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"content": "\u003cp>On a recent August afternoon, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/golden-state-valkyries\">Golden State Valkyries\u003c/a> guard Kaitlyn Chen looks up, bends her knees and releases the ball with a flick of the wrist, sinking another 3-pointer. Down the violet-tinted court, forward Cecilia Zandalasini runs drills, crouching low as she dribbles the ball between her legs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two hours before tip-off, the Valkyries are getting ready to take on the Phoenix Mercury. To hype up the players, DJ Shellheart is behind the decks, blending Soulja Boy’s nostalgic swag rap with the sad-boy crooning of Drake and the cocky, Memphis-inflected flow of GloRilla. By the time she hits a transition into E-40’s “Yay Area,” the players are clearly feeling themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What it dooo?” Kate Martin says as she jogs by and fist-bumps Shellheart, who has one eye on her DJ controller and the other on the players, making sure they’re responding to the music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love a good DJ,” guard Tiffany Hayes tells KQED courtside, pointing to a music note tattoo on her ankle. “I think positive frequencies are important. … The DJ in here got us rockin’ right now, gettin’ ready for the game.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039501/wnbas-newest-team-golden-state-valkyries-kick-off-first-season\">inaugural season\u003c/a>, the Valkyries have made WNBA history, consistently selling out Chase Center and breaking the record for most wins by an expansion team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980965\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980965\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1356\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED-768x521.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED-1536x1041.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Golden State Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes (15) advances towards the basket as Los Angeles Sparks guard Odyssey Sims (0) defends during the Valkyries’ home opener at Chase Center on May 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Along the way, they’ve cultivated an unmatched energy at “Ballhalla,” as their home arena is known. For the legions of fans packing Chase Center game after game — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047885/how-to-be-a-valkyries-fan-a-beginners-guide-to-bay-area-wnba-fandom\">many of them women and queer people\u003c/a> — the atmosphere rivals Oracle Arena during the Warriors’ 2010s championship run. Behind the decks, Bay Area nightlife fixtures Shellheart and LadyRyan provide the soundtrack, from warmups to the final buzzer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s 18,000 people I get to DJ in front of. It’s just motivated me so much,” Shellheart says, still visibly in disbelief that this is her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mainey\">mainey\u003c/a>,” she says. “I got chills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The rise of two nightlife luminaries\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shellheart and LadyRyan have been friends and colleagues in the Bay Area music scene for a decade, but they’ve taken different paths to Ballhalla. Shellheart, who’s been DJing since 2014, is a major figure in Bay Area hip-hop: She’s the tour DJ for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13979968/rexx-life-raj-in-rhythm-new-album\">Rexx Life Raj\u003c/a>, the Berkeley-raised rapper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she’s not on the road, Shellheart spins at big-name events, sharing stages with stars like DJ Jazzy Jeff and Anderson .Paak, or DJing atop the San Francisco Bay Ferry for P-Lo’s album release party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980949\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980949\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Shellheart plays a set for the Golden State Valkyries during a game at Chase Center in San Francisco on Aug. 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her day party, Good Times, is an Oakland summer staple, and her annual Green Party — celebrating her birthday — recently packed San Francisco’s Midway with hundreds of partygoers in head-to-toe forest, chartreuse and lime green outfits to see Bay Area rap heavy-hitters DaBoii and Kamaiyah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LadyRyan began spinning at Bay Area parties in 2006 and has become one of the most influential figures in Oakland’s LGBTQ+ scene. The party she co-founded 14 years ago, Soulovely — with its eclectic mix of hip-hop, house and multicultural sounds like dembow and dabke — continues to draw a passionate following of queer and trans people of color.[aside postID=arts_13980000 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Violet-Valkyries.jpg']Over the summer, LadyRyan got thousands dancing at festivals like Stern Grove, where she most recently opened for the Pointer Sisters, and the San Francisco Hip-Hop Festival, headlined by Digable Planets. She hosts a weekly radio show on KALW, and on Sept. 7, she’ll perform at Oakland Pride. She and her partner, Dennise Acio, also recently opened Golden Ratio, a cozy, inclusive cocktail lounge with a dance floor and giant disco ball in downtown Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Chase Center, LadyRyan and Shellheart hype the crowd during interactive T-shirt-throwing moments, timeouts and halftime. For both DJs, joining the Valkyries for their inaugural season is a career highlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When people are there at their first game, and you catch that vibe, it makes you want to be involved in this major unison of excitement and celebration,” LadyRyan says. “You get there, and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, this is bigger than I thought it would be.’ They’re loud, and I’m loud with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they entered the sports world, both DJs found a supporter in the Warriors’ official DJ, D Sharp. A hip-hop veteran with the team since before their mid-2010s dynasty, D Sharp guided LadyRyan and Shellheart when they became the Valkyries’ official selectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980968\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13980968 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ LadyRyan (left) and DJ ShellHeart (right) pose for a portrait before starting their “Cut a Rug” event at the venue ForTheCulture in Oakland on Sept. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Especially in the male-dominated industry where people kind of look at each other as competition,” LadyRyan says, “he’s one of those DJs that knows that there’s enough for everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D Sharp has supported LadyRyan since they met almost a decade ago while performing at a pan-African festival. “She was killing it. And I was like, ‘Go, girl, do your thing,” he says. They bonded through mutual appreciation of each other’s DJing skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking about Shellheart, D Sharp beams with pride, recalling her on the jumbotron at a Valkyries game for the first time. “They gave her a DJ spotlight and she murdered that s—,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The WNBA embraces queer culture\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Valkyries’ selection of Shellheart and LadyRyan comes as the WNBA increasingly embraces its queer players and fans. When the league debuted in 1997, it marketed a feminine, straight image; in the 2000s, when WNBA greats like Sue Wicks and Sheryl Swoopes came out, it rocked the sports world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fast-forward to 2025, LGBTQ+ players’ ability to be themselves is fueling the league’s growing mainstream popularity. During All-Star Weekend, charismatic Minnesota Lynx players Court Williams and Natisha “T” Hiedeman livestreamed off-court antics on their Twitch channel, StudBudz, to give fans unprecedented behind-the-scenes access for 72 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980970\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ LadyRyan plays her set as a friend chats with her at the “Cut a Rug” event at the venue ForTheCulture in Oakland on Sept. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They went viral, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6507411/2025/07/22/stud-budz-studbudz-courtney-williams-natisha-hiedeman-wnba-twitch/\">\u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em> called them a “sensation.”\u003c/a> During the same weekend, the Dallas Wings’ No. 1 overall draft pick Paige Bueckers hard-launched her relationship with University of Connecticut player Azzi Fudd, adding to a growing list of WNBA couples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shellheart was at the center of the All-Star Weekend, hanging with the players at the celebrations and afterparties. She’d DJed NBA All-Star parties before, but the W felt different. “Just seeing all the beautiful women, all the athletic women — being around women that are wealthy, you know?” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Shellheart, this is it,” she remembers telling herself. “This is where you belong.”[aside postID=arts_13977457 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/RIKKIS-0326-fave.jpg']For LadyRyan, DJing on such a massive platform that centers women comes with a sense of pride. Her sets feature amped-up anthems like Beyoncé’s “My House” and Doechii’s “Nissan Altima.” “It just feels comfortable and really empowering,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Chase Center during Valkyries games, it’s common to see Pride flags, fashion-forward queer friend groups and couples on dates. But LadyRyan warns that openness comes with backlash: a contingent of incel-ish MNBA fans routinely post sexist and homophobic comments on social media. In the past month, three men were arrested for throwing sex toys onto the court during WNBA games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we weren’t discriminated against to begin with, we wouldn’t have to be proud about it, you know? We’re just not past it,” LadyRyan says. “As much as people wanna say everything’s fine, we still have an administration that is working against our existence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing LadyRyan and DJ Shellheart in the DJ booth is especially meaningful to fans like Vanessa Hernandez, the co-founder of Valqueeries, an LGBTQ+ Valkyries fan club that organizes meet-ups and events at games and bars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980951\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Shellheart plays a set for the Golden State Valkyries during a game at Chase Center in San Francisco on Aug. 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As the Valkyries are still figuring out their identity, I hope in the future they still continue to lean on LadyRyan and Shellheart because they’re huge influences in the Bay Area, especially in the DJ community,” she says. “In the queer community at large, these people are so essential to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Chase Center, the Valkyries’ fandom transcends gender identity, sexual orientation, race and age. Shellheart knows that by bringing their skills, she and LadyRyan are inspiring the next generation of fans, no matter their background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At her second-ever game spinning for the Valkyries, a young boy approached her for an autograph. “I was, like, ‘Oh, s—, nice,’” she says. “You just don’t know who you’re motivating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a recent August afternoon, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/golden-state-valkyries\">Golden State Valkyries\u003c/a> guard Kaitlyn Chen looks up, bends her knees and releases the ball with a flick of the wrist, sinking another 3-pointer. Down the violet-tinted court, forward Cecilia Zandalasini runs drills, crouching low as she dribbles the ball between her legs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two hours before tip-off, the Valkyries are getting ready to take on the Phoenix Mercury. To hype up the players, DJ Shellheart is behind the decks, blending Soulja Boy’s nostalgic swag rap with the sad-boy crooning of Drake and the cocky, Memphis-inflected flow of GloRilla. By the time she hits a transition into E-40’s “Yay Area,” the players are clearly feeling themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What it dooo?” Kate Martin says as she jogs by and fist-bumps Shellheart, who has one eye on her DJ controller and the other on the players, making sure they’re responding to the music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love a good DJ,” guard Tiffany Hayes tells KQED courtside, pointing to a music note tattoo on her ankle. “I think positive frequencies are important. … The DJ in here got us rockin’ right now, gettin’ ready for the game.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039501/wnbas-newest-team-golden-state-valkyries-kick-off-first-season\">inaugural season\u003c/a>, the Valkyries have made WNBA history, consistently selling out Chase Center and breaking the record for most wins by an expansion team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980965\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980965\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1356\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED-768x521.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/20250516_VALKYRIESHOMEOPENER_GC-66-KQED-1536x1041.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Golden State Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes (15) advances towards the basket as Los Angeles Sparks guard Odyssey Sims (0) defends during the Valkyries’ home opener at Chase Center on May 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Along the way, they’ve cultivated an unmatched energy at “Ballhalla,” as their home arena is known. For the legions of fans packing Chase Center game after game — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047885/how-to-be-a-valkyries-fan-a-beginners-guide-to-bay-area-wnba-fandom\">many of them women and queer people\u003c/a> — the atmosphere rivals Oracle Arena during the Warriors’ 2010s championship run. Behind the decks, Bay Area nightlife fixtures Shellheart and LadyRyan provide the soundtrack, from warmups to the final buzzer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s 18,000 people I get to DJ in front of. It’s just motivated me so much,” Shellheart says, still visibly in disbelief that this is her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mainey\">mainey\u003c/a>,” she says. “I got chills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The rise of two nightlife luminaries\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shellheart and LadyRyan have been friends and colleagues in the Bay Area music scene for a decade, but they’ve taken different paths to Ballhalla. Shellheart, who’s been DJing since 2014, is a major figure in Bay Area hip-hop: She’s the tour DJ for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13979968/rexx-life-raj-in-rhythm-new-album\">Rexx Life Raj\u003c/a>, the Berkeley-raised rapper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she’s not on the road, Shellheart spins at big-name events, sharing stages with stars like DJ Jazzy Jeff and Anderson .Paak, or DJing atop the San Francisco Bay Ferry for P-Lo’s album release party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980949\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980949\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00605_TV-KQED-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Shellheart plays a set for the Golden State Valkyries during a game at Chase Center in San Francisco on Aug. 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her day party, Good Times, is an Oakland summer staple, and her annual Green Party — celebrating her birthday — recently packed San Francisco’s Midway with hundreds of partygoers in head-to-toe forest, chartreuse and lime green outfits to see Bay Area rap heavy-hitters DaBoii and Kamaiyah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LadyRyan began spinning at Bay Area parties in 2006 and has become one of the most influential figures in Oakland’s LGBTQ+ scene. The party she co-founded 14 years ago, Soulovely — with its eclectic mix of hip-hop, house and multicultural sounds like dembow and dabke — continues to draw a passionate following of queer and trans people of color.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Over the summer, LadyRyan got thousands dancing at festivals like Stern Grove, where she most recently opened for the Pointer Sisters, and the San Francisco Hip-Hop Festival, headlined by Digable Planets. She hosts a weekly radio show on KALW, and on Sept. 7, she’ll perform at Oakland Pride. She and her partner, Dennise Acio, also recently opened Golden Ratio, a cozy, inclusive cocktail lounge with a dance floor and giant disco ball in downtown Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Chase Center, LadyRyan and Shellheart hype the crowd during interactive T-shirt-throwing moments, timeouts and halftime. For both DJs, joining the Valkyries for their inaugural season is a career highlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When people are there at their first game, and you catch that vibe, it makes you want to be involved in this major unison of excitement and celebration,” LadyRyan says. “You get there, and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, this is bigger than I thought it would be.’ They’re loud, and I’m loud with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they entered the sports world, both DJs found a supporter in the Warriors’ official DJ, D Sharp. A hip-hop veteran with the team since before their mid-2010s dynasty, D Sharp guided LadyRyan and Shellheart when they became the Valkyries’ official selectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980968\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13980968 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS00326_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ LadyRyan (left) and DJ ShellHeart (right) pose for a portrait before starting their “Cut a Rug” event at the venue ForTheCulture in Oakland on Sept. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Especially in the male-dominated industry where people kind of look at each other as competition,” LadyRyan says, “he’s one of those DJs that knows that there’s enough for everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D Sharp has supported LadyRyan since they met almost a decade ago while performing at a pan-African festival. “She was killing it. And I was like, ‘Go, girl, do your thing,” he says. They bonded through mutual appreciation of each other’s DJing skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking about Shellheart, D Sharp beams with pride, recalling her on the jumbotron at a Valkyries game for the first time. “They gave her a DJ spotlight and she murdered that s—,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The WNBA embraces queer culture\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Valkyries’ selection of Shellheart and LadyRyan comes as the WNBA increasingly embraces its queer players and fans. When the league debuted in 1997, it marketed a feminine, straight image; in the 2000s, when WNBA greats like Sue Wicks and Sheryl Swoopes came out, it rocked the sports world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fast-forward to 2025, LGBTQ+ players’ ability to be themselves is fueling the league’s growing mainstream popularity. During All-Star Weekend, charismatic Minnesota Lynx players Court Williams and Natisha “T” Hiedeman livestreamed off-court antics on their Twitch channel, StudBudz, to give fans unprecedented behind-the-scenes access for 72 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980970\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250901-VALKYRIESDJS01816_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ LadyRyan plays her set as a friend chats with her at the “Cut a Rug” event at the venue ForTheCulture in Oakland on Sept. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They went viral, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6507411/2025/07/22/stud-budz-studbudz-courtney-williams-natisha-hiedeman-wnba-twitch/\">\u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em> called them a “sensation.”\u003c/a> During the same weekend, the Dallas Wings’ No. 1 overall draft pick Paige Bueckers hard-launched her relationship with University of Connecticut player Azzi Fudd, adding to a growing list of WNBA couples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shellheart was at the center of the All-Star Weekend, hanging with the players at the celebrations and afterparties. She’d DJed NBA All-Star parties before, but the W felt different. “Just seeing all the beautiful women, all the athletic women — being around women that are wealthy, you know?” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Shellheart, this is it,” she remembers telling herself. “This is where you belong.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For LadyRyan, DJing on such a massive platform that centers women comes with a sense of pride. Her sets feature amped-up anthems like Beyoncé’s “My House” and Doechii’s “Nissan Altima.” “It just feels comfortable and really empowering,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Chase Center during Valkyries games, it’s common to see Pride flags, fashion-forward queer friend groups and couples on dates. But LadyRyan warns that openness comes with backlash: a contingent of incel-ish MNBA fans routinely post sexist and homophobic comments on social media. In the past month, three men were arrested for throwing sex toys onto the court during WNBA games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we weren’t discriminated against to begin with, we wouldn’t have to be proud about it, you know? We’re just not past it,” LadyRyan says. “As much as people wanna say everything’s fine, we still have an administration that is working against our existence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeing LadyRyan and DJ Shellheart in the DJ booth is especially meaningful to fans like Vanessa Hernandez, the co-founder of Valqueeries, an LGBTQ+ Valkyries fan club that organizes meet-ups and events at games and bars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980951\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/250819-VALKYRIESDJS_00749_TV-KQED-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Shellheart plays a set for the Golden State Valkyries during a game at Chase Center in San Francisco on Aug. 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As the Valkyries are still figuring out their identity, I hope in the future they still continue to lean on LadyRyan and Shellheart because they’re huge influences in the Bay Area, especially in the DJ community,” she says. “In the queer community at large, these people are so essential to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Chase Center, the Valkyries’ fandom transcends gender identity, sexual orientation, race and age. Shellheart knows that by bringing their skills, she and LadyRyan are inspiring the next generation of fans, no matter their background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At her second-ever game spinning for the Valkyries, a young boy approached her for an autograph. “I was, like, ‘Oh, s—, nice,’” she says. “You just don’t know who you’re motivating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "crip-ecstasy-san-francisco-accessibility-disability-justice",
"title": "Disabled Drag Artists and Ravers Join Forces for Crip Ecstasy",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971911\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971911\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A drag performer with a beard wears a reflective, sculptural outfit with a cape.\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iman performs at Crip Ecstasy 2023. The artist, who mentors deaf and hard-of-hearing drag performers, will return to Crip Ecstasy’s next party on Feb. 20 at The Stud. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At their warehouse party last Halloween, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/octavia__rose/\">Octavia Rose Hingle\u003c/a> finally felt free to get lost in the music. They reclined on a daybed on the dance floor, waving their arms as the DJ blended an intoxicating mix of house grooves and sexy lyrics from Charli XCX and Ice Spice. For Hingle, who deals with mobility issues, spaces that allow them to dance comfortably are exceedingly rare. That’s why they created Crip Ecstasy, a dance party and drag night that caters to attendees with different access needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.union.fit/events/kh-fresh-festival-rot-festival-x-crip-ecstasy-x-the-stud-sf-drag-show/performances/8sh8ap53\">The party’s next installment\u003c/a>, at The Stud in San Francisco, gets underway on Feb. 20 as part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.freshfestival.org/\">Rot Festival\u003c/a>, an experimental dance and performance showcase. Not only is the legendary queer bar wheelchair-accessible, but the party offers numerous seating options, including beanbags and wide-legged chairs. Masks are required when not drinking. All performances have ASL interpretations and audio descriptions, and blind and visually impaired guests can touch the space and performers’ costumes in a haptic tour organized by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921184/jess-curtis-gravity-dance-accessibility-disability-justice\">Gravity Access Services\u003c/a> before the show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really magical to experience what it’s like when people’s access needs are centered. I feel like it really shifts the space in so many ways,” says Hingle. “Just to know that you belong and that people are there to support you and your experience, versus you having to fight to get a seat, or [getting] crammed into the back of the club because you need to sit down and your friends are up front dancing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971909\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971909\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99.jpg\" alt=\"Two dancers in shorts and crop tops, one of whom is using a wheelchair, move to the music while a DJ spins. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">NEVE and Saira Barbaric dance at Crip Ecstasy at CounterPulse in 2023. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By day, Hingle works at \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/spark/axis-dance-company/\">AXIS Dance Company\u003c/a>, known for stunning choreography that centers performers with diverse body types and physical abilities. They first fell in love with nightlife in the 2010s at parties like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12642450/middle-east-meets-west-oakland-at-party-on-the-rise-club-chai\">Club Chai\u003c/a>, a multicultural and trans-inclusive space where the Bay’s different subcultures mingled. After hearing about accessible parties like Crip Rave in Toronto and Remote Access online, they threw the first Crip Ecstasy at San Francisco performing arts space CounterPulse in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Hingle, imagining ways to make a party accessible presents an opportunity to get creative. “We were able to bring in visual artists to do sensory room installations for people who needed some space to de-stimulate,” they recall from the first event. Projection designers created psychedelic displays where interpreters typed descriptions of the music, live. “That added an interesting poetic element to the dance music for everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971910\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971910\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130.jpg\" alt=\"A large crowd dances in front of a DJ playing music on CDJs. There's a projection on the wall with a psychedelic swirling pattern, and the text description of the music says "hard bass dance vibes."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1055\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-800x422.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-1020x538.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-768x405.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-1536x810.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-1920x1013.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Ladybug spins at Crip Ecstasy in 2023 with projections by Miaccuicatl Alexander and Anum Awan. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djfridge_/\">DJ Fridge\u003c/a>, whose real name is Ben Cook, played at that first event, and has since come on as a co-producer of Crip Ecstasy. They became enamored with the Bay Area’s underground electronic music scene as a UC Santa Cruz student when events started back up after COVID shutdowns. But as their chronic pain worsened, they realized they couldn’t always go to raves in far-flung, industrial locations that required laborious treks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think especially in dance music, there’s this attitude of almost embracing like, ‘Yeah, this is a dirty, disgusting warehouse and there’s nowhere to sit down. This is hard for hardcore ravers,’” Cook reflects. “I kind of subscribed to that when I was younger. And then, as my own disability got worse, it totally forced this paradigm shift in me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971913\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971913\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Dancers wearing masks and sparkly outfits move to the music under dim club lights.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crip Ecstasy party-goers in 2023. The event returns at The Stud in San Francisco on Feb. 20. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Historically and today, nightlife has been an important way for queer people to find themselves and their community — and Cook and Hingle knew they weren’t the only disabled people yearning for that kind of connection. Many of the performers at the upcoming Feb. 20 Crip Ecstasy party also advocate for accessibility on and off the stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/glamputee/?hl=en\">Glamputee\u003c/a>, for instance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13885614/drag-performers-champion-anti-racism-disability-justice-at-oaklash\">leads disability justice workshops\u003c/a> when they’re not lip-syncing in drag. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/therealiman84/\">Iman\u003c/a> is the leader of the Deaf Drag Empowerment Residency & Showcase, an incubator for new talent. Contemporary dancer and drag artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/janpistar/\">JanpiStar\u003c/a> works with Hingle at AXIS Dance. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kochinarude/?hl=en\">Kochina Rude\u003c/a> is a regular at Oasis, where, in addition to supplying plenty of punky, glamorous looks, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961839/drag-queens-overdose-prevention-narcan-san-francisco\">she has championed safer partying practices\u003c/a> like free fentanyl test strips and Narcan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971912\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1365px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971912\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4.jpg\" alt=\"Two people in sunglasses and blazers strut in front of a brutalist building. The person on the left is using one crutch and the person on the right is using a cane.\" width=\"1365\" height=\"2048\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1365px) 100vw, 1365px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crip Ecstasy producers Octavia Rose Hingle (left) and Ben Cook, a.k.a. DJ Fridge (right). \u003ccite>(Blair Hammond)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m happy and proud to be a part of what is a bigger movement happening right now in nightlife, both in the Bay Area and beyond,” says Cook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsley Tharp, co-organizer of Rot Festival, which co-presents this edition of Crip Ecstasy, says she was blown away when she attended the first party two years ago. “It feels important to have events like these where people can feel fully embodied in themselves,” she says, noting that accessibility is one of her organization’s pillars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hingle and Cook are dreaming up more parties for the coming year, and reaching out to DJ crews for collaborations. They often seek community input, and humble themselves to the fact that not every event will meet every need. A future goal of theirs is greater COVID safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A big lesson is that it is almost impossible to have a party that’s going to be 100% accessible for every single person,” Hingle says. “And so, wanting to be transparent that we’re trying our best, but we might make mistakes, we’re still learning and we’re always open to feedback.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nCrip Ecstasy takes place at The Stud in San Francisco on Thursday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.–12 a.m. \u003ca href=\"https://www.union.fit/events/kh-fresh-festival-rot-festival-x-crip-ecstasy-x-the-stud-sf-drag-show/performances/8sh8ap53\">Tickets and details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The party at The Stud in San Francisco invites those with different access needs to let loose. ",
