Law Enforcement's Gay Bar 'Surprise Inspection' Felt Like a Raid, But the Drag Show Went On

Patrons at the P Town Bar in Philadelphia were enjoying a drag show on a Friday night when a phalanx of law enforcement descended. To some attendees, it felt like a raid from the old days – but for the queens on stage there was no question: The show had to go on!

Various articles posted at queer news sites described the situation: It was 11:30 p.m. on May 2 and a drag event featuring Amanda Lepore was in full swing when uniformed and undercover law enforcement arrived. Among a crowd of officers reportedly numbering about 20 were Health Department inspectors, Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement officers, State Police, and officers from the fire department.

Reports said a complaint had been made about the bar being crowded over capacity, though it's unclear who made that complaint.

The bar's management took to social media to reassure the community, explaining that although the bar had been expanded – and a request had been filed to amend its license – the bar's official capacity remains listed at 70. Around 130 patrons were at the bar when the inspection took place, online reports said.

"While we're still unsure why P Town was chosen that evening, we're choosing to view this as an opportunity for growth and improvement," the management said in an Instagram post.

"When the officers arrived, we were asked to pause the event and have guests step outside while the inspection was carried out," the post recounted. "The officers acted professionally, to my knowledge, no patrons were mistreated."

Still, at least one respondent to the post noted that the inspection seemed targeted to the gay bar, whereas other establishments did not seem to attract the same sort of attention from officials.

"As a south side resident, I have not seen this level of reinforcement at ANY bars here," the comment read. "Which they so desperately need."

The officers allowed the act currently in progress to finish up, reports relayed, which in this case meant a wait of several minutes since drag performer Blade Matthews was in the midst of the lengthy Queen number "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Once the song was done, though, patrons were ordered to leave while the inspection took place. Drag artist Indica, also performing that night, chose to make the moment into an occasion, turning the rainy street into an impromptu concert hall as she had the crowd join her in a rousing round of Chappell Roan's "Pink Pony Club."

Indica told local outlet Qburgh that the interruption "was an LCB raid taken to the extreme. We waited 30 minutes outside for them to inspect every crevice."

Of the communal song she led, Indica said, "Queer people banded together and showed we are so much stronger than an attempt to make us scared or comply with their rules."

Some patrons flashed back to the bad old days of police raids on gay bars, including headliner Lepore, "who rose to fame in New York's club scene and lived through the era of outlaw parties and frequent police crackdowns," Qburgh noted.

Lepore "allegedly remarked that this was the first time she'd actually witnessed a 'raid' mid-event," the writeup added, "calling the night 'iconic' in a darkly nostalgic sense."

One attendee of the drag event told the outlet, "The raid was a jarring experience in 2025. Dozens of state police, geared up with bulletproof vests, flooded the bar and told us to get out. None of the officers would explain what was happening."

"We stood in the rain for maybe 30 minutes or so until most patrons were let back in," the patron recounted. "Fortunately the situation was calm and orderly, but they really just overtook this queer space with an entire fleet of police to 'count heads' or whatever their excuse was."

The mayor's office heard about it from patrons – and responded.

"I want first to acknowledge the way in which bar raids were used historically to harass and commit violence against the LGBTQIA+ community," a statement from Mayor Ed Gainey read, before acknowledging that the modern civil rights movement was born from one such raid when the Stonewall Uprising took place in New York City's Greenwich Village in 1969.

"It is my intent that our actions as a city build upon, rather than undermine, that legitimate desire for safety," Mayor Gainey added.

The mayor's statement acknowledged a "need to have safeguards in place that ensure that NBTF ['Nuisance Bar Task Force'] complaints cannot be used to target vulnerable populations."

"I've asked PBP Acting Chief Martin Devine and Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt to review not only this incident but the operation of the task force more broadly to ensure that we do our work with the greatest sensitivity to historical trauma and that we put any additional safeguards in place so that the process cannot be manipulated to harass any of our residents."

The management's Insta post made a point of shouting out to "our incredible staff and performers for their calm, professionalism, and grace under pressure."

"Special thanks to our talented drag performers who kept the spirit alive in spite of the disruption," the post added.