Help Us Buy Old State Saloon and Turn It Into a Gay Bar

Yes, we're serious.

We're raising money to buy Old State Saloon in Eagle, Idaho and turn it into a gay bar.

The property is currently for sale, which means there is a very real window to take a place that has become nationally known for its politics and turn it into something radically different: a permanent LGBTQ+ bar, nightlife destination, and community space for the Treasure Valley.

It's a real building, with a real liquor license, perfect for hosting music, events, drag, drinks, community nights, celebrations, ridiculous parties, and a place that belongs to the people who actually show up for it, but we don't want this to just be a bar.

We want the building to be useful to the community when the dance floor is quiet, too.

What we want to build?

At night, yes... A fantastic gay bar.

Music. Dancing. Drag. DJs. Live performances. Theme nights. Drinks. Pride events. Fundraisers. Celebrations. A place where LGBTQ+ people can walk through the door knowing that they aren't merely being tolerated. The place is actually for them.

During non-nightlife hours, we want the space to function as something broader.

That could include:

We want local organizations and community groups to actually be able to use the building, not merely have their logos hung on a wall once a year.

Some community uses should be free. Others should be available at reduced rates. Private rentals and commercial events can help subsidize the parts that exist primarily because they are useful.

The bar is the night shift. The building should have a life during the day, too.

We also intend for the venue itself to generate ongoing support for organizations doing civil-rights and human-rights work in Idaho.

Our current plan is to dedicate 2% to 5% of weekly proceeds to organizations such as the ACLU of Idaho and the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights

Before opening, we would publish exactly how that percentage is calculated so the commitment is measurable rather than vague.

We want this to be recurring, not ceremonial.

If the bar has a great week, organizations doing this work should benefit from that great week too.

The purchase happens once. What the building contributes afterward can continue for years.

What the money is for

The first objective is simple:

Buy Old State Saloon.

Funds raised through this campaign will go toward costs associated with making the acquisition and opening the new venue, including:

The more we raise directly from the community, the stronger our position becomes when assembling the rest of the financing necessary to complete the purchase.

Why this place?

Because opportunities like this don't happen very often, and because there is something undeniably poetic about taking a place known for excluding people and turning it into a place built around bringing them together.

We're not interested in arguing with the past, we're interested in buying it... And then doing something better with it.

Instead of allowing the building's history to define its future, we can make the building itself useful.

A place associated with division can become a place where people meet.

A bar can become a community venue.

A business can help fund organizations working for civil rights.

A building that once made some people feel unwelcome can become a place where they know, without question, that they belong.

This only works if people actually do it

It is easy for thousands of people to look at this sale and joke:

"Someone should buy it and turn it into a gay bar."

Okay.

Let's be the people who actually do it.

Twenty dollars matters.

Fifty dollars matters.

A hundred dollars matters.

Five hundred dollars matters.

Sharing this fundraiser matters.

If enough people decide that this should exist, something that sounds outrageous very quickly becomes a financeable real-estate acquisition.

Can a community look at a building for sale and collectively say:

We want that. Let's make it ours.

We're about to find out.

What happens if we don't buy Old State?

If we are ultimately unable to complete the purchase of Old State Saloon, the remaining money will not become personal income or be used to enrich the organizers of this campaign.

After any documented costs already incurred in a good-faith attempt to complete the acquisition, such as legal work, due diligence, professional fees, or other directly related expenses, the remaining campaign funds will be donated to organizations working to expand LGBTQ+ rights, civil rights, and human rights in Idaho if the purchase in unsuccessful.

That would include organizations and efforts such as the ACLU of Idaho, Add the Words Idaho, and other Idaho organizations doing meaningful work for LGBTQ+ people and communities.

If we can't turn this particular building into something better, then the money raised trying to do it should still accomplish something consistent with why people donated in the first place.

We will publicly account for that outcome if it becomes necessary.

Important

Contributions through this GoFundMe are donations, not investments. Donating does not provide stock, ownership, repayment rights, profit participation, or any other financial interest in the future business.

We will provide public updates as the fundraising and acquisition process moves forward, along with more detailed plans for the venue, community programming, charitable giving, and how the space can be used by local organizations.

Old State is for sale now. Help us buy it.

Then let's turn it into the gay bar Eagle never saw coming.