Salt Lake City’s oldest and longest-running LGBTQ+ bar has closed, with workers claiming the shuttering was a “stunt” to prevent unionization.

The SunTrapp, widely considered the oldest LGBTQ+ bar in Utah, was founded in 1973 and is one of the few safe havens for the community. It shut on 31 October after workers pushed to unionize.

Workers who spoke with the Guardian allege the owner of the bar engaged in numerous unfair labor practices after they submitted a letter requesting voluntary recognition of the union with Communications Workers of America Local 7765 in late September.

In a Republican dominated state ranked as one of the least safe states in the US for the LGBTQ+ community, workers called the bar “a really special place” and a safe haven for the community. The bar had to increase security after the Charlie Kirk assassination that occurred in Utah in September heightened concerns over threats toward the community.

“It’s a really special place where you can go and be judgment free,” Natalie Jankowski, a lead bartender at the SunTrapp, told the Guardian. “We have a lot of older queer people, older trans people, who feel comfortable coming there and nowhere else. We have a lot of Mormons who just left Mormonism who want to have their first drink, judgment free, come there, and we get a lot of people who are questioning their sexuality and they just want to talk to the bar staff about it.”

Yeah, I added a comma. Close your asides, Guardian!