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Kansas City Today

What Soakie's meant to Kansas City's Black queer community

By Jodi Fortino,
Byron J. Love, Adelyn Mui
Published October 1, 2026 at 4:00 AM CDT
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An illustration showing the Kansas City skyline with the words "Kansas City Today"

For years, Soakie's in downtown Kansas City was one of the only Black gay bars in the United States. The bar closed in 2004, as development began on the Power & Light District, but a new historical marker remembers its impact.

Soakie's started out as an Italian sandwich shop, but became home to many in Kansas City's Black LGBTQ+ community. The bar eventually closed when development began to ramp up in the area. Steve Kraske spoke with Nasir Montalvo, founder of Black/queer Kansas City, and drag icon and former Soakie's employee Craig Lovingood AKA Tisha Taylor about their involvement with Soakie's.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Jodi Fortino. It is produced by Byron Love, Adelyn Mui and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox, Gabe Rosenberg and Emily Younker.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate.

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Kansas City Today LGBTQ+Queer Historycommunity engagementdowntownDrag
Jodi Fortino
As KCUR’s education reporter, I cover how the economy, housing and school funding shape kids' education. I’ll meet teachers, students and their families where they are — late night board meetings, in the classroom or in their homes — to break down the big decisions and cover what matters most to you. You can reach me at jodifortino@kcur.org.
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Byron J. Love
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
See stories by Byron J. Love
Adelyn Mui
See stories by Adelyn Mui
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