Businesses
Businesses owned by or friendly to the LGBTQ+ community are important, as they offer individuals safe places to shop, eat, and congregate. While Montgomery County residents have often had to venture into the city to find gay-friendly businesses, a few have operated in Montgomery County over the years.
Cadmus Books
The first Cadmus Books, an adult bookstore, opened in January 1976 in a Wheaton shopping center and was owned by two women. The co-owners wanted the bookstore to appeal to women as a safe and aesthetic space. A second location later opened in Silver Spring. Both Cadmus I and II were listed in Damron's Guide, indicating that they were friendly businesses to LGBTQ+ customers.
Westwood Restaurant
Located in Silver Spring, the Westwood Restaurant was purchased by two lesbians around 1980. The Washington Blade featured the restaurant in June 1981 and noted that it served a predominantly heterosexual business clientele during the day, and a bustling gay crowd during the night when the bar opened.
Ads for Red Capricorn (Above: The Washington Blade, 7/1/94; Below: The Washington Blade, 9/30/94)
Red Capricorn
Red Capricorn was Montgomery County's first gay bar. It opened in summer 1994 and was located at 12222 Rockville Pike. Red Capricorn endeavored to fill an important gap for the local LGBTQ+ community, as the area had never had a bar that explicitly served it. While the bar was only open until early 1995, when difficulties with its liquor license forced its closure, it was briefly a touchstone for the community, serving as a meeting place for local groups like the Montgomery County Gay and Lesbian Interests Consortium and Salutaris, the NIH's gay and lesbian group.
The Washington Post described Red Capricorn in its August 1994 feature of the bar:
"The formerly tres gray room is now simply white and takes advantage of the cinderblock building's only architectural virtue, its windows. Along with the simple wooden tables and director's canvas chairs, the whitewash gives the whole bar an easy verandah style. It also serves as a backdrop for the art -- paintings, sketches and currently some simultaneously light-hearted and sturdily graceful metal sculpture that seem half-"found," half-formulated.
There is no bar in the usual Pike definition, just a gab counter with an espresso machine, a couple dozen syrups for Italian seltzers and some teas, plus light snacks such as a cheese plate, a little Triscuit business and cheesecake. Once the kitchen gets going, with a vegetarian and mostly light-fare menu, they will serve light alcohol -- beer and wine only -- and nice (loose leaf) herbal teas. In the meantime, patrons are welcome to brown-bag food or even order carryout. (There is smoking, but not much, and the fan system seems quite efficient.)"
De Lounge
De Lounge was an openly gay nightclub and sports lounge located at 11305 Georgia Avenue in Wheaton. When it was opened in 2003 by Wheaton native Johnny Weber, De Lounge was the only gay club in Montgomery County.
"Since September, men have come from Gaithersburg, Silver Spring and as far north as Columbia and Baltimore to chat at the bar or, on weekends, get down to the relentless beat of house and trance music. De Lounge is an oasis on the gay club scene, which is centered around the twin poles of Dupont Circle and the Navy Yard. 'I don't know why' nobody else has opened a gay bar in Montgomery County, says the affable Webber. 'I guess people were just afraid of what's proper to do.'"
(The Washington Post, 10/24/03).
These are probably just a few of the LGBTQ-owned or friendly businesses in Montgomery County's history. Beyond advertisements and brief mentions in local newspapers, we currently lack detailed information about their stories and meaning for the community.
Do you have memories or photos about these businesses or others in Montgomery County? We want to hear from you!