As You Are bar owners creating safe haven for queer community in DC

WASHINGTON — Married owners of a Capitol Hill cafe and bar want WorldPride visitors to come 'As You Are' and celebrate queer joy together.

Their mission is in the name.

"Coach said, 'is this too on the nose?' We were like, 'well, let's let's sleep on it,' and the next day it was cemented. We were like, 'that's what we're calling it, because it it is on the nose,'" co-owner Jo McDaniel said.

That's exactly how McDaniel and her wife and co-owner Rach 'Coach' Pike want patrons to enter As You Are.

“When I'm at work, you know, I take out my nose ring or I speak different or I dress different or carry myself differently," Pike said. "And we wanted to have a space that you could literally just bring all of that …all of those pieces of yourself.”

Pike and McDaniel found their missing piece