As a final send-off, the Stud held an online drag funeral for the space at the end of May. The bar hopes to find a new venue that will allow for social distancing.
In fact, featured prominently as a backdrop to the SF gay rights movement, it’s believed to be one of the first gay bars in America. Ryan is part of the collective that took over the Stud in 2017. Opened in 1972 by the girls Mary Ellen Cunha and Peggy Forster, Twin Peaks Tavern on the corner of Castro and Market isn’t just an official San Francisco landmark it’s a historical one as well. That’s about 1 in every 6 people The City is stereotypically known to be the gay capital of America, if not beyond. Recent population demographics indicate that more than 15 of the population of San Francisco is gay. “It breaks our heart to leave our historic home, but at this point we have no other choice,” said Rachel Ryan in a recent press conference. It is steeped in a rich, chocolate, mahogany color with gay history, bars, theaters, and activism. Heartbreakingly, the original beloved Stud location is closing down due to lost revenue from Covid-19, but the owners hope to find a new location when it makes more sense financially. Many gay bars initially did not welcome trans people or women, but the Stud has always been much more inclusive, partially because Muir (the grand-niece of legendary naturalist John Muir) was a trans woman herself. The original owners, George Mason and Alexis Muir, hung a sign over the bar that said “Everyone Is Welcome Here,” a motto the bar has lived up to for decades. It opened in 1966 in what would later become the Leather District. The Stud, located in SOMA, is the oldest gay bar in San Francisco proper. Photo: Dreamyshade via Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 4.0 Because Harvey’s also serves food all day, from brunch to dinner, it is now open normal hours seven days a week with outdoor dining. The bar is filled with historical memorabilia, including Milk’s campaign posters, and it helps fundraise for local nonprofits in the supervisor’s honor. Once the bar was refurbished in 1996, it reopened as Harvey’s, in honor of Milk. The owners rebuilt using some reparations from the city, but only a few years later, a fire destroyed the building.
In retaliation, police officers raided and destroyed the Elephant Walk. In 1979, when Milk’s murderer, Dan White, was charged only with voluntary manslaughter, outraged people protested at city hall. The community was devastated after the tragic assassination of Harvey Milk in 1977.
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It followed in the footsteps of Twin Peaks: a space with large, open windows where the queer community could gather together (something that was particularly important to one of the original owners, Fred Rogers). Harvey’s, opened in 1974, was originally named the Elephant Walk (after the Elizabeth Taylor film). Photo: Franco Folini via Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0