San Diego's Gay Bar History | KPBS Public Media

Contents:

• GAY NIGHTLIFE SAN DIEGO: BARS, CLUBS, & MORE
• THE 5 BEST SAN DIEGO GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SAN DIEGO
• SAN DIEGO GAY GUI AND PHOTO GALLERY - HILLCRT GAY GUI
• SAN DIEGO GAY BARS
• SAN DIEGO'S GAY BAR HISTORY
• SAN DIEGO GAY MAP
• THE NEW JALIS BAR LNCH GOFUNDME PAGE TO SAVE GAY LATO BAR
• THE 5 BEST SAN DIEGO GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS SAN DIEGO

GAY NIGHTLIFE SAN DIEGO: BARS, CLUBS, & MORE

The San Diego gay nightlife scene manag that rare balance between beg remarkably iendly and also rife wh betiful people—'s pretty much a reflectn of this sunny Southern California cy. Gay bars have also been pretty stable here over the years, wh the most popular hangouts gog strong for a uple of s.

Most gay bars are the trendy Hillcrt neighborhood, jt northeast of Balboa Park and a short drive or b ri om downtown. Flicks: Along a strip of gay-oriented bs, Flicks gay vio bar has long been a hub of schmoozg and socializg. Martis Above Fourth: San Diego's favore gay baret, Martis featur some tremendoly talented performers—not jt piano and sgg, but edy, magic, and more.

THE 5 BEST SAN DIEGO GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SAN DIEGO

Number One Fifth Avenue: A great all-around neighborhood gay bar, balanc an timate ambiance and iendly atmosphere whout the tired, divey feel that sometim domat smaller loung. Park & Rec: Set the space formerly occupied by the popular gay bar Bourbon Street, this is an expansive nightspot and rtrant that still draws plenty of LGBT folks and open-md revelers. SRO Lounge: Known for s great jebox, long history the neighborhood, and a lotn that's much closer to downtown than the gay bars Hillcrt, the SRO has a strong followg among drag queens and their fans, but all kds tend to drop by here, albe not necsarily large numbers.

As a largely gay-iendly cy, San Diego has a good offerg of general mixed night clubs. Borr at the southern end of metro San Diego, the sprawlg cy of Tijuana, you'll fd several gay bars one. Rich's: As San Diego's five gay warehoe-style dis, this club offers a good-sized space wh an dtrial, circu-style vibe, and mic supplied by some of Southern California's most illtr DJs.

The Brass Rail: The longt-nng gay bar San Diego, the Brass Rail serv cred for always fdg new ways to revent self for the current tim. Overall, San Diego is a welg and open-md cy, but you'll fd the heart of the cy's gay nightlife scene Hillcrt specifilly.

SAN DIEGO GAY GUI AND PHOTO GALLERY - HILLCRT GAY GUI

At the wtern end is Urban MO's Bar & Grill, a "hetero-iendly gay bar" and lol favore.

Consired the world's first and only gay-owned brewery, 's a great spot to grab a pizza or two and make iends at a munal table, while enjoyg the many beers on tap.

It was once voted one of the bt gay bars Ameri by Yelp. Wh ep red walls and chanliers, SRO Lounge is a legendary gay bar that livers a glam but laid-back vibe. ClubFly provis a gay bar, club, nightlife, and GLBT center mapper for San Diego, California and the rt of the US filtered by lat San Diego gay bars and clubs are mapped the gayborhood wh an overview, tags, ntact tails, webse, social media lks, trans/walkg directns, and drivg directns.

SAN DIEGO GAY BARS

9 plac sorted by traveler favorGay Bars • Dance Clubs & DissGay Bars • Dance Clubs & DissWhat travelers are saygDoug MCalgary, Canada579 ntributnsWish we had found Mo’s earlier our trip.

Sunny and spectacularly suated San Diego is one of the great playgrounds of the Wt among gay and lbian travelers. The cy's once-staid downtown now abounds wh hip hotels and lively rtrants, while such gay-iendly neighborhoods as Hillcrt, North Park, and Universy Heights are hot spots for gay clubbg and bar-hoppg, dg, and shoppg. Although San Diego has bee creasgly eclectic terms of where gays and lbians live and socialize, the heart of the GLBT scene still centers on the btlg Hillcrt neighborhood, which is jt a few blocks northwt of Balboa Park, and a 10-mute drive north of downtown.

