A long-awaited dream is becoming reality on one of Philadelphia’s most iconic streets.
Marsha’s, the city’s first queer women-focused sports bar, officially opens its doors Friday on South Street, a neighborhood rich with history and self-expression.
For owner Chivonn Anderson, this opening isn’t just a business milestone; it’s personal.
“Being open for Red October is going to be really exciting,” said Anderson. “I know that the city is ready for something like Marsha’s.”
The bar is designed to be a welcoming, inclusive space that highlights local sports and centers queer women; two communities often left out of traditional sports bar culture.
“It’s a women-focused sports bar,” Anderson said. “Where we also highlight local sports because you can’t have a sports bar in Philly and not show the Birds or the Phils.”
The bar’s opening is a response to a growing need in the LGBTQ+ community, especially among queer women.
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Whitney Zimmerman, the head bartender at Marsha’s, said Philly has long been missing a space like this.
“This city’s needed a space like this for a really long time,” Zimmerman said. “It’s like there’s nowhere for us to go.”
According to The Lesbian Bar Project, there are just 38 lesbian bars left in the United States, a sharp decline driven by factors like rising rents, gentrification and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m beyond thankful to be here,” Zimmerman added.
For Anderson, the South Street location has deep roots. It was where she once found freedom and comfort as a teenager, discovering her identity.
“When I came out in the ’90s, this is where I would come and hang out and feel like I could kinda be myself,” she said.
The bar is named after Marsha P. Johnson, one of the most iconic figures in LGBTQ+ history and a key figure in the Stonewall uprising of 1969.
“Decided to call it Marsha’s as a way to honor one of the founding mothers of the queer LGBTQ movement back in the ’60s because I’m an out queer woman,” Anderson explained. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her and all the other people that said, ‘No more, we deserve equal rights and to be seen and to be safe.'”
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More than just a bar, Anderson hopes Marsha’s will be a place of belonging, celebration and freedom for future generations.
“The new kids that are coming out, that are like 21, 22, and this being the first queer-focused, women-focused space that they’ve actually come into, they’ll remember that for the rest of their lives,” Anderson said.
Marsha’s South Street is located at 430 South Street and will celebrate its grand opening Friday at 4 p.m.
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