Iconic NYC lesbian bar Meow Mix reunites regulars two decades after shuttering

Through the late 1990s and early 2000s, a Manhattan lesbian bar called Meow Mix was a home for queer outsiders.

Through the late 1990s and early 2000s, a Manhattan lesbian bar called Meow Mix was a home for queer outsiders.

An East Village dive with a capacity less than 120 and a tiny stage, Meow Mix offered space to lesbians and their friends at a time when queer spaces were highly segregated by identities and interests, and could often be discriminatory.

“I remember going to another lesbian bar, which I won’t name, and somebody said, ‘Are you in costume?’” musician JD Samson told NBC News. “I remember thinking, like, ‘Wow, like, I’m just a freak weirdo person, and this is not my space.’”

JD Samson DJs at at Schimanski in New York City in 2022.Santiago Felipe / Getty Images fileSamson, best known for being part of the band Le Tigre, was among those who found her fit at Meow Mix. Opened by Brooke Webster in 1996, Meow Mix was a community space, a watering hole and a live music venue all in one. It hosted live bands, DJs, burlesque dancers, drag acts, performance art, theme nights, fundraisers and community events every night of the week.

Meow Mix, a space centered on queer women that prioritized sex positivity and inclusivity along the gender spectrum, had a “rock ‘n’ roll vibe,” said entertainer Justin Vivian Bond, who remembered it as the only queer-friendly lesbian bar in the Village at the time. “It just felt like home.”