Best gay lesbian clubs san francisco

A glorious gathering of lesbians, circa I found some gems in the archives — a spider-filled tavern in North Beach and a lawless basement bar san the edge of Chinatown, among them. Forced to resign after her employer discovered she was a lesbian, Coleman took her retirement savings — and a cue from her father, a Prohibition-era rum-runner — and went into the bar trade.

The bar had a stage and a piano, and was known for its drag shows featuring both male and female impersonators. Coleman opened the bar in a relatively deserted part of town specifically with the goal of avoiding police harassment. Coleman got slapped with multiple morals charges, lost her license and was forced to close The Front in The Front, however, would be her last lesbian venue.

Inlesbian a four-story brick building at Broadway, San Francisco acquired its first queer bar opened by an out lesbian. The owner went gay the name Tommy Vasu; Vasu had dressed in masculine attire since the age of The top two acted as a hotel known to be a venue for prostitution. She liked being a gangster. It also backed directly onto a lively lesbian bar known as 12 Adler Place, also owned by Vasu.

It was a major local scandal at the time, milked in the media to scaremonger about the corrupting club of homosexuality on youth. Still not quite as sad as the ending that Vasu got, however — the former bar owner was murdered infour years after serving time for dealing heroin. Pants were okay. Owner Linda Symaco was a Filipina who first moved to the city in — and she was fierce.

When the bar was attacked by a bachelor party of angry men — two of whom were off-duty cops — late one night in MarchSymaco relentlessly pursued justice. In the end, one of the police officers was convicted of battery and he and another man were also convicted of disturbing the peace. As late as the mids, patrons and staff were under such scrutiny that Streicher had to install an alarm to warn customers when cops were approaching.

If any of the women were caught dancing or touching, there would almost certainly be legal consequences. So a red light would flash on, a francisco noise would sound and the women knew exactly what to do. In its earliest years, the bar was overrun with gay hippies thanks to its proximity to Haight-Ashbury.

Even Janis Joplin best by once in a while.

5 Historic San Francisco Lesbian Bars We Wish Still Existed

Annual raucous anniversary parties were held, a bar softball team was formed and many relationships and affairs forged. The bar fostered and nurtured an incredibly tight community of gay women. Its final closing was indeed a sad one — a fact surely true of every bygone watering hole on this list.

Rae Alexandra. Jun 13, Save Article Save Article.