Customers of Triangle Bar say goodbye to one of Denver's first LGBTQ+ establishments

After nearly 50 years, one of Denver's first LGBTQ+ establishments is saying goodbye. The owners of the Triangle Bar say they're closing due to ongoing safety concerns with homeless encampments surrounding their business.

"We've tried really hard to make it a safe space for all of our community, the LGBT community, and I think we've done a really good job of that," managing partner Scott Coors said.

Following one of the city's homeless cleanups that affected their area, Triangle Bar's owner wrote: "For one single afternoon, we had our neighborhood back. Less than 24 hours later, camps returned, and despite our pleas, have seen no action from the city to stop the re-entrenchment."

Some customers say they have visited Triangle Bar for decades and have many special memories, and some have even found their life partners there.

"So many people have met and made connections here and I love the fact that we could do this for this community," Coors said.

On Sunday Michael Ragsdale said he's been a fan of Triangle Bar for a long time. 

"I used to cruise here in the 90s when I would come up to go skiing," he said. "I met my husband here in 2001. It's an important part of the community."

Ragsdale couldn't help but reflect on what the establishment has meant to him over the years.

"It was the people that I met here, that became my longtime friends and it's where you go when you're a gay person to find people like you and be comfortable."

Over the weekend the bar held its last "Beer Bust" event -- a fundraiser held at the bar on Sundays for the past 5 years. A total of 25% of the funds raised in the Original Legendary Charity Beer Bust events have gone to Triangle Bar's charity partners.

"I feel sad, definitely Sunday beer bust is a tradition like no other," William Johnson said at the bar on Sunday.

For their final Beer Bust, the bar supported the Rocky Mountain Rainbeaus, a square dancing group that competes nationally. Now the organization will look for another location to host the event, since Triangle Bar will no longer be around and will remain only a fond memory for many as it closes its doors due to the ongoing safety concerns.

As Ragsdale poured beer as a volunteer on Sunday for the last Beer Bust, he shared that he is a Denver native, but had moved to San Antonio, Texas for a couple of years. He was unable to be himself at the time in San Antonio, Texas due to the politics at the time.  Once he came back to Denver in the 2000s, the Triangle Bar is where he found comfort and the courage to live in his truth.

The owner says he wants to be clear he only has good intentions about the city's homeless situation.

"I'm not anti homeless, I just want these people to get the help they need and a lot of them won't, so that's my concern," he said.

The City of Denver shared the following response in response to questions about the homeless issues:

From day one, new Mayor Mike Johnston's highest priority has been to bring 1,000 unsheltered residents indoors by the end of the year and to close the encampments where those folks had been living. Encampments are not only unsafe and unhealthy for the people living in them, but they also pose significant risks to housed residents and Denver's businesses.

Operating under the authority of the Mayor's state of emergency, multiple outreach, engagement and enforcement teams are on the streets addressing these challenges every day, operating with a greater sense of urgency than ever before in Denver's history. Teams from the Mayor's Office have engaged with business, including The Triangle bar, and attended a conversation with these businesses as hosted by Councilman Watson at Triangle Bar itself. 

While we acknowledge the progress made so far, we also understand the urgency of the situation and are fully aware of the challenges we face in meeting our ambitious goal. As Mayor Johnston and his team continue to identify potential micro-community locations, they will take community feedback from the town halls into consideration to deliver the best solution both for unhoused Denverites and for neighborhoods and businesses.

For now, there are no plans to re-open the establishment.