I run DC’s only LGBTQ night club. Trump’s occupation is scaring customers.

A plea for community unity in response to the crackdown.

Photo Credit: Mike (Negativs), Courtesy of Bunker

By Q Edwin

For more than three years, I’ve been a co-owner of BUNKER, Washington DC’s only LGBTQ nightclub. We call it BUNKER for a reason: It’s underground, and we cultivated the atmosphere inside to make people feel safe and protected from outside forces. It’s a place where you can come, have fun, feel safe, and let go of all the negative external pressures of day-to-day life.

For a lot of customers, that feeling of security has been seriously tested by the presence of federalized law enforcement and National Guard troops on the streets of DC. Located at the highly trafficked corner of 14th and U Streets, we’ve seen a heavy police presence since Donald Trump’s announcement that federal agents would be deployed inside the city.

More than most people, I feel the multiple overlapping cross-pressures of this occupation. I’m an immigrant and a naturalized US citizen. I served in the military and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. For many years, I worked as a federal employee, ultimately taking Trump’s and Elon Musk’s buyout in March. And now I co-run a nightclub where many of our patrons are members of DC’s thriving immigrant community.

I’ve lived in this city for 15 years, I walk my neighborhood everyday, and the change is palpable; you can feel it all around you. Particularly for immigrants or people with loved ones who are immigrants, many are afraid to go outside for fear of being stopped and arrested without due process. So they stay home, and encourage their loved ones to do the same. In addition to being heartbreaking on a personal level, that also affects my bottom line.

For those who haven’t been here, the U Street Corridor is a lively, vibrant, and unique gem of a place where thousands of people come out every week to be together and enjoy all that the city has to offer. Ever since the crackdown started, though, we’ve seen a noticeable drop-off in customers. And we’re not the only ones: other business owners in the area have seen similar declines, with thousands of dollars in losses each night.

Putting myself in the shoes of our customers, this makes perfect sense. People who are looking to unwind and have a good time aren’t willing to expose themselves to arbitrary checkpoints like the one that was set up right outside my business, even if they have nothing to hide. And for people who come from further out in Maryland and Virginia to visit, they’re hesitant to make the trek to DC given the disturbing images playing on the news and in their social media feeds every day.

As an immigrant, I’ve felt this fear personally. Despite being a naturalized US citizen, now—for the first time in all my decades of living in this country—I feel the need to carry around my passport with me at all times. The reason for this is simple: I don’t want to be stopped, and for there to be a misunderstanding, and for me to end up locked up because of it. And so people like me now have to take proactive measures to protect ourselves. This is not something I ever thought I’d have to do in America, of all countries, but it’s where we are now.

Since federal agents started appearing on the streets, I’ve gone out of my way to walk up to some of them and introduce myself with a smile. This isn’t because I feel that Trump’s intentions are pure or that this occupation is happening in good faith; it isn’t. Rather, it’s because I want these officers to see who really makes up the community they’re patrolling, and to try to show them a different DC than the one being portrayed to the world. You’d be surprised how many of them are happy just to have a person come up and talk to them.

And for however long they’re stationed here, as business owners, as Washingtonians, and as members of the community, the best weapon we have is peaceful protest. I’ve seen up-close just how effective this can be. When the police checkpoint set up shop on our block, arbitrarily stopping hundreds of residents just going about their business, people started mobilizing to send the message: We don’t want you here. I myself attended and chanted and shouted, along with all the others. And before long, I watched as the officers simply packed up and left.

Today, at BUNKER, we’ve consulted with lawyers, and we have them on speed dial. We know exactly what to do if a situation arises involving the police, and we’ve trained our staff on how to respond. In all of this, our priority is keeping our staff, customers, and the neighborhood safe. We have the community’s back; but we also need the community to have ours. This is a scary time to be in DC, but if you love the city like I do, you’ll keep coming out to support the businesses that make this place home.

As a DC lifer, I’ve seen lots of change in this city. I’ve seen neighborhoods transform. I’ve seen presidential administrations come and go. I’ve seen new businesses pop up and cherished establishments die. I’ve seen the city pull through COVID. We’ll make it through this assault on our city as well, as long as we stick together.

Q Edwin is the co-owner of BUNKER, Washington DC’s only LGBTQ nightclub.