One of the few queer-women bars left in the country was a victim of arson on Friday, and the owners are stressing that it wasn’t a hate crime.

As stated on their Instagram bio, Gossip Grill is a “women-forward safe space,” with the trans flag to signal that it is trans-friendly on top of being queer-friendly. The bar is based in Hillcrest, known as the center of the LGBTQ scene in San Diego, Calif.

The fact that there are just 27 lesbian bars left in the US today makes the incident even more significant. Since their peak in the 1980s, when there were around 200 in the country, lesbian bars have been on the decline, according to The Lesbian Bar Project, which chronicles the few remaining spaces focused on queer women, trans and nonbinary people.

Gentrification and rising rent has been a major issue for lesbian bars, according to Krista Burton, author of Moby Dyke, an investigation of the disappearance of America’s lesbian bars.

In an interview with the Washington Post, she opens up about struggling to keep track of the lesbian bars that kept closing, especially given the pandemic’s financial impact on queer and trans-owned businesses.

“It is incredibly sad when a place closes, because what ends is that time in our lives,” Burton said to the Washington Post.

Lesbian bars still matter to the LGBTQ community – they’re important community spaces where people of marginalized genders can gather to socialize, support each other, and feel safe and accepted. The destruction of a lesbian bar can feel like a huge loss to the entire LGBTQ community.

“[Lesbian bars] are community centers, they’re fun places to meet other lesbians and/or bisexual women. And they can be sexy spaces,” said feminist writer Roxane Gay in The Smithsonian in 2021. “I think that they’re vital.”

Gossip Grill co-owner Moe Girton and her wife were already in bed by the time both of their phones rang nonstop at 12:30 AM on Friday. Girton’s bar had a fire on both patios, and she was struggling to comprehend the situation.

“I was trying to wrap my head around it—I just couldn’t even fathom it,’” she said. “I was like, ‘Wait, what? No, I’m not hearing this. Wait, what? What do you mean?’”

When Girton arrived at the scene, she thought the fire was an accident due to an electrical problem because of the Halloween decorations that were plugged in. She said it also looked related to electrical to her because the outlet was completely melted. When she realized one of the patios didn’t even have any electricity, she called an arson team, who confirmed it was not accidental.

Looking at the camera footage, she instantly knew who was responsible for the fires.

“I recognized him right away,” she said. “He’s part of the community.”

Ryan Habrel, the suspect identified and arrested, is a queer former employee of Urban MO’s Bar & Grill, a renowned gay bar in San Diego. Residents and staff members who knew him confirmed that Habrel was struggling with housing, mental health and drug addiction. Girton has known him for 20 years.

“I haven’t seen him in years until I saw him that morning,” she said. “He called my name. [We] had a short conversation, and I wished him well. That was it.” That night, he lit both patios of Gossip Grill on fire using a fire accelerant spray. He was arrested later that afternoon, and is being arraigned on one count of arson and will be in jail for up to nine years today.

This was not a hate crime, according to Girton. Habrel was someone that she knew was struggling mentally and with drug dependency. However, it doesn’t change the fact that she has seen an uptick in threats and backlash this year; three weeks ago, Gossip Grill faced a shooting threat.

Girton says that it is not uncommon for the bar to receive threats, and it is something that she handles quietly out of fear of not scaring patrons. She even recalls moments Gossip Grill was paintballed and egged.

“When this whole fire happened, I just went into survival mode, like, OK, what’s the next step? It is an unfortunate thing that comes with the territory, and you just got to be mentally prepared and physically prepared in case something happens.”

Since Trump’s presidency, threats have gotten worse and worse for Girton. Given the surge of anti-LGBTQ legislation and extreme rhetoric against the community, she noticed how much of the threats particularly target trans members of the community.

Despite being in California, which has a set of protections for queer and trans people, San Diego is also a big military town—being the home of the U.S. Navy Seals and the Air Force base. But that doesn’t stop Girton and Gossip Grill, who aims to find a place where LGBTQ people can be safe, threats aside.

“I just want to make sure that people are having a good time, knowing we can protect them.”

Gossip Grill celebrates its 14th anniversary next week and is preparing to release a fundraising campaign on behalf of the damages from the fire.