Tw Peaks Tavern – SF Gay History

Contents:

• TW PEAKS TAVERN - GAY BAR, HISTORIC LANDMARK
• RICHARD BEYMER AND NATALIE WOOD WERE NEVER A THG? WHAT IS THE RUMORED GAY MAN WH NO CHILDREN UP-TO NOW?
• S.F. GAY LANDMARK TW PEAKS TAVERN WAS DANGER OF CLOSG. ITS PATRONS HELPED KEEP OPEN — FOR NOW
• SF GAY HISTORY
• ACTOR RICHARD BEYMER'S BGRAPHY: WIFE, GAY MOURS, WHERE IS HE NOW?

TW PEAKS TAVERN - GAY BAR, HISTORIC LANDMARK

In 1990, the actor played the agoraphobic orchid-growg Harold Smh the sophomore season of Showtime's Tw Peaks. Von Dohlen is survived by his partner, playwright Jam Still; his mother, Gay Von Dohlen; his 21-year-old dghter, Hazel, and his siblgs Mary Gay, Cathere and John David.

“My goal here was to create a place where if you wanted to e and have a great time, and have hot food and hotter servers, that we uld offer to you, ” De wanted to attract both women and gay men.

RICHARD BEYMER AND NATALIE WOOD WERE NEVER A THG? WHAT IS THE RUMORED GAY MAN WH NO CHILDREN UP-TO NOW?

Richardson is gay and De is straight. He says they’ve already gotten quiri about anchisg om Asia, the Uned Kgdom and now, Dallas at least, this rtrant is ung people -- men and women, gay and straight -- over a mon love for hot dogs.

S.F. GAY LANDMARK TW PEAKS TAVERN WAS DANGER OF CLOSG. ITS PATRONS HELPED KEEP OPEN — FOR NOW

In 1972, when Mary Ellen Cunha and Peggy Forster threw open the doors and unvered the wdows at Tw Peaks Tavern on the rner of Castro and Market streets, they didn't know they were makg four s later, the bar that has sat both lerally and figuratively at the center of San Francis's gay rights movement and muny is now a historic landmark. Tw Peaks Tavern, which first opened 1935 but was purchased by Cunha and Forster 1971, is believed to be the first gay bar the natn to feature full-length, open plate glass wdows that let s patrons look out, and more importantly, the public look .

The lbian iends, known to most regulars as "the girls, " opened the bar to the world at a time when many gays still feared losg their jobs or beg socially ostracized if their sexual orientatn was revealed. "It has served as a gateway to the Castro sce emerged as a gay neighborhood, and as a symbol of openns and public wele that that neighborhood offers, " said Gerard Koskovich, a curator at the nearby GLBT History Mm.

SF GAY HISTORY

From the begng, the tavern was different om other gay gatherg spots - and largely bee of those wdows. But bee those outsi uld also look - and state regulators and police were still targetg gay tablishments for anythg they uld - the girls stated a "no-touch" le that tablished Tw Peaks as more of a social club than a pickup spot, the report stat. Olr gay men particular sometim feel like outsts - but this is a centrally loted, open bar that is important to all ag, " Wiener said.

ACTOR RICHARD BEYMER'S BGRAPHY: WIFE, GAY MOURS, WHERE IS HE NOW?

That muny vibe has prompted some to refer to as the Gay Cheers, though s largely mature clientele has earned another nickname.