The Pearl Dissolves LLC, Refunds $83,000 Raised in GoFundMe

When more than $83,000 was raised to save The Pearl in 48 hours this past weekend, it looked like Denver’s only lesbian bar might be saved. But as of Tuesday, April 14 – just four days after the bar’s announcement that it would be closing this month – The Pearl LLC has been dissolved, and those who donated to the GoFundMe are being refunded.

Exactly what will happen to the iconic Mercury Cafe building at 2199 California Street, which The Pearl leased a year ago, as well as the groups supporting events like poetry and swing dancing that have met in the space for decades, is still up in the air. Building ownership rep Danny Newman says that all groups that had deals for events through the Mercury Cafe will continue to have their dates and access to the space. But events booked for The Pearl are less certain.

A Pearl Crushed to Dust

National media outlets covered the rapid donations to The Pearl’s GoFundMe as a feel-good example of queer joy and community support. On April 13, Pearl co-owner Ashlee Cassity told Westword that several investors had stepped forward to either help The Pearl find a new, smaller space or buy the Mercury Cafe building so that The Pearl could continue operating there.

While for the past year the city’s LGBTQ community did find a haven for sapphic and queer events at the venue, things weren’t as pretty behind the scenes, where there were conflicts between staff and business owners, building maintenance problems and miscommunication, according to The Pearl’s owners and staff.

“The space turned into something that I wasn’t proud of,” says Dom Garcia, one of The Pearl’s four owners. “We had a lot of cliques within the business, within the staff, within the ownership – other owners talking with staff about interpersonal things in the business, placing blame on specific owners.”

Garcia adds that they knew The Pearl was facing financial issues and wanted to set up a GoFundMe months ago, but no one else wanted to. When it got to the point of The Pearl not being able to meet payroll, staff and some of the owners decided to close. It was not a conversation Garcia was involved in.

“I had no idea,” Garcia says. “I’m the founder of the business. I own 37.5 percent of the business. I’m a majority stakeholder. Why are these conversations happening without me?”

Asked why Garcia wasn’t involved in the decision, Cassity says that according to The Pearl’s operating agreement, three out of four owners were enough to make the decision.

Garcia says that when it was announced on April 11 that The Pearl would be closing, they decided to put up the GoFundMe in an attempt to save the business and keep the space open. “The staff was upset that I created the GoFundMe, because I guess they didn’t trust me anymore, which is crazy, because I’m the only owner that doesn’t go to the bar and drink and date staff members. I stay home, play Fortnite, and mind my own business.”

On April 14, shift leads from The Pearl posted a statement that “the staff came together and decided unanimously that we could not in good conscience accept these GoFundMe funds with the likely chance of ending up in the exact same position in three months” and that “we have reported the fundraiser as fraudulent and encourage you all to do so as well.”

“We had an issue with the staff and one of our owners,” says Cassity, who refused to name the owner in question. “Over the past few days, some staff and one of the owners went back and forth with each other, and it got out of hand. Last night, the staff had a meeting, and in that meeting, they decided they wanted to refund all of that money and shut down.”

Garcia says that before even seeing the statement, they had decided to refund the money raised from the GoFundMe to the donors. “I decided that the business isn’t operating in the way that I envisioned, and the community deserves more than this. They deserve a staff that treats them with respect and kindness, and the staff wasn’t doing that; they were mistreating people. They were rude and disrespectful to people. This should’ve been an inclusive space for everyone, not just the cool people. So I decided to refund everybody from the GoFundMe this morning. It takes three to seven business days. …All of us owners were talking, and we decided that (The Pearl) is closing, and we’re to dissolve the LLC.”

“We talked about dissolving the LLC, and we talked about a timeline,” Cassity says. “That timeline was never met. We spoke with our liquor license attorney, and we’ll be operating for one farewell party where all of the drinks and door proceeds will be given to staff.”

“If they operate in that space, they will be operating illegally,” Garcia says. “They told me to dissolve the LLC this morning, so I did.”

What’s Next for The Pearl?

While Garcia and Cassity might not agree on everything, they do agree that there’s no longer a future for The Pearl.

“I would have loved to create a new space for the community, but the staff leads have completely defamed my name and turned me into being this horrible person,” Garcia says. “As much as I want to for the community, I don’t think I’ll get the support I need from the community because my name has been falsely trashed.”

Cassity also thinks that the owners, who consist of herself, Garcia, Jonathan Mora and husband-and-wife team Benjamin Oakes and Christy Rivera, have lost the community’s trust because of The Pearl’s vague post about closing on April 11 and subsequent social media backlash. “We were an owners’ group, and when one owner does something, it falls on the other owners.”

As for what that one owner did, Cassity wouldn’t comment. “It’s just a trust issue,” she says. “(Staff) felt like they couldn’t trust that particular owner. I don’t want to get into it too much.”

While Cassity says that she and the other Pearl owners have lost their chance to own a sapphic community space, she wants to help the staff find their own space. “We’re trying to help maybe facilitate finding a space and some investors. That’s not definitive, it’s just an option,” she says.

Cassity adds that investors are still coming to her, and she’s going to direct them toward the staff. Garcia says there are no longer meetings scheduled with investors to their knowledge. “And if there is, I want nothing to do with it,” Garcia says. “I want nothing to do with any of this anymore.”

Cassity thinks that the farewell party will take place at The Pearl this weekend, but those details are still being ironed out.

Sapphic spaces have been hard to maintain in Denver. The city’s last lesbian bar, Blush & Blu, closed in 2024 after developing its own poor reputation and a lawsuit in which multiple employees sued over wage theft and racial discrimination.

“When I opened the space, it was my goal to have a community space for lesbians,” Garcia says. “…If I could go back in time and just have me as the owner and be more present in the space, I wish I could. I’m disappointed in myself that I wasn’t there more and wasn’t more of a support.”

They add that they don’t want anybody to blame The Pearl staff. “At the end of the day, we’re all human, we’re members of this community and we’re all doing our best. It’s easy to point the finger, but if they want to be mad at anybody, be mad at me. The staff truly were the backbone. …Nearly thirty people are out of a job now, and that’s really sad. I hope the community that donated to The Pearl will take those funds and donate to the staff and members of the community.”

“I appreciate the community for everything they’ve done for us, and I appreciate the staff for always riding with us,” Cassity echoes. “As much as it hurts, I hope another space will open. The community needs it.”

What’s Next for 2199 California Street and the Longstanding Groups That Meet There?

With The Pearl legally out of the building, the fate of 2199 California Street rests squarely with the team of Danny Newman, his wife, and business partner Austin Gayer, who bought the building from its original owner, Marilyn Megenity, in 2021.

In 1990, Megenity bought the building as a permanent home for the Mercury Cafe, which had long been a cultural home and hotspot for poets, dancers, astrologists, tarot readers, musicians and other misfits. When she retired and sold the building to Newman and his team, Newman tried to keep the Mercury Cafe going, but ran into his own challenges with building maintenance, staffing, financing and personal difficulties.

After Newman leased the space to The Pearl last spring and Garcia and Cassity promised to keep the iconic Mercury events going, everyone was hopeful. Now the building needs a little more hope…or an angel investor to turn it into a nonprofit art space.