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"title": "Disabled Drag Artists and Ravers Join Forces for Crip Ecstasy | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971911\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971911\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A drag performer with a beard wears a reflective, sculptural outfit with a cape.\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_24-1-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iman performs at Crip Ecstasy 2023. The artist, who mentors deaf and hard-of-hearing drag performers, will return to Crip Ecstasy’s next party on Feb. 20 at The Stud. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At their warehouse party last Halloween, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/octavia__rose/\">Octavia Rose Hingle\u003c/a> finally felt free to get lost in the music. They reclined on a daybed on the dance floor, waving their arms as the DJ blended an intoxicating mix of house grooves and sexy lyrics from Charli XCX and Ice Spice. For Hingle, who deals with mobility issues, spaces that allow them to dance comfortably are exceedingly rare. That’s why they created Crip Ecstasy, a dance party and drag night that caters to attendees with different access needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.union.fit/events/kh-fresh-festival-rot-festival-x-crip-ecstasy-x-the-stud-sf-drag-show/performances/8sh8ap53\">The party’s next installment\u003c/a>, at The Stud in San Francisco, gets underway on Feb. 20 as part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.freshfestival.org/\">Rot Festival\u003c/a>, an experimental dance and performance showcase. Not only is the legendary queer bar wheelchair-accessible, but the party offers numerous seating options, including beanbags and wide-legged chairs. Masks are required when not drinking. All performances have ASL interpretations and audio descriptions, and blind and visually impaired guests can touch the space and performers’ costumes in a haptic tour organized by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13921184/jess-curtis-gravity-dance-accessibility-disability-justice\">Gravity Access Services\u003c/a> before the show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really magical to experience what it’s like when people’s access needs are centered. I feel like it really shifts the space in so many ways,” says Hingle. “Just to know that you belong and that people are there to support you and your experience, versus you having to fight to get a seat, or [getting] crammed into the back of the club because you need to sit down and your friends are up front dancing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971909\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971909\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99.jpg\" alt=\"Two dancers in shorts and crop tops, one of whom is using a wheelchair, move to the music while a DJ spins. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_99-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">NEVE and Saira Barbaric dance at Crip Ecstasy at CounterPulse in 2023. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By day, Hingle works at \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/spark/axis-dance-company/\">AXIS Dance Company\u003c/a>, known for stunning choreography that centers performers with diverse body types and physical abilities. They first fell in love with nightlife in the 2010s at parties like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/12642450/middle-east-meets-west-oakland-at-party-on-the-rise-club-chai\">Club Chai\u003c/a>, a multicultural and trans-inclusive space where the Bay’s different subcultures mingled. After hearing about accessible parties like Crip Rave in Toronto and Remote Access online, they threw the first Crip Ecstasy at San Francisco performing arts space CounterPulse in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Hingle, imagining ways to make a party accessible presents an opportunity to get creative. “We were able to bring in visual artists to do sensory room installations for people who needed some space to de-stimulate,” they recall from the first event. Projection designers created psychedelic displays where interpreters typed descriptions of the music, live. “That added an interesting poetic element to the dance music for everybody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971910\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971910\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130.jpg\" alt=\"A large crowd dances in front of a DJ playing music on CDJs. There's a projection on the wall with a psychedelic swirling pattern, and the text description of the music says "hard bass dance vibes."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1055\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-800x422.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-1020x538.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-768x405.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-1536x810.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_130-1920x1013.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Ladybug spins at Crip Ecstasy in 2023 with projections by Miaccuicatl Alexander and Anum Awan. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djfridge_/\">DJ Fridge\u003c/a>, whose real name is Ben Cook, played at that first event, and has since come on as a co-producer of Crip Ecstasy. They became enamored with the Bay Area’s underground electronic music scene as a UC Santa Cruz student when events started back up after COVID shutdowns. But as their chronic pain worsened, they realized they couldn’t always go to raves in far-flung, industrial locations that required laborious treks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think especially in dance music, there’s this attitude of almost embracing like, ‘Yeah, this is a dirty, disgusting warehouse and there’s nowhere to sit down. This is hard for hardcore ravers,’” Cook reflects. “I kind of subscribed to that when I was younger. And then, as my own disability got worse, it totally forced this paradigm shift in me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971913\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971913\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Dancers wearing masks and sparkly outfits move to the music under dim club lights.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/2023_CripEcstasy_RobbieSweeny_1-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crip Ecstasy party-goers in 2023. The event returns at The Stud in San Francisco on Feb. 20. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Historically and today, nightlife has been an important way for queer people to find themselves and their community — and Cook and Hingle knew they weren’t the only disabled people yearning for that kind of connection. Many of the performers at the upcoming Feb. 20 Crip Ecstasy party also advocate for accessibility on and off the stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/glamputee/?hl=en\">Glamputee\u003c/a>, for instance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13885614/drag-performers-champion-anti-racism-disability-justice-at-oaklash\">leads disability justice workshops\u003c/a> when they’re not lip-syncing in drag. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/therealiman84/\">Iman\u003c/a> is the leader of the Deaf Drag Empowerment Residency & Showcase, an incubator for new talent. Contemporary dancer and drag artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/janpistar/\">JanpiStar\u003c/a> works with Hingle at AXIS Dance. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kochinarude/?hl=en\">Kochina Rude\u003c/a> is a regular at Oasis, where, in addition to supplying plenty of punky, glamorous looks, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961839/drag-queens-overdose-prevention-narcan-san-francisco\">she has championed safer partying practices\u003c/a> like free fentanyl test strips and Narcan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13971912\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1365px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13971912\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4.jpg\" alt=\"Two people in sunglasses and blazers strut in front of a brutalist building. The person on the left is using one crutch and the person on the right is using a cane.\" width=\"1365\" height=\"2048\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/CripEcstasy_Producers_BlairHammond_4-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1365px) 100vw, 1365px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crip Ecstasy producers Octavia Rose Hingle (left) and Ben Cook, a.k.a. DJ Fridge (right). \u003ccite>(Blair Hammond)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m happy and proud to be a part of what is a bigger movement happening right now in nightlife, both in the Bay Area and beyond,” says Cook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsley Tharp, co-organizer of Rot Festival, which co-presents this edition of Crip Ecstasy, says she was blown away when she attended the first party two years ago. “It feels important to have events like these where people can feel fully embodied in themselves,” she says, noting that accessibility is one of her organization’s pillars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hingle and Cook are dreaming up more parties for the coming year, and reaching out to DJ crews for collaborations. They often seek community input, and humble themselves to the fact that not every event will meet every need. A future goal of theirs is greater COVID safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A big lesson is that it is almost impossible to have a party that’s going to be 100% accessible for every single person,” Hingle says. “And so, wanting to be transparent that we’re trying our best, but we might make mistakes, we’re still learning and we’re always open to feedback.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nCrip Ecstasy takes place at The Stud in San Francisco on Thursday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.–12 a.m. \u003ca href=\"https://www.union.fit/events/kh-fresh-festival-rot-festival-x-crip-ecstasy-x-the-stud-sf-drag-show/performances/8sh8ap53\">Tickets and details here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>You might not necessarily think a \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/tcoouT0DlrE?si=TEwgYp7X3LOsIKxQ\">Palestinian folk song\u003c/a> about planting sesame seeds would go off in the club — unless, of course, you’re \u003ca href=\"https://djhabibeats.com/\">DJ Habibeats\u003c/a>, whose brain contains an endless archive of rhythms from Ramallah to Rio de Janeiro to Miami. At a party called Pangaea last summer, the sweaty, dabke-ing Los Angeles crowd went wild when he sped up the folk song’s sample and paired it with a thumping, uptempo 808 beat that called back to the late-’80s reign of 2 Live Crew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freshly signed to San Francisco label \u003ca href=\"https://empi.re/\">EMPIRE\u003c/a>, Habibeats just released that mashup as a single called “Miami Mijwiz,” named after the bamboo flute that lends the track its hypnotic melody. When it comes to mixing multicultural sounds that get dance floors jumping, Habibeats has emerged as a go-to selector. His skillful blends of Arabic music with global dance genres like Brazilian baile funk and South African amapiano have earned him high-profile recent gigs, including the Sandstorm music festival in Saudi Arabia with Eminem, Calvin Harris and A$AP Rocky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now back stateside after a Middle Eastern mini-tour, the San Francisco-born DJ is getting ready to take his signature party, Habibi’s House, on the road across North America, including a hometown stop at \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/midwaysf/events/insomniac-presents-dj-habibeats-124838\">the Midway on Feb. 22\u003c/a>. But until a few years ago, Habibeats never would’ve guessed that American crowds, thousands deep, would come to hear him spin Arabic music at mainstream nightclubs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Arab weddings, for sure. But any other situation — it had never crossed my mind once, because I just never thought anyone cared to hear that,” he says on a recent Zoom call from his L.A. apartment. “Especially in a bar setting Friday night, people just want to hear Drake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/bRDVeJE4jVo?si=Fm176-8B0asAhA6x\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habibeats’ journey of finding his musical lane was also one of learning to fully embrace his identity as a first-generation Palestinian American. He grew up in a tight-knit Palestinian community in Fairfield, the diverse Solano County suburb where many of his classmates were also first-generation immigrants from different parts of the world. His parents owned a coffee shop in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury District, and he had a DJ uncle in San Francisco who loaded up Habibeats’ first iPod with the house and freestyle beats he spun in clubs — plus sounds from Palestine, Egypt, India and Iran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That early exposure to Southwest Asian and North African music sparked curiosity. But when Habibeats started getting behind the turntables at 13 or 14 years old, he still considered the worlds of Arabic music and American music to be separate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13970718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13970718\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-1920x2400.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Habibeats has brought his party across North America, Europe and the Middle East. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the artist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Habibeats had always been a hip-hop head (in middle school, during the hyphy movement, he grew his hair out so he could go dumb to E-40). But by the time he was DJing clubs in the 2010s, downtempo trap music took over, and he began to look to other genres for more high-energy sounds that would get people moving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So I started getting into more reggaeton and Afrobeats,” he says. “That’s when all of a sudden, Bad Bunny became the biggest guy on earth. … Then people like Burna Boy from Nigeria started popping off. And for the first time, all these influences from outside of the U.S. were dominating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habibeats went to law school during the pandemic, and despite passing the Bar, he wanted to DJ full time. When he connected with an L.A. crew of DJs called \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/style/no-nazar-party-brooklyn.html\">No Nazar\u003c/a>, things clicked. Helmed by MTooray, Omar and Bianca Maieli, the party spotlights South Asian genres like Bollywood and bhangra along with the global, Afro-diasporic sounds Habibeats also had in steady rotation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically I had this moment where I was just like, ‘OK, this is what I need to do with my culture,’” Habibeats recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/S1eBI8tpbPI?si=NHcEgHx70HwatSrf\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His genre-bending experiments attracted a huge following on \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@djhabibeats?lang=en\">TikTok\u003c/a>, and in 2022, he threw the first Habibi’s House at an L.A. bar. For audience members who grew up hearing artists like Egyptian superstar \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@djhabibeats/video/7456990784248679722?lang=en\">Amr Diab\u003c/a> exclusively at family parties, his remixes of classics hit the right combination of forward-thinking yet nostalgic. “The very first one, it was like 80 people came. But those people had the time of their life, and I had the time of my life. It felt like the two halves of my brain” — the Arab side and the American side — “were whole,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With so many negative depictions of Arabs in Western media, for people who go to Habibi’s House from New York to London, the party is more than just a fun night out. “I had multiple people tell me that they were crying on the dance floor because they just felt so included,” he reflects, noting that he gets an equal measure of heartfelt feedback from non-Arabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a new presidential administration known for Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-immigrant policies, Habibi’s House rewrites the narrative, especially amid Israel’s U.S.