After a decade of encouragement from West Hollywood residents for better nightlife safety and security, renowned queer bar The Abbey decided to act—by going on sale.

According to its listing, The Abbey was opened in 1991 by David Cooley and is “one of the world’s most iconic nightclubs and restaurants.” In part, the bar gained even more national attention amidst the recent reality show Vanderpump Rules drama.

When Cooley first opened The Abbey as a coffee shop three decades ago, he didn’t anticipate getting a liquor license five years later—let alone expand into a 16,000-square-foot venue with four bars and a full restaurant menu. According to Discover Los Angeles, queers of West Hollywood relied on The Abbey for the community’s wins, especially during Proposition 8 where Cooley featured “LGB-Tiki” drinks in celebration of marriage equality.

One of its most dedicated patrons were lesbian and queer women, wherein Wednesday nights were dedicated to them. It was the longest running lesbian night in Los Angeles and the only lesbian night in West Hollywood for some time. So much so that The “L” Word queer drama series modeled their fictitious “The Planet” bar after The Abbey. There was no doubt it was a hub for many circles in the LGBTQ community. ACT UP, the grassroots organization that started during the AIDS epidemic gathered many meetings at the bar in the 90s.

“I remember hosting our first event with ACT UP and later hosting events with GLAAD, APLA, HRC, Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing and more,” Cooley said in an interview with Tagg Magazine. “We tried to make sure when we hosted special events that we did it right and made them memorable. We tried to bring production value to all of our events, whether it was Gay Pride, a fundraiser or even a Super Bowl viewing party.” At one point, E! produced the reality show What Happens At The Abbey about the staff and their sex and love lives at the bar and restaurant.

Celebrities flocked to The Abbey. Even Lady Gaga launched her solo tracks “Applause” and “Burqa” during a surprise appearance at The Abbey ten years ago.

“[The Abbey] is an establishment where you spend an afternoon with your friends, meet the love of your life, get over your ex, bring your parents, plot a political movement, meet your favorite celebrity, have a great cocktail, support a cause you believe in, dance the night away, go to your first gay bar or do all of those things in one day,” Cooley told Tagg Magazine.

It’s clear that it was a safe haven for queer people in Los Angeles, but despite its iconic status, going on sale does not eclipse The Abbey’s dark history and treatment of its patrons.

In 2021, Los Angeles-based comedian Haely White was severely drugged by a bartender at The Abbey. She collapsed and vomited only fifteen minutes after getting her drink. White’s incident was not a one-off, either. That same year, there were 31 spiked drinks and 30 incidents of sexual assault in the past five years, according to WEHOville. Just this past March, a 42-year-old man was arrested for drugging, sexual battery and attempted kidnapping.

As its reputation boosted for providing LGBTQ people in Los Angeles a space to be free, so did its reputation for keeping its patrons unsafe. In 2018, trans activist Bamby Salcedo took it to Facebook to call for a boycott against the establishment, accusing them of transphobia. She shared an alleged incident wherein her team of trans people was disrespected, misgendered, and shoved out of the space. Salcedo demanded that LGBTQ spaces don’t leave the T behind, because “if you fuck with us, you fuck with all of us!!” she said.

Kashif Tisdale, a queer bank executive and former patron of the bar tells Reckon that The Abbey used to be walking distance for him, and it was his regular hangout nighttime spot before it “started catering to cis men and women, which changed the entire vibe of our safe queer space, and we were squeezed to the side.”

Tisdale is not unfamiliar with The Abbey’s dark reputation. He recalls an incident in 2016 where he and his friends went out to the bar. By his second drink, “I started feeling weird,” he said.

“I first thought it was my own overindulgence, so I didn’t order a third drink. After telling my friends I wasn’t feeling too well and that I was just going to walk back home, everything was hazy after. I can’t remember any further details, but I woke up at a bus stop on Santa Monica Boulevard [with my] phone missing, and my jewelry and pair of expensive sunglasses stolen.”

Should another owner take over, Tisdale says he wishes for the space to have a deep connection to WeHo—but most importantly give a close ear to the streets of the LGBTQ community. To make up for it, he wants the city to bring back iconic gay clubs, as there are few left.

“This is no shade to the heterosexual community, but you shun us from your spaces,” he said. “And you [also] take up our space with your bachelorette parties and homophobic cis men [hunting] down women.”

In the face of the harm The Abbey caused since its opening, the West Hollywood joint undoubtedly transformed the possibilities of what queer bars can harness and cultivate for its community members.

Last month, Krista Burton published Moby Dyke, which investigates the disappearance of America’s lesbian bars by visiting a handful of ones still in existence. In an interview with the Washington Post, she talks about how difficult it was to keep track of the number of bars that continue to close, 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. “People do move on, though. New spaces open, and they become the new chapter.”

Greggor Mattson, author of Who Needs Gay Bars? explores the past, present and future of queer nightlife spaces, and he also harkens on the queer lessons of the pandemic.

“I think the pandemic taught us all how important it is to have physical places to congregate, and those will remain important even in a hypothetical, non-oppressive future,” he told Eater.

Although its property is up for sale, it’s uncertain what The Abbey’s future holds. Reckon reached out to the establishment for a comment regarding its future, to which Brian Rosman, owner of The Abbey’s PR team DOG AND A DUCK said “The Abbey is not closing. The Abbey has never said anything about the news circulating online. If there is ever anything to say, we’ll make sure to share it.”