One of Philadelphias largest and oldest gay bars no longer feels like a safe space to some
By Dani Hollidge
A 22-year-old Temple University graduate arrived at Woody’s for an open bar event promoted by a local queer group last September. He says the event was from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and shortly after his arrival, his memories began to blur, and he ceased to remember the rest of the evening.
Friends would later tell the man, whose name is being withheld for fear of his story impacting his career- that he was stumbling and collapsing inside the club, but that no member of Woody’s staff or security intervened.
The only face-to-face interaction with security at Woody’s was when he was asked to sign a waiver at the door. However, the bouncer quickly flicked his finger up the tablet and told him to sign. It was impossible to take the time to read it, he said.
“This is the only bar, club, joint I’ve been to that has made us sign a waiver at the front,” he said.
After that night, the man was left wondering how he could have been drugged in what he thought was a safe space.
“It was a moment of realization for me about roofie culture and drug culture, which you usually hear relating to women, but I learned that men can also experience this, especially in queer spaces,” he said.“I thought that, you know, as a man I was safe, and that was naive for me to think. I am vulnerable, and all people are vulnerable.”
Woody’s did not return a request for comment on the man’s account of drink spiking or other incidents of harassment.
After the alleged drink spiking, the man reached out to Woody’s and Make Philly Queer Again, the sponsor of the event, but did not receive a response. He refuses to set foot in the bar again.
Instead of avoiding responsibility for potential issues inside the club, he wishes Woody’s would hold itself and its staff accountable and make queer people feel safer inside
“There should be cameras, they should have recordings of everything that goes on in there especially considering the amount of roofies that happen there.” he said. “Instead of having a reputation for people getting drugged they should develop a reputation for really cracking down on those cases.”
Woody’s has a long-standing reputation as a central place for Philadelphia queer nightlife. Since opening in 1980, the club has served as a hub for drag shows and late-night dancing.
Since 2022, there have been 180 police reports mentioning Woody’s, including 23 hospital cases, 16 assaults, and three aggravated assaults, according to Philadelphia Police Department data obtained via public records laws.
“As a queer woman, when I first went, I was so excited to have a space to go,” @pootoonmoogoo on TikTok added. “But I’ve been harassed at Woody’s more times than any other club or bar in the city. It’s insane.”
Josh Stokem, a former bartender at Woody’s, worked at the club for nearly a year and said that what he witnessed behind the bar left him concerned about guest safety. Staff received no training on how to spot drink tampering, predatory behavior, or medical distress, he said.
He said management never discussed customer protection during shift meetings, instead focusing on sales, profits, and efficiency. When guests appear unusually intoxicated or confused, many bartenders at Woody’s do not ask if you are okay or need help. Rather, they dismiss it, he added.
“The whole MO of bartenders there is like not taking accountability for anything,” Stokem said.” It’s like ‘somebody can’t hold their liquor’ rather than ‘is she okay? Did something happen?”
Even during his shifts at the club, some of Stokem’s friends told him their phones were stolen. The security, who is hired as a third party and is not affiliated with the club, do not do anything to combat these issues, he said.
“They dont care. They are not going to help. They are there to get their day’s pay and leave, Stokem said.”
Stokem has used his platform on TikTok to raise safety issues at Woody’s and other queer nightlife in Philadelphia. Stokem’s main video discussing the problems at Woody’s has amassed 163,200 views, 14,400 likes, and 633 comments from people expressing how bad Woody’s has gotten over the years.
For another guest, the red flags began before she set foot inside. On her 22nd birthday, she waited in a long line on 13th St. The air was filled with the pulse of pop music and the glow of neon lights from inside the club. When she reached the bouncer, excitement quickly became discomfort.
“The bouncer looked me up and down, and said, ‘better keep an eye on her or I will,” she recalled. “The problem starts at the front, at the bouncer.”
Inside, her friends noticed groups of men eyeing women on the dance floor and behaving in ways that made them uneasy.
Other TikTok users have also expressed safety concerns at Woody’s. @edun1218, another TikTok user, said in a video that problems with drink spiking existed long before he left.
“For years, there has been shady shit going on in there, and they have not done anything about it or anything to protect queer people,” he said.
Comments under his post reflected similar fears.
“It’s scary how unsafe it is,” one commenter wrote. “ I’ve been harassed right in front of security while trying to go in with my wife. My friend was clearly drugged, and the overall energy in there is threatening. We need other options.”