-backed devastation of Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Part of my work is trying to showcase that, actually, we’re very loving, caring, inviting, warm, sweet people that just love life,” he says. “We love each other, and we love people, and we love celebrating. We love art and culture. And we have a lot to contribute to the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13970730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13970730\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Habibeats proudly rocks his keffiyeh at shows. \u003ccite>(Nate Sukley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Habibeats says it all feels worth it when young Palestinian kids tell him he’s shown them that they can do anything. And with his recent deal with EMPIRE — the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13870578/empire-brought-the-music-industry-back-to-san-francisco\">global label\u003c/a> founded by another Palestinian San Franciscan hip-hop head, Ghazi — Habibeats is looking forward to expanding his creative potential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only can EMPIRE help him secure usage rights to hard-to-track samples, but the company’s connection to artists all over the world has the potential for exciting collaborations. “It’s cool, because let’s say I want to work with a Brazilian artist and I don’t even know where to start,” Habibeats muses. “I can hit them up. … Basically any time I have an idea, they’ll help me execute it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before he gets back in the studio, Habibeats is gearing up for his North American tour. Last time he played the Midway in San Francisco, a year ago, it was the biggest show he’d ever done. His parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and childhood friends all came to see him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like any good child of immigrants, “I feel the need to be a good host,” he recalls, laughing. “So I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, just like trying to make sure everyone’s good. But I probably should have been worried about myself. I’m excited to come back to that stage more seasoned now, with a different approach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>DJ Habibeats brings Habibi’s House to the Midway in San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 22. \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/midwaysf/events/insomniac-presents-dj-habibeats-124838\">Tickets and details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>You might not necessarily think a \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/tcoouT0DlrE?si=TEwgYp7X3LOsIKxQ\">Palestinian folk song\u003c/a> about planting sesame seeds would go off in the club — unless, of course, you’re \u003ca href=\"https://djhabibeats.com/\">DJ Habibeats\u003c/a>, whose brain contains an endless archive of rhythms from Ramallah to Rio de Janeiro to Miami. At a party called Pangaea last summer, the sweaty, dabke-ing Los Angeles crowd went wild when he sped up the folk song’s sample and paired it with a thumping, uptempo 808 beat that called back to the late-’80s reign of 2 Live Crew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freshly signed to San Francisco label \u003ca href=\"https://empi.re/\">EMPIRE\u003c/a>, Habibeats just released that mashup as a single called “Miami Mijwiz,” named after the bamboo flute that lends the track its hypnotic melody. When it comes to mixing multicultural sounds that get dance floors jumping, Habibeats has emerged as a go-to selector. His skillful blends of Arabic music with global dance genres like Brazilian baile funk and South African amapiano have earned him high-profile recent gigs, including the Sandstorm music festival in Saudi Arabia with Eminem, Calvin Harris and A$AP Rocky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now back stateside after a Middle Eastern mini-tour, the San Francisco-born DJ is getting ready to take his signature party, Habibi’s House, on the road across North America, including a hometown stop at \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/midwaysf/events/insomniac-presents-dj-habibeats-124838\">the Midway on Feb. 22\u003c/a>. But until a few years ago, Habibeats never would’ve guessed that American crowds, thousands deep, would come to hear him spin Arabic music at mainstream nightclubs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Arab weddings, for sure. But any other situation — it had never crossed my mind once, because I just never thought anyone cared to hear that,” he says on a recent Zoom call from his L.A. apartment. “Especially in a bar setting Friday night, people just want to hear Drake.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/bRDVeJE4jVo'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/bRDVeJE4jVo'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habibeats’ journey of finding his musical lane was also one of learning to fully embrace his identity as a first-generation Palestinian American. He grew up in a tight-knit Palestinian community in Fairfield, the diverse Solano County suburb where many of his classmates were also first-generation immigrants from different parts of the world. His parents owned a coffee shop in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury District, and he had a DJ uncle in San Francisco who loaded up Habibeats’ first iPod with the house and freestyle beats he spun in clubs — plus sounds from Palestine, Egypt, India and Iran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That early exposure to Southwest Asian and North African music sparked curiosity. But when Habibeats started getting behind the turntables at 13 or 14 years old, he still considered the worlds of Arabic music and American music to be separate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13970718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13970718\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/gi-10.11.24-1-1920x2400.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Habibeats has brought his party across North America, Europe and the Middle East. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the artist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Habibeats had always been a hip-hop head (in middle school, during the hyphy movement, he grew his hair out so he could go dumb to E-40). But by the time he was DJing clubs in the 2010s, downtempo trap music took over, and he began to look to other genres for more high-energy sounds that would get people moving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So I started getting into more reggaeton and Afrobeats,” he says. “That’s when all of a sudden, Bad Bunny became the biggest guy on earth. … Then people like Burna Boy from Nigeria started popping off. And for the first time, all these influences from outside of the U.S. were dominating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habibeats went to law school during the pandemic, and despite passing the Bar, he wanted to DJ full time. When he connected with an L.A. crew of DJs called \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/style/no-nazar-party-brooklyn.html\">No Nazar\u003c/a>, things clicked. Helmed by MTooray, Omar and Bianca Maieli, the party spotlights South Asian genres like Bollywood and bhangra along with the global, Afro-diasporic sounds Habibeats also had in steady rotation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically I had this moment where I was just like, ‘OK, this is what I need to do with my culture,’” Habibeats recalls.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/S1eBI8tpbPI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/S1eBI8tpbPI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>His genre-bending experiments attracted a huge following on \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@djhabibeats?lang=en\">TikTok\u003c/a>, and in 2022, he threw the first Habibi’s House at an L.A. bar. For audience members who grew up hearing artists like Egyptian superstar \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@djhabibeats/video/7456990784248679722?lang=en\">Amr Diab\u003c/a> exclusively at family parties, his remixes of classics hit the right combination of forward-thinking yet nostalgic. “The very first one, it was like 80 people came. But those people had the time of their life, and I had the time of my life. It felt like the two halves of my brain” — the Arab side and the American side — “were whole,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With so many negative depictions of Arabs in Western media, for people who go to Habibi’s House from New York to London, the party is more than just a fun night out. “I had multiple people tell me that they were crying on the dance floor because they just felt so included,” he reflects, noting that he gets an equal measure of heartfelt feedback from non-Arabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a new presidential administration known for Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-immigrant policies, Habibi’s House rewrites the narrative, especially amid Israel’s U.S.-backed devastation of Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Part of my work is trying to showcase that, actually, we’re very loving, caring, inviting, warm, sweet people that just love life,” he says. “We love each other, and we love people, and we love celebrating. We love art and culture. And we have a lot to contribute to the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13970730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13970730\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/10.26.24_DJHabibeats_Nova_NateSukley_photoselect-3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ Habibeats proudly rocks his keffiyeh at shows. \u003ccite>(Nate Sukley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Habibeats says it all feels worth it when young Palestinian kids tell him he’s shown them that they can do anything. And with his recent deal with EMPIRE — the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13870578/empire-brought-the-music-industry-back-to-san-francisco\">global label\u003c/a> founded by another Palestinian San Franciscan hip-hop head, Ghazi — Habibeats is looking forward to expanding his creative potential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only can EMPIRE help him secure usage rights to hard-to-track samples, but the company’s connection to artists all over the world has the potential for exciting collaborations. “It’s cool, because let’s say I want to work with a Brazilian artist and I don’t even know where to start,” Habibeats muses. “I can hit them up. … Basically any time I have an idea, they’ll help me execute it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before he gets back in the studio, Habibeats is gearing up for his North American tour. Last time he played the Midway in San Francisco, a year ago, it was the biggest show he’d ever done. His parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and childhood friends all came to see him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like any good child of immigrants, “I feel the need to be a good host,” he recalls, laughing. “So I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, just like trying to make sure everyone’s good. But I probably should have been worried about myself. I’m excited to come back to that stage more seasoned now, with a different approach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>DJ Habibeats brings Habibi’s House to the Midway in San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 22. \u003ca href=\"https://www.tixr.com/groups/midwaysf/events/insomniac-presents-dj-habibeats-124838\">Tickets and details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>This is the story of a young woman who routinely bared her body, but never revealed much about her true identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her name was Yvonne D’Angers — sometimes. Her birth name was rumored to be Mahviz Daneshforouz. Sometimes she went by Yvonne Donjay. Others knew her as Carmella Ettlinger when she worked as a cocktail waitress at bars around North Beach. Later, she adopted her second husband’s last name and became Yvonne Boreta. But at the peak of her fame in San Francisco, she was most affectionately referred to as “The Persian Lamb.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Angers graduated from waitress to stage talent shortly after Carol Doda first went topless at the Condor. As North Beach venues scrambled to compete with Doda, the Off Broadway (located at 1024 Kearny) employed D’Angers — a large-breasted beauty who was rumored to be one of the reasons Doda first enhanced her chest with silicone. In 1966, at the peak of her fame, D’Angers posed for \u003cem>Playboy\u003c/em> and played Cleopatra at the month-long opening party for Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13953248']D’Angers’ performances were not as strenuous as Doda’s. At the Off Broadway, she posed nude on stage while an artist named Nick Galin sketched her. She participated in topless “fashion shows.” She undressed behind a screen and then emerged for cheering audiences. Some of her performances lasted only five minutes. It mattered not. Newspaper ads for the Off Broadway promoted D’Angers as being in possession of “two of San Francisco’s three most famous landmarks.” During this same period, she was \u003ca href=\"https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-1591387\">photographed topless in her dressing room by Diane Arbus\u003c/a>. The image later appeared in Arbus’ posthumous monograph, published by Aperture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During one 1966 interview, D’Angers spoke proudly of her job and the atmosphere at the Off Broadway. “I don’t see anything wrong with it,” she said. “I have never heard a nasty remark. I hear nothing but compliments. Lots of nice people come to this club. Businessmen, family men, married couples, office workers. They don’t bother me. I have dedicated myself to being a show business person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 840px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM.png\" alt=\"A blond woman in a white bikini poses, sideways on next to a headline that read 'virginity should be against the law.’\" width=\"840\" height=\"1170\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM.png 840w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM-800x1114.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM-160x223.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM-768x1070.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">D’Angers gracing the cover of ‘Midnight’ magazine in 1967. \u003ccite>(Midnight: A Parliament Publication)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>D’Angers was born in either Tehran or Paris, the second of nine children. She became a model at the age of 14, and later studied — some say architecture, others say art — at UC Berkeley. She admitted to doctoring her birth certificate “any time it was necessary,” including when she got married at the age of 16 to a man named Howard S. Ettlinger who later claimed D’Angers paid him $200 to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the 1960s and ’70s, in multiple courts across the land, D’Angers waged war with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service as it tried desperately to deport her. D’Angers responded to this with a series of stunts. On Aug. 30, 1966, she chained herself, while clad in a hot pink catsuit, to the Golden Gate Bridge in protest, noting that she “felt like Joan of Arc.” Her antics attracted fascinated reporters who made a point to provide D’Angers’ measurements (“44-21-36!”) in almost every story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958872\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2499px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958872\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white image of a slender blonde woman in full make-up chained to a bridge railing.\" width=\"2499\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-scaled.jpg 2499w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-800x819.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-1020x1045.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-160x164.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-768x787.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-1499x1536.jpg 1499w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-1999x2048.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-1920x1967.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2499px) 100vw, 2499px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On August 6, 1966, D’Angers chained herself to Golden Gate Bridge and tossed the keys into the water. The bolt cutters of a bridge worker were quickly employed to free her. \u003ccite>(Bill Young/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>More than two years later, D’Angers arrived at the Immigration Service building at 630 Sansome with her attorney Melvin Belli and her husband \u003ca href=\"https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/lvrj/name/voss-boreta-obituary?id=19784478\">Voss Boreta\u003c/a>. Trailing behind them were 21 dancers, waitresses and supporters from Off Broadway and other North Beach clubs carrying protest signs that demanded: “Save Our National Monument,” “Don’t Bust the Bust” and “Keep America Beautiful — Save Yvonne.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13902628']In 1965, D’Angers was also obliged to go to court to defend her right to be topless in public. This followed an arrest at the Off Broadway as she, in \u003cem>Life\u003c/em> magazine’s words, “strut[ted] down the aisle modeling a topless parody of an evening gown.” \u003cem>Life\u003c/em> quoted D’Angers as saying: “Being arrested does not bother me. San Francisco is so much like Paris. And I know that in Paris nothing will happen to a girl for doing this or more or less.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was right. D’Angers — alongside Doda and fellow topless performers, Kay Star and Euraine Heimberg — was acquitted of obscenity charges on May 8, 1965. D’Angers showed up to court wearing an electric-blue sequined dress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Angers truly had a canny knack for getting herself out of trouble. Nowhere was this more evident than in June 1967 when she was stalked by a violent criminal from Oakland named James Reece. Reece, who had recently escaped from the Alameda County Jail and was wanted in five cities for a long list of felonies (including rape, kidnapping, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm), followed D’Angers in a stolen car one night after she left her shift at the Off Broadway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Following a high speed chase,” the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> later reported, “Miss D’Angers cut into a dead end street and skidded to a stop, her four-day-old Cadillac half over a creek embankment. Reece careened into a tree and his car flipped 100 feet to the opposite bank.