HELP SAVE AKBAR!
Donation protected
AKBAR NEEDS YOUR HELP!
Like countless small businesses, Akbar is struggling to stay alive through the pandemic.
Los Angeles County mandated that we shut our doors in March due to Covid-19, and since then there has been NO relief for monthly mortgage payments. We’re asking today for your support to keep Akbar from permanently closing.
We know you cherish the sense of community that Akbar has fostered — the wild nights, the connections, the celebrations of joy, shared grief, the communion we aspire to provide — please give generously to our fund. The money raised will pay back the $150K small business loan we needed to cover expenses while the bar is required to be closed, and to help us get through a lean 2021.
LGBTQI+ businesses in Los Angeles and around the county are closing at a rapid pace and more will not survive this winter.
We can’t wait to be there for you on the other side of this pandemic. We miss you. Please help if you can.
Thank you for your support now and over the past 24 years,
Scott Craig & Peter Alexander & the entire Akbar Family
OUR STORY
It was the AIDS epidemic that brought about the birth of Akbar.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s Scott Craig and Peter Alexander were witnesses to the AIDS-related destruction of their community of friends and loved ones. That health crisis led to the loss of safe spaces and the gutting of the LA Queer community. When one of the remaining gay bars in Silver Lake came up for sale Scott and Peter decided to take matters into their own hands: With no prior bar experience they borrowed money from friends and family and opened Akbar on NYE, 1996.
Since then, Akbar has been a valuable alternative to the branded Queer culture & nightlife of Los Angeles, a Silver Lake community clubhouse that has fostered everything from performance art, drag shows, stand-up comedy, craft nights, cabaret, karaoke and dancing. It is hailed as a politically aware hub and revered as a friendly and accessible neighborhood watering hole where Angelenos can hang, commiserate, celebrate, mingle, meet new friends and make families. It has been a labor of love born from grief and need of community.
And now this new plague is threatening Akbar's survival. Hundreds of Queer businesses are closing. How many of those Queer business will be reborn as Queer when the pandemic is over? Community matters, safe space matters. With your help, we can save this one.
Please give generously and share this page with friends. Thank you.
Like countless small businesses, Akbar is struggling to stay alive through the pandemic.
Los Angeles County mandated that we shut our doors in March due to Covid-19, and since then there has been NO relief for monthly mortgage payments. We’re asking today for your support to keep Akbar from permanently closing.
We know you cherish the sense of community that Akbar has fostered — the wild nights, the connections, the celebrations of joy, shared grief, the communion we aspire to provide — please give generously to our fund. The money raised will pay back the $150K small business loan we needed to cover expenses while the bar is required to be closed, and to help us get through a lean 2021.
LGBTQI+ businesses in Los Angeles and around the county are closing at a rapid pace and more will not survive this winter.
We can’t wait to be there for you on the other side of this pandemic. We miss you. Please help if you can.
Thank you for your support now and over the past 24 years,
Scott Craig & Peter Alexander & the entire Akbar Family
OUR STORY
It was the AIDS epidemic that brought about the birth of Akbar.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s Scott Craig and Peter Alexander were witnesses to the AIDS-related destruction of their community of friends and loved ones. That health crisis led to the loss of safe spaces and the gutting of the LA Queer community. When one of the remaining gay bars in Silver Lake came up for sale Scott and Peter decided to take matters into their own hands: With no prior bar experience they borrowed money from friends and family and opened Akbar on NYE, 1996.
Since then, Akbar has been a valuable alternative to the branded Queer culture & nightlife of Los Angeles, a Silver Lake community clubhouse that has fostered everything from performance art, drag shows, stand-up comedy, craft nights, cabaret, karaoke and dancing. It is hailed as a politically aware hub and revered as a friendly and accessible neighborhood watering hole where Angelenos can hang, commiserate, celebrate, mingle, meet new friends and make families. It has been a labor of love born from grief and need of community.
And now this new plague is threatening Akbar's survival. Hundreds of Queer businesses are closing. How many of those Queer business will be reborn as Queer when the pandemic is over? Community matters, safe space matters. With your help, we can save this one.
Please give generously and share this page with friends. Thank you.
Organizer
Peter Alexander
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA