HRC hosting LGBTQ+ debate party at The Abbey, site of repeated alleged druggings

Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault and druggings. One of the reporters who worked on our previous investigation had a disorienting experience at The Abbey years ago.

When the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ rights organization, hosted Democratic presidential primary candidates at a popular gay club in Los Angeles five years ago, the organization was ostensibly in the dark about claims of druggings and sexual assault at the club that go back years.

The same cannot be said now. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) will hold a debate watch party at The Abbey in West Hollywood Tuesday evening. The event comes just eight months after a 19th investigation looked into more than 70 reports of alleged druggings at the bar.

HRC said the event is being hosted in partnership with LPAC, a political action committee that works to elect queer women and nonbinary candidates, and statewide advocacy group Equality California.

“When planning events, the safety of our community is always one of our top concerns,” the groups said in a joint statement released to The 19th. “We have been in contact with the new owners of The Abbey to confirm steps they are taking to safeguard attendees.”

According to the statement, The Abbey will make drink testing strips available at every one of its bars, a practice required by the City of West Hollywood after residents complained in public meetings in 2021 and 2022 that they had been allegedly drugged at The Abbey and other bars. The statement adds that additional signage and public safety trainings have been added at The Abbey.

Last November, The Abbey announced its sale from longtime owner David Cooley to telehealth platform owner Tristan Schukraft, and noted that management would remain the same. The Abbey’s PR firm Dog and Duck , as well as their spokesperson Brian Rosman, also remain, Rosman confirmed. The 19th asked each for comment individually but did not hear back by publication.

Just this month, The Abbey announced that it had earned a Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative Safe Space Certification. According to the initiative’s website, the training focuses on anti-LGBTQ+ bias in business.

The 19th followed up with a few of the women who alleged they were drugged at The Abbey and they claim they have yet to hear from old or new management about changes, including those that would impact patron safety around alcohol consumption. Claims of alleged drugging and in some cases, alleged sexual assault, at The Abbey go back as far as 2007. The most recent claims were reported in 2023.

Yvette Lopez, who alleged she was drugged and raped during a visit to The Abbey in 2011, claimed no one from the club contacted her following the publication of The 19th’s investigation. Haely White, who faced a $5 million defamation lawsuit after posting on social media that she feared she may have been drugged at The Abbey, remains embroiled in legal appeals and has also not heard from the new management, she told The 19th.

Amy Valencia, who reported being hospitalized after drinking at home and then having water at The Abbey in June 2021, also alleges she never heard from the club. Valencia had called The Abbey in 2021 to tell management that she suspected she was drugged at the bar.

As of press time, Rosman had not responded to questions about safety upgrades to The Abbey and whether Cooley remains involved in operations at the club.

Briana Venskus, an actor who talked to The 19th about being allegedly drugged at the club on two separate occasions, said she was worried about accountability.

“I respect the umbrella effect that HRC and The Abbey have had for the LGBTQ+ community, but it is a bit disheartening to see HRC partner with an institution that has such a sordid reputation,” Venskus said. “I think the real issue is that the majority of the LGBTQ+ community, and America at large, are pacified by the belief that if a person or institution does more ‘good’ than ‘bad’ then we should just let them be.”

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