SAN DIEGO'S GAY BAR HISTORY

Many of the cy's gay bars, as well as gay-popular rtrants and shops, are Hillcrt, generally along Universy Avenue as well as tersectg 4th and 5th avenu.

Jt northeast and east of Hillcrt lie two more San Diego neighborhoods wh strong gay and lbian followgs, Universy Heights and North Park. Wh Hillcrt to the wt, North Park is one of San Diego's most diverse - and que gay-popular - neighborhoods. North Park has a handful of gay bars, and many of the shops, ffeeho, and rtrants this neighborhood have a sizable GLBT followg.

SAN DIEGO GAY MAP

The Mgei, as well as the park's other key mms, are jt around the rner om San Diego's most gay-popular neighborhood, Hillcrt - fact, 's only about a 15- to 20-mute walk and a que pleasant one at that. As you drive to the parkg area for San Diego's gay-popular Blacks Beach (jt north of La Jolla), you'll pass the Torrey P Glirport (858-452-9858), om which hang glirs and paraglirs part throughout the day. One of the natn's inic nu beach, San Diego's majtilly suated Black's Beach is also a favore hangout of gay men and lbians - clothed, partially clothed, sntily clothed, unclothed, and all permutatns thereof.

THE NEW JALIS BAR LNCH GOFUNDME PAGE TO SAVE GAY LATO BAR

You'll almost always see a bunch of gay guys parked here checkg out the scene and each other.

Y, lots of warngs and preutns here (jt to be on the safe si), but this is a splendid spot for beach lovers, naturists, and gay folks jt wantg to be themselv out the sun.

One of San Diego's most gay-popular neighborhoods outsi of Hillcrt, Universy Heights is an attractive, mostly rintial area jt north of Hillcrt and wt of Normal Heights, on a bluff above and jt south of Missn Valley.

THE 5 BEST SAN DIEGO GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS SAN DIEGO

Park Boulevard has an creasgly trendy mix of rtrants, f, and shops, pl the highly popular gay bar, Bourbon Street, and the GLBT-oriented pennt performance space, the Diversnary Theatre (the natn's third-olst queer stage).

Baja Betty's, a mpy gay rtrant and lounge Hillcrt.

SRO Lounge, an old-school dive-y gay bar on Bankers Hill.

Rich's gay dance club, on Universy Avenue Hillcrt. San Diego Eagle, a popular gay leather bar North Park.

Urban's Mo's gay bar and rtrant, on Universy Avenue Hillcrt. Numbers, a gay dance club on Park Boulevard Hillcrt. En, an upsle gay rtrant and nightclub Hillcrt (closed).

Vuln Steam and Sna, a gay bathhoe Ltle Italy (closed 2013). Fans wept when Roosterfish, the Wtsi’s olst gay bar, closed 2016. Micky’s WeHo has long been a staple on Wt Hollywood’s strip of gay nightclubs and bars on Santa Moni Boulevard, known for s open-walled two-story buildg where passersby n see the party ragg om the street.

The venue is the only Latx gay bar LA that explicly ters to a gay and Mexin dience every night, not jt as a theme once a week. But ’s the perfect space to grab a workday bnch wh a lleague or for -workg ssns -hosted on Tudays wh Gay Asstrology. The origal Downtown gay bar, Jalis is a dive bar that ters to the Latx and Mexin LGBTQ muny.

Though Sweetwater isn’t officially known as a lbian bar, the humble tablishment has long been the go-to spot for queer women the lol gayborhood, which featur nearly half a dozen gay bars that le Broadway Long Beach. One of Long Beach’s few, if not only, three-level gay bars, Executive Sue boasts a karaoke bar, vio gam, pool tabl for rent, and regular drag shows. Dubbed by KCET as Montebello’s bt Lato gay bar, Chi is the sister to Club Cobra, servg as a groundg se for the queer Latx muny the suburbs of East LA.

It’s the perfect place for gay men to meet on the Eastsi. ClubFly provis a gay bar, club, nightlife, and GLBT center mapper for San Diego, California and the rt of the US.