16-03-2025
Boycott Bar celebrates 8 years of community in Melrose "gayborhood"
Audrey Corley attributes the success of owning Phoenix's only lesbian bar for eight years to the power of community.
"Everyone asks me how I do what I do, but it's not just me doing it. I'm surrounded by amazing people," Corley said.
The bar's bright pink sign has long been a welcoming landmark along the 7th Ave. curve in the Melrose business district.
Boycott Bar, named one of USA Today's best bars of 2024, celebrated its eighth anniversary in Melrose on March 8 with an all-night party that kicked off at 8 p.m.
Though the tongue-in-cheek name might suggest it's exclusive to women, Corley's philosophy has always been that everyone is welcome, as long as they're not rude.
In 2017, Corley purchased the bar from Rhonda Walden and her partner, Char Ortega, after Walden personally reached out to her, expressing she wanted her to buy the bar.
Corley, and her long-time friend, Nicole Ennis, went to work revitalizing the historically lesbian bar space into yet another lesbian bar in the form of Boycott.
"For me, it was very important to get to Melrose," Corley said, "when I would do these parties and events, it was very important to have a safe space here."
Boycott Bar was featured in The Lesbian Bar Project, a documentary series and campaign dedicated to chronicling the stories of the last-standing lesbian bars still open across the country.
The project arose at a time when there were 22 dedicated lesbian bars left across the country. Lesbian Bar Project is returned to Boycott Bar Thursday, in a recap of the bar's episode that aired in October 2022.
Now that Boycott's a staple of the "gayborhood," Corley is in the process of expanding her brand.
Title 9 Sports Grill is celebrating its grand opening this weekend, just steps from Boycott along the Melrose strip. The bar honors Corley's sports background and celebrates women athletes.
The name is inspired by Title IX legislation, which has gained traction in the recent political arena.
A collaboration between Corley and Kat Moore, co-founder of Short Leash Hot Dogs —Title 9 Sports Grill will be the first women's sports bar in Phoenix. It will join the ranks of Sports Bra in Portland, A Bar of Their Own in Minneapolis, and Whiskey Girl Tavern in Chicago.
Just east of the Melrose curve, Corley opened Dahlia Tapas, Tequila, and Wine on Seventh Street in 2023. Named after her partner's favorite flower, the fine-dining restaurant offers a menu focused on tapas, tequila and wine, as the name suggests.
According to Corley, collaboration is key for both Melrose and the LGBTQ+ community in Phoenix. She believes that's the secret ingredient to her success.
"When we came here, we were happy to be a part of the community because it's such a great community. It's community at the best sense of the world," Corley said, "There's a lot of good things on this little mile strip.
Its community, long-term friendships, and cultivating a sense of family have carried Corley and her staff through the years. Not to mention her mother, a regular at many of Corley's events. In fact, Corley's mother was circling the neighborhood during Corley's first lesbian party event 21 years ago.
After about a decade in the industry, Corley launched an event for queer women in 2004. While Phoenix had other lesbian bars at the time, like Cash Inn Country and zGirl Club (formerly Misty's), Corley wanted to create a stylish night out where women could dress up and connect with others. The event debuted at Blac-a-Zoli Grill on Seventh Street.
Corley said she told her mother to sit this one out, unsure if the event would be a success. However, the valet later spotted her mom circling the block and invited her in to witness the event's success.
"She was super proud," Corley said.
Corley had told the owner she expected maybe 180-200 attendees at best but came through with a whopping 452. The numbers kept growing.
Though not everyone on the Melrose strip has always been attuned to the spirit of collaboration or been supportive of the only lesbian bar in Phoenix, Corley said she's not one to point fingers or focus on the negative.
"I'm not going to let a couple of bad apples ruin the fruit basket," she said.
When Corley came out as a teenager, safe spaces for gay people — especially young lesbians—were hard to find. She found a sense of community through sports.
In fact, Corley credits basketball with saving her life. After being expelled from high school in her senior year, she found herself at a crossroads, realizing she needed to change her path. She attended Phoenix College—'Go Bears!'—where she earned her GED and later a business degree with a psychology minor. During that time, she played college basketball and eventually started coaching.
It was around that time that she met Ennis. Corley coached her for a while, and years later, brought her onto the Boycott team, alongside another long-time bartender, Joselyn Yariel Martinez.
Though gay spaces are more abundant and certainly more open than they were in the past, the current political climate has brought about a backward shift in how safe people feel attending those spaces, said Corley.
"It was different growing up, it was unsafe — it's still unsafe, let's be real — I think we've made progress, but it is sad to see the progress we've made being hindered right now," Corley said.
Recent legislation that has targeted the rights of marginalized communities like the LGBTQ+ community has made LGBTQ+ spaces more relevant than ever, according to Corley.
"It's not a time to be afraid, but to show out with love," Corley said.
"It's sad that we still have to think about this, but it's also a chance for us to come together, stay together and build each other up. We're going to be here and keeping loving how we love," she said.
At her "Fifty and Fabulous Birthday Bash" last month at Boycott, Corley delivered an important message to the community: at 50, not only was she here to stay, but so was the LGBTQ+ community.
"It was a privilege denied to many, so I'm grateful I'm still here and surrounded by people I love," Corley said, "anything with greatness is usually a group of people, a team. I'm very lucky to have the supportive team I have. I walk into my spaces and my heart feels full."
As for being 50 and still in the same business?
"I'm a bartender at heart, always will be," she said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Boycott, only local lesbian bar, celebrates 8 years in Melrose
