Frieda Houghton woke up Friday morning to a barrage of frantic messages from friends and family. “Are you okay?” they asked. The night before, it was reported that a fire had broken out at the Gossip Grill just 30 minutes after Horton finished his shift. She works as a bartender at a popular lesbian bar in San Diego.
The Oct. 20 fire started on an outdoor patio, and firefighters on scene were able to get it under control before the flames reached other facilities, but not before incurring an estimated $7,000 in damages. The fire was successfully extinguished. News of the alleged arson at the bar spread quickly in Hillcrest, a prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood in San Diego.
Patrons and fans came together and focused on restoring this haven for the queer community to its former self. However, despite the superficial nature of the fire and the relative ease of the bar’s financial recovery, the fear it aroused among some patrons was not easily quelled.
People who spoke to The Times in the immediate aftermath of the fire said safe spaces are vital to communities in a world where violence against gays and lesbians has become all too common. The incident at Gossip Grill, one of Southern California’s few lesbian bars, has shaken some people’s sense of safety.
Alyssa G (left), Paloma M, Camille K, and Melanie Quijano toast at Gossip Grill on November 4th.
(Gile Deng/Los Angeles Times)
Horton said volunteers with tools in hand rallied the morning after the fire to repair the damage, and tattoo artists also donated proceeds from their work to help recoup losses. The following week, Horton said, business was back to normal, if not busier, as patrons flocked to the store and bought drinks to raise money for repairs.
“I’ve already taken care of that. I got a group of lesbians and a Home Depot card — here we go,” Horton said with a laugh.
There was no evidence that the arson was the result of a hate crime. San Diego police arrested Ryan Hubrell, 38, on two counts of arson, with a special charge of using a device to promote the spread of a fire. Mr. Hubrel has pleaded not guilty and is being held in the San Diego County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail. The judge said that in addition to Gossip Grill, local restaurants owned by the same conglomerate Mo’s Universe Restaurant Group include Hillcrest Brewing Company, Urban MO’s, Inside Out, Baja Betty’s and Barrel & Board. They have also been ordered not to approach.
Hubrel’s next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 18, according to online jail records. The Times was unable to reach Mr. Hubrel’s legal representatives, and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment due to ongoing litigation.
The arson was still fresh in patrons’ minds, but just two weeks later the bar was booming. On Gossip Grill’s dance floor, leftover Halloween decorations hung overhead as people swayed and swayed to a variety of music genres, from Afrobeats to disco.
Gossip Grill is just a skate ride away for Hillcrest resident Melanie Quijano. She has been a regular at the bar for the past five years and on her most recent weekend was celebrating her birthday with a reunion with her friends. She said the Hillcrest community has always welcomed queer residents.
Though shaken by the fire, she remained upbeat. Gossip spread the next day, but it was no problem at all. ”
Two patrons sway to the music on the dance floor at Gossip Grill in San Diego.
(Gile Deng/Los Angeles Times)
Some felt the case should not be dismissed out of hand, whether it was a hate crime or not. Kristin Brill was in San Diego over the weekend attending a Doja Cat concert with her friends when she saw news of the fire on social media. There aren’t many quirky bars in Montana, where Brill lives, which makes her annual visit to Gossip Her Grill even more sacred. The 27-year-old said that regardless of his motives behind the fire, it drowned out the hostility towards the community recorded in the news.
She said attacks like the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida are normalizing violence against gays. “Racism and homophobia are on the rise everywhere,” Brill said. “There’s a ton of anti-trans laws being passed.”
That hatred of LGBTQ+ people is what drives them to seek out safe spaces like Gossip Grill. Camille K. (who declined to give his full name because he is an active military member) recently moved to San Diego for work, and he was overjoyed to be surrounded by others in the queer community. Having grown up in the Midwest, they noted high rates of suicide among queer youth and said isolation and lack of representation could be at the root of it.
“You can go online. You can see people who recognize who you are,” K added. But that online support can’t match the happiness of being physically surrounded by positive expressions. “When you get into this space, it’s a whole new realm.”
And lesbians aren’t the only ones hanging out at Gossip Grill. Hillcrest is a gay town with numerous queer bars lining University Avenue. Anthony Patton, a local social worker who has lived in San Diego for three years, said Gossip Grill ranks among his favorite local bars because of its authentic and warm atmosphere.
“Unlike other bars in the Hillcrest area, I made an instant connection. It’s genuine. I feel free to express myself, dance and be accepted,” said Patton. . At other gay bars, you may notice people forming cliques or becoming critical before starting a friendly conversation. “As a gay black man, Gossip Grill is, oddly enough, the place I feel most at home.”
Anthony Patton dances under decorations left over from Gossip Grill’s Halloween celebration.
(Gile Deng/Los Angeles Times)
On the wall of Gossip Grill’s outdoor patio, a neon pink sign that reads “Welcome Home Beautiful” greets people walking into the bar. “[That’s] That’s our whole motto,” Horton said of the bar’s values. “We want to be your second home.”
Like Horton, bartender Justin Nelson has worked at Gossip Grill since it opened 14 years ago and is affectionately known as the “Lesbro” of the team. Horton remembers watching the bar grow beyond its original location, also in Hillcrest, within six months of opening. “There was literally a little dance floor in front of the bathroom and a DJ sitting by the window,” Horton said. The bar opened in its current location in 2009.
While many other bars closed during the pandemic, this bar survived by finding unique ways to get people to support the business. It also sold bottles of alcohol and home-delivered food. “We literally dressed up in unicorn costumes and handed out food to our guests.”
Gossip Grill bartenders Freida Horton (left) and Lindsey Leavitt prepare Lady Business, one of their non-alcoholic cocktails.
(Gile Deng/Los Angeles Times)
But what has remained true for Horton and Gossip Grill over the years is that whether it means raising awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement or welcoming trans women into the community But it’s a commitment to making space for everyone. This spirit is the basis of our founding. Cultivating a community around the bar is one of Horton’s greatest joys.
“We get to see these baby gays grow up and become incredibly strong members of our community,” Horton said. “And that’s an honor for us, because these guys joined us at 21 years old and are still joining us now that they’re in their mid-to-late 30s.”
Times staff writer Jeremy Childs contributed to this report.
