Soakie’s, one of Kansas City’s last Black gay bars, closed its doors more than 20 years ago.
But last Saturday, the critical gathering space got a permanent acknowledgement when the city of Kansas City, in partnership with community archive Black/queer Kansas City (stylized as {B/qKC}) installed a historical marker at the H&R Block Pavilion, across from the site of the original Soakie’s location.
Founded in 1962 by Salvatore “Soakie” Rinaldo, a suspected Italian mobster, Soakie’s began as an Italian sandwich shop and packaged liquor store. It transformed in 1994 to a nightclub that regularly hosted performances by Black drag queens like Craig Lovingood, aka Tisha Taylor.
“It felt so good because we were a community," Lovingood told KCUR's Up To Date. "We were the bar who not only knew your name but felt their pain as well.”
At a time when many white gay bars faced accusations of racism, Soakie’s was one of the few places in Kansas City where Black queer people could have a space of their own.
Soakie’s shuttered in 2004 as development ramped up in the Power & Light District, and the bar slowly faded from the public’s memory. That is, until Nasir Anthony Montalvo came across an ad for Soakie’s in a periodical.
Montalvo moved to Kansas City in 2021 and found themselves in search of a local queer scene. They started digging online and visiting archives, like the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid America (GLAMA).
“One of my primary goals upon moving to Kansas City was finding Black queer community, finding my people. Much easier said than done, and so when I was using social media, digital media, to try to find any semblance of Black queer people here, I couldn't really find anything," Montalvo told KCUR's Up To Date.
That search connected Montalvo with Lovingood, Gary Carrington, Starla Carr, and many of the other key figures behind Soakie’s. These relationships became the foundation for the community archive Black/queer Kansas City, which Montalvo launched in 2024.
Around November of that same year, Montalvo first floated the idea of installing a marker near Soakie's original location.
“At the beginning, I got no's. But it wasn't until I brought in Tisha (Lovingood) and I brought in Eric (Robinson), and we sat down and had this big luncheon with people from the city and Power & Light, and they shared their story and what Soakie's meant to them,” Montalvo said. “We were literally only talking for 15 minutes, and the no changed from a resounding yes."
A crowd of supporters came out for the marker's unveiling, with speeches from city council members and former Soakie’s patrons and staff.
“We weren't trying to make history," Lovingood said. "We were living our lives, and for (Nasir) to come and tell the story of our lives, you know, is something extraordinary."
- Nasir Anthony Montalvo, founder, Black/queer Kansas City
- Craig Lovingood (aka Tisha Taylor), former Soakie's performer
