per a transcript by PGN.

Rhodes also posted leaked text messages that she said were from a group chat of Marsha’s leadership on her Instagram page earlier this week. The messages include texts attributed to Murphy saying that Rhodes has “no friends” and “doesn’t hang out with people,” adding that, because “all she has is socials” the pushback from her allegations “won’t last long.” Them could not independently verify the veracity of the text messages.

Several event partners that have previously worked with Marsha’s are now looking elsewhere for venues to host them, per PGN.

Marsha’s opened in September and was Philadelphia’s first sports bar focused on queer women, according to CBS News, who covered the event as a “long-awaited dream” for the city. “[I] decided to call it Marsha’s as a way to honor one of the founding mothers of the queer LGBTQ movement back in the ’60s because I’m an out queer woman,” Anderson told CBS News.

In March, police investigated Marsha’s following reports that it was operating without proper permits and serving alcohol to minors, per WPVI. Up to 20 law enforcement officers showed up to Marsha’s to investigate the claims — an incident some said was a harsh reminder of the long history of police presence in Philadelphia queer spaces.

Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ bar scene has a long history of dealing with instances of racism, including in September 2016, when video showed Darryl DePiano, owner of the now-closed bar iCandy, using the N-word to refer to Black patrons.

This story was originally published on Them.