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reece survived the accident on the quiet Marin County road, was quickly apprehended and transferred to the San Quentin prison hospital. D’Angers was unscathed, her love of the spotlight undiluted by the terrifying incident. A year later, the aspiring actress made her big screen debut in \u003cem>Sappho Darling\u003c/em>, a lesbian exploitation flick that has since found a cult following. At the time of its release, however, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> issued a scathing review:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13958101']“[D’Angers] has been totally victimized by the glaring vulgarity of director Gunnar Steel’s sleazy little effort,” the review said. “Even her spectacular figure has been photographed disadvantageously and her voice (either her own or an inept dubbing job) sounds like a strident Betty Boop … When [a co-star] tremulously asks Miss D’Angers after a night of love: ‘Do you think I’m a lesbian?’ Yvonne smilingly recites quotations from Krafft-Ebing, Dr. Kinsey and Sigmund Freud … The scene is unintentionally hilarious.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following \u003cem>Sappho Darling\u003c/em>, D’Angers worked with Russ Meyer on \u003cem>The Seven Minutes\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Move\u003c/em>, alongside Elliot Gould and Paula Prentiss. A few years later came \u003cem>Ground Zero\u003c/em>, a thriller about a terrorist organization that plants a nuclear device on the Golden Gate Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958874\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 712px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-12.55.53-PM.png\" alt=\"A VHS cover featuring a fiery Golden Gate Bridge, close up of a man's face holding a gun and a woman in a bikini.\" width=\"712\" height=\"1270\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-12.55.53-PM.png 712w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-12.55.53-PM-160x285.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 712px) 100vw, 712px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The home video cover of 1973’s ‘Ground Zero,’ which credits D’Angers as: ‘Ivonne D’Angiers.’ \u003ccite>(Genesis Home Video)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By the time \u003cem>Ground Zero\u003c/em> came out, D’Angers was living a much quieter life. In August 1973, the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> reported that she could be regularly found hanging out at her husband’s Plaka Taverna club in North Beach. “The D’Angers charm is contagious as ever,” the newspaper said, “though … she prefers to stay in the background and let husband Voss run things.” She was quoted as saying “I’m enjoying being a wife very much.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Angers died on June 10, 2009 in Las Vegas; she moved there with Boreta in 1974, and the couple subsequently raised three children. How she managed to stay in the United States after multiple deportation orders — including two, in 1967 and 1970, from Washington, D.C.’s Immigration Appeals Board — remains a mystery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time of her death, D’Angers’ notoriety had been largely forgotten. In its obituary, the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> referred to D’Angers only as “an accomplished painter, model and college graduate.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>D’Angers’ performances were not as strenuous as Doda’s. At the Off Broadway, she posed nude on stage while an artist named Nick Galin sketched her. She participated in topless “fashion shows.” She undressed behind a screen and then emerged for cheering audiences. Some of her performances lasted only five minutes. It mattered not. Newspaper ads for the Off Broadway promoted D’Angers as being in possession of “two of San Francisco’s three most famous landmarks.” During this same period, she was \u003ca href=\"https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-1591387\">photographed topless in her dressing room by Diane Arbus\u003c/a>. The image later appeared in Arbus’ posthumous monograph, published by Aperture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During one 1966 interview, D’Angers spoke proudly of her job and the atmosphere at the Off Broadway. “I don’t see anything wrong with it,” she said. “I have never heard a nasty remark. I hear nothing but compliments. Lots of nice people come to this club. Businessmen, family men, married couples, office workers. They don’t bother me. I have dedicated myself to being a show business person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958875\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 840px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958875\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM.png\" alt=\"A blond woman in a white bikini poses, sideways on next to a headline that read 'virginity should be against the law.’\" width=\"840\" height=\"1170\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM.png 840w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM-800x1114.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM-160x223.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-1.36.12-PM-768x1070.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">D’Angers gracing the cover of ‘Midnight’ magazine in 1967. \u003ccite>(Midnight: A Parliament Publication)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>D’Angers was born in either Tehran or Paris, the second of nine children. She became a model at the age of 14, and later studied — some say architecture, others say art — at UC Berkeley. She admitted to doctoring her birth certificate “any time it was necessary,” including when she got married at the age of 16 to a man named Howard S. Ettlinger who later claimed D’Angers paid him $200 to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the 1960s and ’70s, in multiple courts across the land, D’Angers waged war with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service as it tried desperately to deport her. D’Angers responded to this with a series of stunts. On Aug. 30, 1966, she chained herself, while clad in a hot pink catsuit, to the Golden Gate Bridge in protest, noting that she “felt like Joan of Arc.” Her antics attracted fascinated reporters who made a point to provide D’Angers’ measurements (“44-21-36!”) in almost every story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958872\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2499px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958872\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white image of a slender blonde woman in full make-up chained to a bridge railing.\" width=\"2499\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-scaled.jpg 2499w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-800x819.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-1020x1045.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-160x164.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-768x787.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-1499x1536.jpg 1499w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-1999x2048.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1206296094-1920x1967.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2499px) 100vw, 2499px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On August 6, 1966, D’Angers chained herself to Golden Gate Bridge and tossed the keys into the water. The bolt cutters of a bridge worker were quickly employed to free her. \u003ccite>(Bill Young/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>More than two years later, D’Angers arrived at the Immigration Service building at 630 Sansome with her attorney Melvin Belli and her husband \u003ca href=\"https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/lvrj/name/voss-boreta-obituary?id=19784478\">Voss Boreta\u003c/a>. Trailing behind them were 21 dancers, waitresses and supporters from Off Broadway and other North Beach clubs carrying protest signs that demanded: “Save Our National Monument,” “Don’t Bust the Bust” and “Keep America Beautiful — Save Yvonne.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In 1965, D’Angers was also obliged to go to court to defend her right to be topless in public. This followed an arrest at the Off Broadway as she, in \u003cem>Life\u003c/em> magazine’s words, “strut[ted] down the aisle modeling a topless parody of an evening gown.” \u003cem>Life\u003c/em> quoted D’Angers as saying: “Being arrested does not bother me. San Francisco is so much like Paris. And I know that in Paris nothing will happen to a girl for doing this or more or less.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was right. D’Angers — alongside Doda and fellow topless performers, Kay Star and Euraine Heimberg — was acquitted of obscenity charges on May 8, 1965. D’Angers showed up to court wearing an electric-blue sequined dress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Angers truly had a canny knack for getting herself out of trouble. Nowhere was this more evident than in June 1967 when she was stalked by a violent criminal from Oakland named James Reece. Reece, who had recently escaped from the Alameda County Jail and was wanted in five cities for a long list of felonies (including rape, kidnapping, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm), followed D’Angers in a stolen car one night after she left her shift at the Off Broadway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Following a high speed chase,” the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> later reported, “Miss D’Angers cut into a dead end street and skidded to a stop, her four-day-old Cadillac half over a creek embankment. Reece careened into a tree and his car flipped 100 feet to the opposite bank.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reece survived the accident on the quiet Marin County road, was quickly apprehended and transferred to the San Quentin prison hospital. D’Angers was unscathed, her love of the spotlight undiluted by the terrifying incident. A year later, the aspiring actress made her big screen debut in \u003cem>Sappho Darling\u003c/em>, a lesbian exploitation flick that has since found a cult following. At the time of its release, however, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> issued a scathing review:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“[D’Angers] has been totally victimized by the glaring vulgarity of director Gunnar Steel’s sleazy little effort,” the review said. “Even her spectacular figure has been photographed disadvantageously and her voice (either her own or an inept dubbing job) sounds like a strident Betty Boop … When [a co-star] tremulously asks Miss D’Angers after a night of love: ‘Do you think I’m a lesbian?’ Yvonne smilingly recites quotations from Krafft-Ebing, Dr. Kinsey and Sigmund Freud … The scene is unintentionally hilarious.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following \u003cem>Sappho Darling\u003c/em>, D’Angers worked with Russ Meyer on \u003cem>The Seven Minutes\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Move\u003c/em>, alongside Elliot Gould and Paula Prentiss. A few years later came \u003cem>Ground Zero\u003c/em>, a thriller about a terrorist organization that plants a nuclear device on the Golden Gate Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958874\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 712px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-12.55.53-PM.png\" alt=\"A VHS cover featuring a fiery Golden Gate Bridge, close up of a man's face holding a gun and a woman in a bikini.\" width=\"712\" height=\"1270\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-12.55.53-PM.png 712w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Screen-Shot-2024-05-30-at-12.55.53-PM-160x285.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 712px) 100vw, 712px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The home video cover of 1973’s ‘Ground Zero,’ which credits D’Angers as: ‘Ivonne D’Angiers.’ \u003ccite>(Genesis Home Video)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By the time \u003cem>Ground Zero\u003c/em> came out, D’Angers was living a much quieter life. In August 1973, the \u003cem>Oakland Tribune\u003c/em> reported that she could be regularly found hanging out at her husband’s Plaka Taverna club in North Beach. “The D’Angers charm is contagious as ever,” the newspaper said, “though … she prefers to stay in the background and let husband Voss run things.” She was quoted as saying “I’m enjoying being a wife very much.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>D’Angers died on June 10, 2009 in Las Vegas; she moved there with Boreta in 1974, and the couple subsequently raised three children. How she managed to stay in the United States after multiple deportation orders — including two, in 1967 and 1970, from Washington, D.C.’s Immigration Appeals Board — remains a mystery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time of her death, D’Angers’ notoriety had been largely forgotten. In its obituary, the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> referred to D’Angers only as “an accomplished painter, model and college graduate.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Stud, SF's Oldest Queer Bar, Gears Up for a Grand Reopening",
"headTitle": "The Stud, SF’s Oldest Queer Bar, Gears Up for a Grand Reopening | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.studsf.com/\">the Stud\u003c/a> closed its doors at the onset of the pandemic in 2020, its worker-owner collective vowed to one day return. After all, the legendary LGBTQ+ bar had been around in various incarnations since 1966, nurturing the weird, alternative and experimental pockets of queer performance in San Francisco ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Stud’s official reopening at its new South of Market location (1123-1125 Folsom Street) finally arrives this Saturday, April 20, with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stud-time-machine-tickets-883890850327\">Stud Time Machine\u003c/a> party celebrating its different eras. After a blessing from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, festivities kick off at 6 p.m. with a 1960s cowboy-themed DJ set and performance. Each hour of the party will be dedicated to a different decade (“The Disco Era,” “The Club Kid Era”), culminating with a look into the future at midnight. Among the entertainers are original disco DJ Steve Fabus, who’s been spinning since the ’70s; drag diva (and fashion designer to the drag stars) Glamamore, performing an homage to the late \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929572/heklina-castro-memorial\">Heklina\u003c/a>’s beloved party T-Shack; and multi-hyphenate artist Honey Mahogany, a Stud co-owner deeply involved in San Francisco politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Stud gears up for its grand reopening, Mahogany spoke with KQED’s Adhiti Bandlamudi about what lies ahead in this new iteration of San Francisco’s oldest queer bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915269\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915269\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Honey Mahogany speaks during a rally after the Trans March in San Francisco on June 24, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Adhiti Bandlamudi:\u003c/strong> The Stud has such a rich history, and the theme of tomorrow’s opening night party reflects that. Can you tell us more about that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Honey Mahogany:\u003c/strong> The Stud first opened in 1966. It’s been the living room for so many people, not just in the neighborhood, but across the country. During the ’60s, it really started off as a leather bar, and then really became more of a Western bar. But it quickly evolved into a place where everyone felt welcome — whether it be women, queers, hair fairies or trans people. So many different groups and communities feel welcome at the Stud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My favorite story of the Stud is that during the ’60s … Huey Newton, who was one of the leaders of the Black Panther Party, made this incredible speech where he talked about building unity between the women’s movement and the LGBTQ movement. One of the first places that the LGBTQ Liberation Front and the Black Panther Party actually met was at the Stud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Stud has faced several closures in the past. And every time that idea became more of a reality, it sounds like community members who really care about the bar came together to keep it alive. In 2016, when the previous owner was going to retire, you and other artists, DJs and performers got together and started the Stud Collective. As I understand it, it’s one of the first co-op nightclubs in the country. How has this collective model made a difference as you get ready to open the state again?