BIG News: Queer Bar Sold To Cuff Owners!!!

Every Pride, there’s pretty much always some kind of drama or big news…over the years, we’ve had Drag Queen Drama, and Seattle Pride Drama, and, Political Drama, and just general soap opera shenanigans. For Pride 2026, it’s a simpler kind of drama…it’s just the news that Queer Bar has been sold to the owners of The Cuff Complex. Which is a bit of a full circle moment because  Joey Burgess and husband Murf Hall the QB owners and real life husbands duo, formerly owned The Cuff and sold it to Scott Walent in March of 2025. Now, Walent and his business partner Dustin Akers are taking over the ownership of Queer Bar with Burgess/Hall bowing out immediately after Seattle Pride week is over.

Joey Burgess sent me this statement:

We’ve decided to pass the baton on our nightclub ownership because, simply put, we’ve grown into a different chapter of life. Over the years, my priorities have shifted toward family, my other businesses, and the parts of life that now require more of my energy and attention. From the very beginning, I always envisioned nightlife being a ten-year chapter for us… and after an incredible decade, it feels like the right time to close that chapter with gratitude.

I also believe deeply that nightlife deserves owners and operators who are fully immersed in the culture and community they serve. I don’t go out the way I once did, and I never wanted to become disconnected from the social community I was helping shape. The scene deserves presence, passion, and fresh energy.

Lastly & most honestly, I’m tired! I’m looking forward to taking a breath, spending more time with my fam, and focusing on new projects and opportunities in the neighborhood ahead.

I’m incredibly proud of what we built together and grateful that I was able to help keep nightlife alive through the pandemic and throughout the past decade. That journey means a lot to me.  The buyers are Dustin Akers and Scott Walent, and they are planning and setting programming for the next chapter of Queer/Bar under their stewardship.  I’ll be finishing out this Pride season and will be transitioning to new projects in July. 

Burgess/Hall will continue their ownership of Elliot Bay Book Company with Tracy Taylor, as well as the restaurants, Oddfellows Cafe and Little Oddfellows, inside Elliot Bay Book, and The Gemini Room, cocktail lounge. All these businesses are located in the Pike/Pine retail and entertainment corridor on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, the homebase for Seattle’s LGBTQ+ community for many decades.

Queer Bar (or, as it was originally styled: “queer/bar”) opened in the Fall of 2017 taking over the space at 1518 11th Ave between Pike Street and Pine Street that had been the location of Purr Cocktail Lounge, owned by Barbie Humphrey who was forced out after a rent hike. There was controversy at the time over some hurt feelings from fans of Purr and Barbie who felt she had been poorly treated by the landlord. And, some were put off by the use of the word “queer” as part of the new bar’s name.

But, Joey Burgess also won over many people with Queer Bar’s flamboyant, drag focused programming which brought not only the bar’s weekly MX. drag show which originally starred RuPaul’s Drag Race star Robbie Turner with a large cast of regulars, but also many other drag related events and special out of town guests. Queer Bar also became the home bar for several new RPDR stars that were generously sponsored by Burgess/Hall including major talents like Bosco, Irene the Alien, Arrietty, and Jane Don’t.

We’re reaching out to new ownership to see if they have any big changes in store for Queer Bar.

Stay tuned.