Every Night is Ladies Night: Stories from Summit Station, Ohio’s Longest Running Lesbian Bar

Every Night is Ladies Night: Stories from Summit Station, Ohio’s Longest Running Lesbian Bar

In 1980 there were over two hundred lesbian bars in the United States. In 2023, only 25 remain. Summit Station (also known as Jack's), located at 2210 Summit Street in Columbus was Ohio’s longest running lesbian bar, serving as the soul of the lesbian community in Central Ohio and beyond from 1970-2008.Summit Station functioned as a home away from home for thousands of women over the years, serving as a space for first dates, fundraisers, drag king and dyke queen performances, musical and comedy events, dart and billiards leagues, softball and football teams and so much more. Many of the patrons who frequented the bar reside in Columbus and surrounding communities. The stories of their experiences at the bar run the gamut from inspiring, hilarious, historical and political to deeply personal. 

On Wednesday, April 26^th former patrons of the bar will gather at WOSU Public Media’s Ross Community Studio to share stories about the bar and the role it played in the lesbian, gender non-conforming, queer, and trans community across the decades. The storytelling event will be emceed by LuSter Singleton. Immediately following the event an open dialogue with project Directors/Producers, Julia Applegate and LuSter Singleton, former bartenders and patrons of Summit Station and other lesbian bars bars will take place. 

A historical marker will be placed permanently in front of the space that held Summit Station as part of the Ohio Historical Markers program administered by the Ohio History Connection. The marker will be dedicated on June 10th, 2023.

Net proceeds from tickets sales will go to support creation of a long-form documentary (working title, Free Beer Tomorrow) about the role of Summit Station in the community. 

This event is brought to you by Sturdy Girl/Fast Friday Productions and is hosted by WOSU Public Media.  The program is made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this (publication/program/exhibition/website) do not necessarily represent those of Ohio Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

To learn more about the historcial marker see this link: Summit Station Historical Marker

Meet your Storytellers

Shani Avery-Scott: To me, Summit Station was more than a bar to this lost, confused, queer kid looking for their place in life. It was my home. My sanctuary when I needed it. It was the only place where I found love, found pain, found my voice. The one place I sharpened my dart game, planned my future, shot the boot, learned hard life lessons, found life-long friends, learned my history. It was where there was always free beer tomorrow, but on any day, the best people I've ever known could be found.

Jenrose Fitzgerald: Summit Station a.k.a. Jack’s was an immensely important part of my time in Columbus. I wrote two MA theses in that bar. It is the place where I performed with my first band, Bitches’ Brew. It is the place where I had the honor of witnessing the formation of HIS Kings, and being embraced as a part of the community as a member of the Kings’ Court. Most importantly, it is a place that brought people together whose paths might not have otherwise crossed. We created culture and built community in that place. We laughed, cried, sang, danced, drank, smoked, celebrated, grieved, kissed, and many other verbs in that place. I would be a very different person if not for the connections and friendships cultivated at Summit Station, the venue formerly known as Jack’s.

Chere Hampton:  I started coming to Summit Station in the early 2000's. My cousin, Luster De La Virgion had invited me to be the DJ for some H.IS. Kings shows and events they would have there. It was a great time for me because I was very much a newly out lesbian and all of the people who would be at Summit for those events became family to me. This was also a great era for music with some of the best dance, pop, hip hop, and R&B music coming out then. It was so awesome to be able to charge the atmosphere in Summit with just the right songs to get people dancing, singing, and feeling good about life. Summit was a very important place for me at that time in my life and it forged friendships that will last a lifetime. I remain grateful to Summit for the safety it provided, the family it gave me, and the memories it created. It truly is a special and magical place. Love truly was created there.

Deb Kuzawa:  From the first moment I walked into Summit Station in the early 2000s, I felt seen and accepted as a queer femme. Summit became a safe space, a place for celebrating and debating the small and big things in life, and my go-to place for hosting fundraisers and events such as Ladyfest Ohio and Ginger’s Mystery Box. To me, Summit/Jack’s has always represented friendship, freedom, and community.

Willa Young: I started frequenting Jack’s with friends from my Women’s Studies classes in 1976 when I was a sophomore at Capital University. Armed with a few dollars for beer, coins to feed the juke box, and our fake IDs, we would head to the bar and while away a few hours at least three or four evenings a week. We danced, played cards, flirted, and learned how to fit in to the lesbian community by watching the women and how things got done at Jack’s. The bar was a community hub where you could find out what was happening. There were always leaflets, flyers, and newsletters advertising activities and events, as well as women who would stand up to engage in impromptu political organizing. I drank it all in while shaping my youthful lesbian identity. I often credit these early exposures to lesbian community with shaping who I would become as a person and how I would craft a professional career always being out even when most persons my age did not choose to be publicly queer.