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was sort of, I don’t want to say an act of desperation, but so many LGBTQ nightlife venues were closing all across the country, and especially here in San Francisco. LGBTQ venues were being priced out. Certainly, that was the case with the Stud, where the previous owner was just like, “I can’t afford to pay triple what I was paying in rent. So I can’t do this anymore.” And he really made a callout to the community, hoping that someone would come and save the Stud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Stud has always been kind of a dive bar \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">— \u003c/span>more of a community space than a big moneymaker. So a bunch of us who could not have afforded to buy the bar on our own \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">— \u003c/span>a group of 17 \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span> worked to build the collective, set up a system of rules, come up with a plan for how we were going to save the Stud, and we were successful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I won’t say that it was easy. It was lots of long nights, lots of arguments, lots of personalities and ideas. But ultimately, I do think that having collective ownership of a space like the Stud is really important because it ensures that the space remains open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13880908\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880908\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/First-Stud-gay-pride-float-.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"518\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/First-Stud-gay-pride-float-.jpg 720w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/First-Stud-gay-pride-float--160x115.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Stud’s first Pride float in 1974. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of The Stud)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I’m curious to understand more about that journey, especially because of COVID and the aftereffects of it. What has that journey been like?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>COVID was a real bummer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>To say the least. \u003c/strong>[aside postid='arts_13936556']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We actually shut down relatively early, because we didn’t know what was going to happen or how soon we were going to open up. We also knew that we couldn’t afford to keep going. Actually, we did not go completely dark. We very quickly hopped online, hosting drag shows and DJ parties on the weekends, so people could safely enjoy performance art and drag and music from their own homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>There’s also been some fundraising that’s been going on. \u003ca href=\"https://givebutter.com/c/Stud2024\">The crowdfunding goal\u003c/a> is $500,000, and last I checked, like $74,000 had been donated. And people are still donating.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crowdfunding is just one part of where we’ve been raising money. We’ve been raising money through other spaces as well — selling some assets and things like that. And so right now we’re just above $425,000 that we’ve been able to pull together. So that leaves about $75,000 left that we have to raise. And we are really excited, because it’s enabled us to get this far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13880907\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 655px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880907\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/The-Stud-1991-photo-by-Melissa-Hawkins.jpg\" alt=\"A black-and-white photo of a drag queen nun and two mustached men partying.\" width=\"655\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/The-Stud-1991-photo-by-Melissa-Hawkins.jpg 655w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/The-Stud-1991-photo-by-Melissa-Hawkins-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 655px) 100vw, 655px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Partygoers at the Stud, including a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence, in 1991. \u003ccite>(Melissa Hawkins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But that $75,000 is going to be really key into seeing the longevity of the Stud, and also to really make the Stud what it used to be, which was not just a dance bar or a dance space, but also a place where there were epic, life-changing performances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The space that we’ve taken over now is so cool, but it is not a performance space. We’ve got two separate bar areas and dance floors. But we do not have a stage. We do not have a dressing room. We do not have an area for the performers to be able to use the restroom and get changed and all of that stuff. So we want to take out the industrial kitchen that takes up a quarter of the bar currently, convert that into dressing rooms and bathrooms for the performers, and then also build out a stage so that we can bring back those epic Stud drag shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the ways in which we are incentivizing people to help us get to that $500,000 goal is we have the Stud’s opening night party this Saturday. We released tickets on Monday and, within six minutes, all sold out. There will be some tickets at the door. But folks are definitely planning on getting there early. [aside postid='arts_13953497']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The new Stud won’t just be a nightclub, right? There are plans to include a school that will teach the art of drag. Can you tell me more about that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are planning on opening the drag school. It’s going to be a collaboration between the Stud and CounterPulse. It’s going to be a bit of an interesting model because a lot of the classes will probably be off-site. But we are definitely going to train people in the art of drag, help them get their starts, provide them with mentors, bring specialists in — costuming, makeup, hair and performance and dance — and really give them the tools that they need to be successful.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Stud is located at 1123-1125 Folsom Street. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stud-time-machine-tickets-883890850327\">The Stud Time Machine\u003c/a> reopening party begins at 5:30 p.m. on April 20. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/studsf\">Follow the Stud on Instagram\u003c/a> for updates on business hours and future events.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.studsf.com/\">the Stud\u003c/a> closed its doors at the onset of the pandemic in 2020, its worker-owner collective vowed to one day return. After all, the legendary LGBTQ+ bar had been around in various incarnations since 1966, nurturing the weird, alternative and experimental pockets of queer performance in San Francisco ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Stud’s official reopening at its new South of Market location (1123-1125 Folsom Street) finally arrives this Saturday, April 20, with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stud-time-machine-tickets-883890850327\">Stud Time Machine\u003c/a> party celebrating its different eras. After a blessing from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, festivities kick off at 6 p.m. with a 1960s cowboy-themed DJ set and performance. Each hour of the party will be dedicated to a different decade (“The Disco Era,” “The Club Kid Era”), culminating with a look into the future at midnight. Among the entertainers are original disco DJ Steve Fabus, who’s been spinning since the ’70s; drag diva (and fashion designer to the drag stars) Glamamore, performing an homage to the late \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929572/heklina-castro-memorial\">Heklina\u003c/a>’s beloved party T-Shack; and multi-hyphenate artist Honey Mahogany, a Stud co-owner deeply involved in San Francisco politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Stud gears up for its grand reopening, Mahogany spoke with KQED’s Adhiti Bandlamudi about what lies ahead in this new iteration of San Francisco’s oldest queer bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13915269\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13915269\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/RS56925_024_KQED_SFTransMarch_06242022-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Honey Mahogany speaks during a rally after the Trans March in San Francisco on June 24, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Adhiti Bandlamudi:\u003c/strong> The Stud has such a rich history, and the theme of tomorrow’s opening night party reflects that. Can you tell us more about that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Honey Mahogany:\u003c/strong> The Stud first opened in 1966. It’s been the living room for so many people, not just in the neighborhood, but across the country. During the ’60s, it really started off as a leather bar, and then really became more of a Western bar. But it quickly evolved into a place where everyone felt welcome — whether it be women, queers, hair fairies or trans people. So many different groups and communities feel welcome at the Stud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My favorite story of the Stud is that during the ’60s … Huey Newton, who was one of the leaders of the Black Panther Party, made this incredible speech where he talked about building unity between the women’s movement and the LGBTQ movement. One of the first places that the LGBTQ Liberation Front and the Black Panther Party actually met was at the Stud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Stud has faced several closures in the past. And every time that idea became more of a reality, it sounds like community members who really care about the bar came together to keep it alive. In 2016, when the previous owner was going to retire, you and other artists, DJs and performers got together and started the Stud Collective. As I understand it, it’s one of the first co-op nightclubs in the country. How has this collective model made a difference as you get ready to open the state again?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was sort of, I don’t want to say an act of desperation, but so many LGBTQ nightlife venues were closing all across the country, and especially here in San Francisco. LGBTQ venues were being priced out. Certainly, that was the case with the Stud, where the previous owner was just like, “I can’t afford to pay triple what I was paying in rent. So I can’t do this anymore.” And he really made a callout to the community, hoping that someone would come and save the Stud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Stud has always been kind of a dive bar \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">— \u003c/span>more of a community space than a big moneymaker. So a bunch of us who could not have afforded to buy the bar on our own \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">— \u003c/span>a group of 17 \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span> worked to build the collective, set up a system of rules, come up with a plan for how we were going to save the Stud, and we were successful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I won’t say that it was easy. It was lots of long nights, lots of arguments, lots of personalities and ideas. But ultimately, I do think that having collective ownership of a space like the Stud is really important because it ensures that the space remains open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13880908\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880908\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/First-Stud-gay-pride-float-.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"518\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/First-Stud-gay-pride-float-.jpg 720w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/First-Stud-gay-pride-float--160x115.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Stud’s first Pride float in 1974. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of The Stud)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I’m curious to understand more about that journey, especially because of COVID and the aftereffects of it. What has that journey been like?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>COVID was a real bummer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>To say the least. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We actually shut down relatively early, because we didn’t know what was going to happen or how soon we were going to open up. We also knew that we couldn’t afford to keep going. Actually, we did not go completely dark. We very quickly hopped online, hosting drag shows and DJ parties on the weekends, so people could safely enjoy performance art and drag and music from their own homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>There’s also been some fundraising that’s been going on. \u003ca href=\"https://givebutter.com/c/Stud2024\">The crowdfunding goal\u003c/a> is $500,000, and last I checked, like $74,000 had been donated. And people are still donating.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crowdfunding is just one part of where we’ve been raising money. We’ve been raising money through other spaces as well — selling some assets and things like that. And so right now we’re just above $425,000 that we’ve been able to pull together. So that leaves about $75,000 left that we have to raise. And we are really excited, because it’s enabled us to get this far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13880907\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 655px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13880907\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/The-Stud-1991-photo-by-Melissa-Hawkins.jpg\" alt=\"A black-and-white photo of a drag queen nun and two mustached men partying.\" width=\"655\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/The-Stud-1991-photo-by-Melissa-Hawkins.jpg 655w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/05/The-Stud-1991-photo-by-Melissa-Hawkins-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 655px) 100vw, 655px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Partygoers at the Stud, including a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence, in 1991. \u003ccite>(Melissa Hawkins)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But that $75,000 is going to be really key into seeing the longevity of the Stud, and also to really make the Stud what it used to be, which was not just a dance bar or a dance space, but also a place where there were epic, life-changing performances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The space that we’ve taken over now is so cool, but it is not a performance space. We’ve got two separate bar areas and dance floors. But we do not have a stage. We do not have a dressing room. We do not have an area for the performers to be able to use the restroom and get changed and all of that stuff. So we want to take out the industrial kitchen that takes up a quarter of the bar currently, convert that into dressing rooms and bathrooms for the performers, and then also build out a stage so that we can bring back those epic Stud drag shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the ways in which we are incentivizing people to help us get to that $500,000 goal is we have the Stud’s opening night party this Saturday. We released tickets on Monday and, within six minutes, all sold out. There will be some tickets at the door. But folks are definitely planning on getting there early. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The new Stud won’t just be a nightclub, right? There are plans to include a school that will teach the art of drag. Can you tell me more about that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are planning on opening the drag school. It’s going to be a collaboration between the Stud and CounterPulse. It’s going to be a bit of an interesting model because a lot of the classes will probably be off-site. But we are definitely going to train people in the art of drag, help them get their starts, provide them with mentors, bring specialists in — costuming, makeup, hair and performance and dance — and really give them the tools that they need to be successful.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Stud is located at 1123-1125 Folsom Street. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stud-time-machine-tickets-883890850327\">The Stud Time Machine\u003c/a> reopening party begins at 5:30 p.m. on April 20. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/studsf\">Follow the Stud on Instagram\u003c/a> for updates on business hours and future events.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-queer-party-renaissance-brings-new-life-to-downtown-oakland",
