The Castro, San Francis Gay District - Where to stay, what to do

Contents:

• THE BT GAY BARS SAN FRANCIS
• THE 10 BEST SAN FRANCIS GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SAN FRANCIS
• 7 BT GAY BARS SAN FRANCIS
• SAN FRANCIS GAY BARS
• GAY BARS SAN FRANCIS
• SAN FRANCIS GAY SNAS
• THE CASTRO, SAN FRANCIS GAY DISTRICT

THE BT GAY BARS SAN FRANCIS

Tripadvisor performs checks on historic venue, the first gay bar SF that had wdows so folks uld look om the street. Tripadvisor performs checks on TSan Francis, CA354 ntributnsThe Pilsner is a tried and te sual gay bar that offers iendly service.

But that tty-soundg nickname— was the first gay bar San Francis to have plate-glass wdows that let passersby see who’s si, and the patrons skew silver—is one the regulars willgly share. ) Whether ’s Cole Porter standards, a jazz night, or a te sg-along, this curtaed, Art De-accented bar is where tried-and-te Friends of Dorothy n be spac have been vanishg for a long time, but few subspeci are rarer than the neighborhood gay bar.

A gay sports bar was practilly a ntradictn terms when Hi Tops opened the Castro nearly a ago, but no one should doubt the near-universal appeal of rn dogs and a pork-chop-on-a-stick.

THE 10 BEST SAN FRANCIS GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS SAN FRANCIS

If you’ve hung out the Castro long enough, your jar has probably accumulated more than a few drk tokens om here, a gay bar? Well, ’s neher and both: a majory Irish-owned, majory LGBTQ-owned venue named for a gay Irish humanarian. Sectn at a mic ftival, and a queer-iendly ambiance all nspire to make this Missn spot among the most hospable bars the Street has all but been annexed to the Mara, but once upon a time, there was a htler-filled gayborhood lled Polk Gulch—of which the Cch is the sole survivor.

A rpeted dive narrow enough that you n touch the bar wh one hand and the oppose wall wh the other, ’s home to the Hot Boxxx Girls, a troupe of olr drag performers who, as well as the Tubteak Connectn, DJ B Statn John’s re-created dis and SF’s longt-nng gay party.

7 BT GAY BARS SAN FRANCIS

(Above: A scene om The Tool Box picted a Life magaze story lled "Homosexualy Ameri. After several proment bars San Francis started shutterg -- victims of Manhunt and Grdr and time -- I started mappg a cy's worth of shuttered gay bars. Cheers, Dash (1908), 547 Pacific:San Francis may have had gay bars before the The Dash, but none were as notor.

SAN FRANCIS GAY BARS

Focch's (1936), 506 Broadway:The drag show at Focch's was more of a tourist draw than an hont-to-goodns gay club, but helped brg gay culture -- and drag culture -- to the mastream spotlight. )The Black Cat (1951), 710 Montgomery:"There's nothg wrong wh beg gay -- the crime is gettg ught! I951, after two years of police harassment, owner Sol Stouman took the police to the California Supreme Court, and argued that a bar uld not be shut down jt bee gay men ngregated there.

GAY BARS SAN FRANCIS

He prevailed, providg stenance to the growg homophile Handle Bar (1960), California and Hy:Until 1960, most gay bars were expected to pay brib to police officers for 'protectn' om raids. But 1960, the "gay-ola" sndal exposg such brib beme a media sensatn, and began a discsn about the rights of gays to equal protectns unr the Q (1962), Polk St. :In rponse to police harassment, San Francis bar owners formed the Tavern Guild -- the first gay bs associatn the Uned Stat -- at the Suzy-Q bar on Polk Street.

Members set up a phone-tree to warn each other of impendg raids, set up relief funds and raised money for homophile groups like the Dghters of Bilis, the Mattache Society and the Not? :In 1964, Life magaze featured a special report lled "Homosexualy Ameri.

One of the first mastream discsns of S&M, the article tablished San Francis the mds of middle Ameri (and lns of gay men) as a place of sexual diversy and tolerance.

SAN FRANCIS GAY SNAS

:The Stud helped cubate San Francis's gay hippie movement -- even Janis Jopl would e when she was town -- and provid an alternative to sweater queens and htlers. Wdows were smashed, police were fought off for hours and a muny showed s strength, providg a flashpot for gay and trans anizg on the Wt Coast: In 's wake a work of social, polil and LGBT-centric medil groups Hall (1971), 482 Castro:The origal Toad Hall -- a bar of the same name recently opened a nearby space -- is often creded wh lnchg the Castro as a gay district. One of the first bars to chew a jebox favor of a DJ, Toad Hall ma the sleepy Eureka Valley a statn for gay men on the weekends, and soon bs owners and homebuyers saw the potential for a real neighborhood where gays uld live Peaks Tavern (1972), 401 Castro:Prr to Tw Peaks, gay bars were secretive affairs wh eher black-out wdows or no wdows at all.

San Francis – home of the untry's first openly gay elected official (Harvey Milk), birthplace of the rabow flag, the first cy the Uned Stat to legalize gay marriage and host of the bt damn Pri para  the untry—remas a major LGBTQ+ epicenter.

So whether you're here June or not, honor SF's storied gay history at the mms, bars and cultural landmarks. Below, check out our picks for the bt gay bars San an teractive Google Maps list of some of the bt gay bars San Francis.

THE CASTRO, SAN FRANCIS GAY DISTRICT

One of the last remag gay div the Tenrlo, Aunt Charlie's is home to potent cktails and legendary drag shows, like the Hot Boxxx Girls revue held every Friday and Saturday night. Tw Peaks TavernThis Castro mastay was the first gay bar to sport floor-to-ceilg wdows that let patrons look out—and the world look . San Francis has long been synonymo wh the gay muny and the LGBT movement at large.

It’s fair to say that while San Francis was beg a bean of hope for gay men and women around the world – the policy of the Uned Stat ernment and s treatment of LGBT cizens (particularly the stigma surroundg the HIV/AIDS crisis) was everythg but supportive and welg to the muny. The Stonewall Rts of 1969, while geographilly distant, voked a surge anizatns for the gay muny.

In the subsequent years – bars, galleri, cultural tablishments and social and cultural bonds were cemented to make San Franciso one of the homosexual epicenters of the world. As the first openly gay man to be elected to public office the state of California – his robt, hands-on mpaigng lead to him beg, spe an ially osty receptn, wily accepted by the public. The gay history of San Francis is embedd to s history still prent both physilly and atmospherilly and enjoyed by s LGBT rints and all those who choose to vis.

Willows Inn – a gay owned bed and breakfast the Castro neighborhood of San Francis.

Misterb&b is not a hotel or cha, but rather a bookg platform for rooms, apartments and hom and allows you to book om gay and gay-iendly hosts around the world. Unrstandg the gay scene is much more easily done wh the help of a lol and home-sharg is one of the bt ways to meet someone livg the cy who knows how thgs work, where and when are the bt nights to go out, and what plac to eat at and which to avoid.

Misterb&b is our top choice if your prry is explorg the lol gay scene. Near Baker Beach is Marshall’s Beach which is also popular for gay and nu sunbathers.