D.C. bar owner announces new partnership to save one of America’s last lesbian bars

The owner of two LGBTQ+ bars in Washington, D.C., is bringing in a business partner to help preserve one of the nation’s last remaining lesbian bars.

Longtime LGBTQ+ business owner Dave Perruzza, the owner of gay sports bar Pitchers DC, announced a partnership with HV Entertainment. The company will take a 49 percent stake in both Pitchers and its lesbian sister establishment, A League of Her Own, which operates in an adjacent space at the same address. Perruzza will retain a 51 percent majority stake, while HV will take operational control of both bars, Metro Weekly reported.

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The partnership follows financial pressures Perruzza previously linked to the Trump administration’s federal law enforcement crackdown in Washington. In an August 2025 interview with The Advocate, Perruzza said out-of-town customers had vanished during a normally busy Friday, estimating a $7,000 loss that night. He described the scene as “like a desert” and warned, “That’s not sustainable.”

An announcement on Pitchers DC’s Facebook page stressed that the change should not significantly affect patrons’ experience.

“Pitchers DC and A League Of Her Own are teaming up with HV Entertainment, a growing family of LGBTQ+ bars around the country. The team you know and love is staying hands-on, and this partnership gives us the backing to keep both bars exactly what they’ve always been. Yours,” the post reads.

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“Same familiar faces behind the bar, same game days, same drag, same trivia. Same corner of the neighborhood so many of you have made home. What’s changing is behind the scenes, with a shared commitment to making sure Pitchers and ALOHO are here for the long haul. These spaces mean so much because of the people who fill them. Thank you for showing up, supporting us, and making this community what it is. We don’t take your trust lightly.”

Perruzza, who opened the complex in 2018, told Metro Weekly that finding the right business partner was a priority.

“I built these bars for our community, and finding the right partner mattered more to me than anything else,” Perruzza said. “HV gets it. They own and run these kinds of spaces the right way, and I know Pitchers and A League of Her Own are in good hands as we grow together.”

HV already owns LGBTQ+ businesses in Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas.

“Getting to be part of Pitchers and A League of Her Own is a real honor, and coming into D.C. is something we have wanted to do for a long time,” said Arthur Hood, co-owner of HV Entertainment, in a statement to Metro Weekly. “We are not here to change what already works. We are here to listen, to learn what this community needs and wants, and to put our resources behind keeping these doors open for a long time. Having a true lesbian bar in our family means a great deal to us. There are so few of them left, and protecting that is exactly why we do this.”

For A League of Her Own, the partnership carries particular significance: It is one of about three dozen remaining lesbian bars in the country, according to the Lesbian Bar Project.