"title": "A Queer Party Renaissance Brings New Life to Downtown Oakland",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952711\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarahfe Harris Juarbe, a.k.a. Bruja Fe, dances at the Marimacha dance party in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s 11 p.m. on a recent Saturday, and the dance floor at Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://fluid510.com/\">Fluid510\u003c/a> starts filling up with people in cowboy hats and boots, platforms and mesh, neck tattoos and baggy polos, and head-to-toe leather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here at a new queer party called Marimacha, the DJ, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/xulaquiles/\">Xulaquiles\u003c/a>, switches the vibe from 2000s reggaeton to Kali Uchis’ “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/_h-Vcm7hqb4?si=DJOQZ3r3QjD-JH24\">Dame Beso // Muévete\u003c/a>.” The dancers, mostly women and gender-nonconforming people of every style and expression, react accordingly, going from throwing it back to twirling each other in time with the merengue rhythm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952710\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952710\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victoria Fajardo, a.k.a. DJ Xulaquiles a.k.a. Kiki, plays her set at the Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Marimacha is among an exciting new surge in queer parties right now in downtown Oakland. On any given Friday or Saturday night, clubgoers can walk from drag show to queer cocktail lounge to Afrobeats night to house music party, all within a half-mile radius. Even more queer events — speed dating, kink workshops, board game nights, open mics and food pop-ups — offer a wealth of weeknight and evening options for those who want more than drinking and dancing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952162/oakland-public-safety-crime-commentary\">Downtown Oakland’s struggles\u003c/a> get a lot of airtime. But if you only watch cable news and read Nextdoor posts about bipping and chain store closures, you’ll miss the fact that the Town’s LGBTQ+ nightlife scene is flourishing in ways it hasn’t in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland now boasts at least eight queer venues, many of which opened in the past year. Along with a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/07/oakland-lakeshore-lgbtq-cultural-district-lake-merritt/\">newly designated LGBTQ+ District\u003c/a> near Lakeshore Avenue, this explosion of nightlife has brought new events just as eclectic, creative and politically engaged as Oakland’s queer community itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952709\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952709\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People dance at the Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I feel like there’s a renaissance happening right now,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/beauty_botanica/\">Olivia Bianco-Chaidez\u003c/a>, who co-produced Marimacha. “Things are getting spicier again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#queeroaklandvenuelist\">Jump to: Our list of queer venues in Oakland\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>The lay of the land\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Queer nightlife in Oakland has always been more diverse across race and gender than in San Francisco, whose gayborhood, the Castro, has skewed white and male since becoming a mecca over 50 years ago. And while Oakland has long been a haven for queer and trans people of color, pre-pandemic hangout options were slim; brick-and-mortar establishments one could visit any night of the week numbered at less than a handful. [aside postid='arts_13938947']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>January 2020 saw the closure of two adjoining Broadway venues, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13871726/sf-developer-displaces-club-bnb-and-club-21-reducing-oakland-lgbtq-bars-by-half\">Club BnB and Club 21\u003c/a>, after the landlord doubled the clubs’ rent and replaced them with tech offices. At the time, the closure cut Oakland’s number of queer nightlife venues in half, leaving just the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whitehorsebar/?hl=en\">White Horse\u003c/a> — the North Oakland standby on Telegraph that’s been open since the 1930s — and the drag-and-dancing Broadway hotspot Port Bar, which closed this February, also \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/01/30/oakland-port-bar-closure-landlord-dispute/\">due to a landlord dispute\u003c/a>. (Another landlord dispute forced Bianco-Chaidez and her partner in work and life, Mar Mendoza, who DJs as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dreamsthedj\">Dreams\u003c/a>, to close their underground venue El Afters last fall, though they \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elaftersoakland/\">continue to produce events under that banner\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952707\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Olivia Bianco-Chaidez (left) and Mar Mendoza, a.k.a. Dreams (right), at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. Bianco-Chaidez and Mendoza co-hosted their inaugural Marimacha party, celebrating “the buchona baddies, cunty cabronas, diablo daddies, and all of our sexy community.” \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, against the odds, a flurry of new activity emerged out of the pandemic’s shutdowns. “It was years of turmoil, but also years of envisioning and imagining,” says event producer Yanni Brump, who DJs as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djprincessdxddy/\">Princess Dxddy\u003c/a>. “So now, you see the offspring of that in people’s manifestation of having the events they want, the spaces they want to gather.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Queer-owned cocktail lounge \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friendsandfamilybar/\">Friends and Family\u003c/a> — open to all, but known as a sapphic safe space — launched with to-go service when COVID-19 restrictions began to lift, and now makes a thriving hub on 25th Street for queer chefs, vintners and mixologists. (Its neon-lit bathroom might also be queer Oakland’s most popular dating profile photo backdrop.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2021, Oakland’s downtown also saw the opening of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/quericonightclub/\">Que Rico\u003c/a>, the Latinx-focused venue on 15th Street. It’s home to drag and dancing, as well as parties-with-a-purpose like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/qumbiaqrew/\">Queer Qumbia\u003c/a>, which recently fundraised for Palestinian Youth Movement and Arab Resource and Organizing Center. Also in 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.thebarsummer.com/\">Summer Bar & Lounge\u003c/a> opened its doors in Old Oakland, and now boasts a packed weekly program of karaoke, drag and go-go dancers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Edward Booker (left) pours a drink while Vivi Sousa (right) looks on at Nectar Social Club in Oakland, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s queer nightlife renaissance began to crystalize in 2023, when a critical mass of new venues arrived, catering to a wide array of identities and interests. Across from Que Rico is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nectarsocialclub/?hl=en\">Nectar Social Club\u003c/a>, which celebrated its opening last fall with a sprawling block party produced by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929138/in-oakland-a-drag-fest-for-the-community-by-the-community\">Oaklash\u003c/a>, the progressive drag festival that champions trans performers as well as racial and disability justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since, Nectar’s programming has flourished, with some of the most creative events the Town has to offer. “I focus on people who are doing things that are a little bit alternative, who are building things in a grassroots way, who really understand how to bring together community around whatever creative offering they have,” says owner Jeremy Redford, who DJs as FloridaWTR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951613\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951613\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Redford, owner of Nectar Social Club in Oakland, on Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a recent Friday afternoon, Nectar, which operates as a coffee shop by day and a bar by night, is filled with clusters of friends working on laptops, drawing and gossiping over lattes. After dark, DJ Romii and friends spin house music as a couple makes out in the corner and dancers bop around sipping espresso martinis and mocktails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://feelmoresocial.com/\">Feelmore Social Club\u003c/a> is just a couple blocks away on Broadway — it’s a grown-and-sexy cocktail lounge spin-off of Nenna Joiner’s long-running sex shop of the same name. With vintage erotic art adorning the walls, it welcomes the kinky and curious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we really wanted to bring to the bar landscape was a space where sex-positive people could actually expect and think of when you’re talking about like, ‘Hey, where do we [go] for a poly meetup?’” says Joiner, seated at a barstool while a Sade song plays through the speakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951616\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951616\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nenna Joiner, owner of Feelmore Social Club, on Feb 2., 2024 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last May, Richard Fuentes and Sean Sullivan (the owners of the now-closed Port Bar) opened Fluid510, the aforementioned 250-capacity nightclub next door to Feelmore. As the name might suggest, its programming leans heavily, though not exclusively, queer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a few blocks north toward the Paramount Theater is the elegant, Art Deco-inspired \u003ca href=\"https://www.goingtotownoakland.com/\">Town Bar & Lounge\u003c/a>, whose omnivorous event schedule includes \u003ci>RuPaul’s Drag Race\u003c/i> watch parties, food pop-ups, disco nights and live R&B concerts. On Thursday nights, Town Bar hosts Femme Suite, a weekly Thursday ladies night produced by Dennise Chakra-Kan and Lady Ryan, the power couple behind Lvrgrl at the White Horse and roaming day party The Sweet Spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think me and Ryan definitely have the same vision of curating a space that is safe for our community, and making sure that Black and Brown people are definitely at the forefront of things,” says Chakra-Kan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-scaled.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-800x1000.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1020x1275.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-160x200.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-768x960.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1638x2048.jpeg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1920x2400.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dennise Chakra-Kan and Lady Ryan (left to right) at their Sweet Spot New Year’s Eve party at the White Horse on Dec. 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Stephen Flynn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Ready to mingle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At a day party called Love Spell in February, a distinctly flirty energy buzzes in the room of mostly women at Oakland’s High 5ive Rooftop Bar. Two speed dating rounds — for ages 25-35 and 35+ — just wrapped, and few exuberant folks get the dance floor started. Couples lean in close or sit on each other’s laps, while those who arrived alone browse jewelry and clothing from queer vendors, glancing around in the hopes of making eye contact with an attractive stranger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our age of Tinder, Feeld and Hinge, it turns out meeting in person is back in style. “I think we’re experiencing phone fatigue and app fatigue,” says Montana Hooks, the one-woman team behind events platform and online publication \u003ca href=\"https://www.queerinoakland.com/\">Queer In Oakland\u003c/a>, which co-produced Love Spell. “It’s almost going full circle again to the simpler times before apps totally saturated the way that we connect socially, and it’s fun and it’s novel again. I definitely think that the popularity of mixers and speed dating in queer communities can speak to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953582\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953582\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Montana Hooks of Queer In Oakland at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 18, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hooks, a longtime Oakland resident who grew up in Fremont, started Queer In Oakland because she struggled to find queer community herself after returning to the Bay from a brief stint in Seattle. The project began with a humble Google calendar of event listings in 2017. After throwing some entrepreneurial mixers — and online events during COVID shutdowns — in 2023 Hooks turned her focus to producing parties, which have now flourished into \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/queerinoakland/\">some of the most eclectic queer events\u003c/a> the Town has to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent weeks, she’s put on an indie music night and a mixer for queer creatives at Nectar Social Club, and a house music night that packed out Amber Lounge on a Thursday. On March 9 at Night Heron, there’s Instinct, a sexy dance party with a dark dress code of red, black, leather and fishnets. A singles night for queer and trans people of color called Tease is slated at Sessions on 15th on March 14, followed by a queer cowgirl party called Wild West (co-produced with Reverse Cowgirl) at Fluid510 on March 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953621\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953621\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dancer moves in rhythm as the party gets started on Feb. 17, 2024. The Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 is billed as ‘a friki nite of perreo, reggaeton, cumbias & club music.’ \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As we’re becoming stronger as a queer community, I feel we can take up space now in ways that less marginalized communities don’t even have to give a second thought to,” Hooks says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nectar Social Club is certainly doing its part to strengthen the community on and off the dance floor. Recently, it hosted a photography show and launch party for \u003ca href=\"https://pusseimagazine.com/\">\u003ci>Pussei* Magazine\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, as well as artist Shreya’s exhibition of futuristic paintings inspired by South Asian folklore. Rapper and activist Aima the Dreamer, who co-produces the long-running day party \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wearesoulovely/?hl=en\">Soulovely\u003c/a>, recently launched an open mic night and artist showcase called Groove Gallery, where the night begins with a ritual and freewriting prompt, followed by music and poetry focused on Black and Brown, queer and trans liberation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malik Bey (center) and Ashley Hughes (right) work at their laptops at the bar inside Nectar Social Club on Feb. 2, 2024 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The future seems so uncertain, and we’ve been holding all of these deep political, social, health-based, economic tensions,” Redford says. “And more so than ever, we need community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[We’re] tapping into people who are just really creative and understand how to get people into the moment, how to get people out of their shell,” he adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those people is Brump, a.k.a. Princess Dxddy. The model and fashion-show producer started DJing last year. They connected with Redford through Oaklash’s Skills for Nightlife Accelerator Program and bonded over a love of music with Afro-diasporic rhythms. Earlier this year, Brump debuted Spirit, an Afrobeats, amapiano and global dance music party at Nectar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Music touches parts of our spirit, and allows our innermost worlds to come to the forefront,” says Brump, noting the importance of safe spaces for femmes and gender-nonconforming people. “To allow ourselves to be free is a very spiritual experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a man in white t shirt and necklace DJs with blue lights and a patterned ceiling in the background\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yanni Brump, who DJs as Princess Dxddy, at their Afrobeats and amapiano party Spirit on Jan. 26, 2024 at Nectar Social Club. