There’s No Place Like Dorothy’s

By Dakota Parks for Inweekly

“Are you a friend of Dorothy?”

Long before Pensacola’s Memorial Day weekend Pride celebration became one of the largest LGBTQ+ gatherings in the South, queer communities relied on coded language and underground networks to connect safely.

In the 1960s, the fictional Emma Jones Society helped quietly organize the first LGBTQ+ gatherings on Pensacola Beach, while “friend of Dorothy” operated as a discreet signal phrase used by queer people across the country.

Now the phrase has found new life locally at Dorothy’s, the Wizard of Oz-themed cocktail bar and restaurant where Pride celebrations and HIV advocacy intersect.

Less than a year after opening its doors downtown, Dorothy’s is entering its first Memorial Day weekend with four days of themed parties, drag performances and evening events—all culminating at Neon Heatwave, a massive block party on Sunday, May 24. Steel Pony Diner, now housed within Dorothy’s, will bring its signature Southern staples with a Portuguese twist.

Beneath the disco balls and technicolor glow sits a mission with real urgency: at Dorothy’s, your dollars directly help fund HIV prevention, testing, outreach and care.

“The best idea we came up with was to open a bar and restaurant that we could take the profits from and turn over to OASIS to support HIV services,” said OASIS Florida Executive Director Kurt Goodman.

Opened last fall, Dorothy’s was created as a for-profit subsidiary of OASIS Florida, the nonprofit organization providing HIV/AIDS prevention services, free testing, education and case management across Northwest Florida. The concept emerged as OASIS braced for potentially devastating funding losses of $1.6 million tied to shifting political priorities at the state and federal level.

“Under the Trump administration and the DeSantis administration, we are facing the potential of very significant budget cuts to HIV services, particularly here in Florida,” Goodman said. “We understood that we needed to think outside the box as far as a funding source.”

Unlike some HIV organizations with in-house clinics that can generate additional revenue through federal healthcare programs, OASIS relies heavily on government contracts and grants. Goodman said the organization once feared losing its role overseeing the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program for Northwest Florida—a federally funded program providing medications, housing assistance, dental care, mental health services, food bank access and case management for people living with HIV.

“We were told that our role as lead agency for the Ryan White program was going to go away, and then that never materialized,” Goodman said. “We kind of went through a sense of panic about that. Remarkably, as it stands today, all of our funding is still in place.”

Goodman recently signed a four-year renewal contract for the Ryan White program. But the preceding uncertainty sparked the creation of Dorothy’s, a business designed to help sustain services no matter what happens politically.

“Today our funding is secure, but tomorrow it could be a different story,” Goodman said. “You just never know with this administration. You’re always kind of looking for surprises.”

The organization’s services are extensive. OASIS averages roughly 18,000 units of service each year and directly manages care for around 800 people through the Ryan White case management program.

“If that funding goes away, people will not have access to life-saving medications,” Goodman said. “They will not have access to life-saving medical care. Without this program, people will suffer and could potentially die.”

The profit generated through Dorothy’s will continue to fund prevention outreach, HIV testing, educational programming and OASIS’s humanitarian fund, which assists clients with emergency needs that traditional funding cannot cover.

“If we have a client whose home burns down, we can buy them new furniture, clothes and whatever they need that we couldn’t do through the Ryan White program,” Goodman said.

For Goodman, part of OASIS’s work also involves challenging outdated assumptions about who HIV impacts in 2026.

“Our main goal at OASIS is to prevent the spread of HIV and to care for those living with HIV and AIDS, and the face of HIV is so different now,” he explained. “People still think HIV and AIDS primarily impact gay men, but the gay community really has HIV under control. They understand how to use PrEP and DoxyPEP and how to prevent HIV. We actually serve less members of the LGBTQ+ community than we do heterosexual people. So, the face of HIV is really in the heterosexual community right now, and they’re unprepared. We are here to help.”

That reality set the tone for Dorothy’s interior.

“One of the things that was really important to me about Dorothy’s is that it wasn’t just identified as a queer space or a gay bar,” Goodman said. “We really wanted Dorothy’s to be a place where anyone can walk through the door and feel welcome and embraced.”

Beginning Thursday, May 21, Dorothy’s will host themed events leading into the main Memorial Day Weekend block party on Sunday. Festivities include “Puppy Play Day” and karaoke night, a “Gay Icons & Anthems” dance party and “Night of 1,000 Dorothys” (encouraging guests to dress as any famous Dorothy, from Dorothy Gale to Dorothy Zbornak).

On Sunday, the surrounding streets will close for Neon Heatwave, a sprawling outdoor block party featuring DJs, fire performers, aerial acts, vendors, drag performances and appearances by RuPaul’s Drag Race stars The Vixen and Vita VonTesse Starr. The event will include multiple bars, VIP lounges, meet-and-greets and performances stretching from afternoon into the early morning hours.

“We want it to be fun and beachy. Think Miami, think Ibiza, neon party vibes,” General Manager Benjamin “Benny” Haupt said. “It’s going to be huge, the biggest party we’ve had at Dorothy’s yet.”

Goodman sees the event as something hopeful, a chance to gather, celebrate and support one another all at once.

“I think our diversity is our strength,” Goodman said. “Pride has deep roots in HIV advocacy and activism, but HIV and AIDS affect more than just the LGBTQ+ community. We wanted Dorothy’s to be a truly inclusive space that reminds us that we have more in common with our neighbors than we think—no matter what outside media or the outside world is trying to tell us.”

Neon Heatwave

WHAT: A block party celebrating Pride featuring drag shows, live music and vendors

WHEN: 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday, May 24

WHERE: Dorothy’s, 309 S. Reus St. COST: $28 general admission; $135 VIP

DETAILS: dorothyspensacola.com