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Nectar Social Club)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We still gon’ thrive no matter what’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even with all this new activity, downtown Oakland does feel sleepy these days. The First Friday street fair — a major foot traffic driver for businesses — went on hiatus from January to March, citing financial strain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe it’s the rain; maybe it’s grocery and gas prices; maybe it’s safety concerns or shuttered businesses — you’re not really seeing groups of young people hopping from bar to food truck to bar as they did in previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redford points to a new pattern he’s picked up on from event-goers. “The days of people waking up on a Friday and saying, ‘I’m just going to go out in downtown Oakland and walk around’ seem like they’re coming to an end,” he says. “So many people are following and tracking the community leaders [and] builders who they feel aligned with, and they’re putting on their calendars the events … that really resonate with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953622\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarahfe Harris Juarbe, a.k.a. Bruja Fe, towls off during a break from dancing at the Marimacha dance party in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. Harris Juarbe said they had three costumes to change into for the inaugural party. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Town Bar owner Joshua Huynh alluded to something similar when I visited him on a Friday before doors opened. “You really want something for everyone, literally everyone,” he says of his event schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of all the dance parties and chef pop-ups he’s hosted, the night that reflects the spirit of Town Bar for him was a low-key cookie decorating party on Christmas Eve. “People were like, ‘I had nowhere to go’ and ‘thank you.’ It was a home-y thing, so that was nice,” he recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Huynh, owner of Town Bar and Lounge in Oakland, on Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Huynh puts that community feeling into action: He regularly collects donations at the door for the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center’s food bank, and says he’s raised over $15,000 for it since Town Bar opened in April 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know 100% of our money’s directly giving back to the community without a middleman taking a cut,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, that’s been the spirit of Oakland’s queer community. It’s led by people who find themselves at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, whether immigrant, Black, gender-nonconforming, all of the above or something else entirely. And despite challenges in Oakland and society at large, our queer and trans culture-makers have always poured themselves into creating refuges for joy, self-expression and solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Bianco-Chaidez, the co-producer of the new Marimacha party, says: “We still gon’ thrive no matter what.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dancers at the Marimacha party hosted by EL AFTERS X SFLA QUEER NIGHTLIFE at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"queeroaklandvenuelist\">\u003c/a>Where to find queer nightlife in Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elaftersoakland/\">El Afters\u003c/a>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friendsandfamilybar/\">\u003cstrong>Friends and Family\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (468 25th Street). Cocktail lounge with light bites and events. Open Monday and Tuesday 5-11 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday 5 p.m.-midnight.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://feelmoresocial.com/\">\u003cstrong>Feelmore Social Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (1542 Broadway Avenue). Cocktail lounge with kink and sex-positive events. Open Sunday 11-5 p.m., Monday 5-11 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://fluid510.com/\">\u003cstrong>Fluid510\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (1544 Broadway Avenue). Large nightclub with weekly parties, serves food. Open Wednesday and Thursday 4 p.m.-midnight, Friday 4 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturday 11 a.m. – 2 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-midnight. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nectarsocialclub/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>Nectar Social Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (408 15th Street). Coffee shop and bar with evening events and late-night dance parties. Open Tuesday and Wednesday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday-Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m. and until 2 a.m. for special events. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/queerinoakland/\">\u003cstrong>Queer in Oakland\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/quericonightclub/\">\u003cstrong>Que Rico\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (381 15th Street). Nightclub with drag and DJs. Open Tuesday 6 p.m.–11 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 5–10:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 5 p.m. – 2 a.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wearesoulovely/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>Soulovely\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Monthly day party on Second Sundays April-October at 7th West (1255 7th Street).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thebarsummer.com/\">\u003cstrong>Summer Bar & Lounge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (526 8th Street). Intimate venue with karaoke, drag and dancing. Tuesday-Thursday 8 p.m.-midnight, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Sunday 4-8 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goingtotownoakland.com/\">\u003cstrong>Town Bar & Lounge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (2001 Broadway Avenue). Art-deco lounge with dancing, food pop-ups and other events. Sunday-Wednesday, 5-11 p.m., Thursday 5 p.m.-midnight, Friday and Saturday 5 p.m.-2 a.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thesweetspotoak/\">\u003cstrong>The Sweet Spot\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whitehorsebar/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>White Horse Bar\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (6551 Telegraph Avenue). Historic bar and nightclub with a DJs, karaoke, drag and special events. Tuesday-Thursday 5 p.m.-midnight. Friday 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday 3-10 p.m. Monday 4-9 p.m. [ad fullwidth]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "Where to Find LGBTQ+ Nightlife in Oakland | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952711\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarahfe Harris Juarbe, a.k.a. Bruja Fe, dances at the Marimacha dance party in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s 11 p.m. on a recent Saturday, and the dance floor at Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://fluid510.com/\">Fluid510\u003c/a> starts filling up with people in cowboy hats and boots, platforms and mesh, neck tattoos and baggy polos, and head-to-toe leather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here at a new queer party called Marimacha, the DJ, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/xulaquiles/\">Xulaquiles\u003c/a>, switches the vibe from 2000s reggaeton to Kali Uchis’ “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/_h-Vcm7hqb4?si=DJOQZ3r3QjD-JH24\">Dame Beso // Muévete\u003c/a>.” The dancers, mostly women and gender-nonconforming people of every style and expression, react accordingly, going from throwing it back to twirling each other in time with the merengue rhythm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952710\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952710\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victoria Fajardo, a.k.a. DJ Xulaquiles a.k.a. Kiki, plays her set at the Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Marimacha is among an exciting new surge in queer parties right now in downtown Oakland. On any given Friday or Saturday night, clubgoers can walk from drag show to queer cocktail lounge to Afrobeats night to house music party, all within a half-mile radius. Even more queer events — speed dating, kink workshops, board game nights, open mics and food pop-ups — offer a wealth of weeknight and evening options for those who want more than drinking and dancing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952162/oakland-public-safety-crime-commentary\">Downtown Oakland’s struggles\u003c/a> get a lot of airtime. But if you only watch cable news and read Nextdoor posts about bipping and chain store closures, you’ll miss the fact that the Town’s LGBTQ+ nightlife scene is flourishing in ways it hasn’t in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland now boasts at least eight queer venues, many of which opened in the past year. Along with a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/07/oakland-lakeshore-lgbtq-cultural-district-lake-merritt/\">newly designated LGBTQ+ District\u003c/a> near Lakeshore Avenue, this explosion of nightlife has brought new events just as eclectic, creative and politically engaged as Oakland’s queer community itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952709\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952709\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People dance at the Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I feel like there’s a renaissance happening right now,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/beauty_botanica/\">Olivia Bianco-Chaidez\u003c/a>, who co-produced Marimacha. “Things are getting spicier again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#queeroaklandvenuelist\">Jump to: Our list of queer venues in Oakland\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>The lay of the land\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Queer nightlife in Oakland has always been more diverse across race and gender than in San Francisco, whose gayborhood, the Castro, has skewed white and male since becoming a mecca over 50 years ago. And while Oakland has long been a haven for queer and trans people of color, pre-pandemic hangout options were slim; brick-and-mortar establishments one could visit any night of the week numbered at less than a handful. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>January 2020 saw the closure of two adjoining Broadway venues, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13871726/sf-developer-displaces-club-bnb-and-club-21-reducing-oakland-lgbtq-bars-by-half\">Club BnB and Club 21\u003c/a>, after the landlord doubled the clubs’ rent and replaced them with tech offices. At the time, the closure cut Oakland’s number of queer nightlife venues in half, leaving just the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whitehorsebar/?hl=en\">White Horse\u003c/a> — the North Oakland standby on Telegraph that’s been open since the 1930s — and the drag-and-dancing Broadway hotspot Port Bar, which closed this February, also \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/01/30/oakland-port-bar-closure-landlord-dispute/\">due to a landlord dispute\u003c/a>. (Another landlord dispute forced Bianco-Chaidez and her partner in work and life, Mar Mendoza, who DJs as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dreamsthedj\">Dreams\u003c/a>, to close their underground venue El Afters last fall, though they \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elaftersoakland/\">continue to produce events under that banner\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952707\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Olivia Bianco-Chaidez (left) and Mar Mendoza, a.k.a. Dreams (right), at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. Bianco-Chaidez and Mendoza co-hosted their inaugural Marimacha party, celebrating “the buchona baddies, cunty cabronas, diablo daddies, and all of our sexy community.” \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, against the odds, a flurry of new activity emerged out of the pandemic’s shutdowns. “It was years of turmoil, but also years of envisioning and imagining,” says event producer Yanni Brump, who DJs as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djprincessdxddy/\">Princess Dxddy\u003c/a>. “So now, you see the offspring of that in people’s manifestation of having the events they want, the spaces they want to gather.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Queer-owned cocktail lounge \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friendsandfamilybar/\">Friends and Family\u003c/a> — open to all, but known as a sapphic safe space — launched with to-go service when COVID-19 restrictions began to lift, and now makes a thriving hub on 25th Street for queer chefs, vintners and mixologists. (Its neon-lit bathroom might also be queer Oakland’s most popular dating profile photo backdrop.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2021, Oakland’s downtown also saw the opening of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/quericonightclub/\">Que Rico\u003c/a>, the Latinx-focused venue on 15th Street. It’s home to drag and dancing, as well as parties-with-a-purpose like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/qumbiaqrew/\">Queer Qumbia\u003c/a>, which recently fundraised for Palestinian Youth Movement and Arab Resource and Organizing Center. Also in 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.thebarsummer.com/\">Summer Bar & Lounge\u003c/a> opened its doors in Old Oakland, and now boasts a packed weekly program of karaoke, drag and go-go dancers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Edward Booker (left) pours a drink while Vivi Sousa (right) looks on at Nectar Social Club in Oakland, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s queer nightlife renaissance began to crystalize in 2023, when a critical mass of new venues arrived, catering to a wide array of identities and interests. Across from Que Rico is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nectarsocialclub/?hl=en\">Nectar Social Club\u003c/a>, which celebrated its opening last fall with a sprawling block party produced by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929138/in-oakland-a-drag-fest-for-the-community-by-the-community\">Oaklash\u003c/a>, the progressive drag festival that champions trans performers as well as racial and disability justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since, Nectar’s programming has flourished, with some of the most creative events the Town has to offer. “I focus on people who are doing things that are a little bit alternative, who are building things in a grassroots way, who really understand how to bring together community around whatever creative offering they have,” says owner Jeremy Redford, who DJs as FloridaWTR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951613\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951613\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Redford, owner of Nectar Social Club in Oakland, on Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a recent Friday afternoon, Nectar, which operates as a coffee shop by day and a bar by night, is filled with clusters of friends working on laptops, drawing and gossiping over lattes. After dark, DJ Romii and friends spin house music as a couple makes out in the corner and dancers bop around sipping espresso martinis and mocktails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://feelmoresocial.com/\">Feelmore Social Club\u003c/a> is just a couple blocks away on Broadway — it’s a grown-and-sexy cocktail lounge spin-off of Nenna Joiner’s long-running sex shop of the same name. With vintage erotic art adorning the walls, it welcomes the kinky and curious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we really wanted to bring to the bar landscape was a space where sex-positive people could actually expect and think of when you’re talking about like, ‘Hey, where do we [go] for a poly meetup?’” says Joiner, seated at a barstool while a Sade song plays through the speakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951616\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951616\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nenna Joiner, owner of Feelmore Social Club, on Feb 2., 2024 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last May, Richard Fuentes and Sean Sullivan (the owners of the now-closed Port Bar) opened Fluid510, the aforementioned 250-capacity nightclub next door to Feelmore. As the name might suggest, its programming leans heavily, though not exclusively, queer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a few blocks north toward the Paramount Theater is the elegant, Art Deco-inspired \u003ca href=\"https://www.goingtotownoakland.com/\">Town Bar & Lounge\u003c/a>, whose omnivorous event schedule includes \u003ci>RuPaul’s Drag Race\u003c/i> watch parties, food pop-ups, disco nights and live R&B concerts. On Thursday nights, Town Bar hosts Femme Suite, a weekly Thursday ladies night produced by Dennise Chakra-Kan and Lady Ryan, the power couple behind Lvrgrl at the White Horse and roaming day party The Sweet Spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think me and Ryan definitely have the same vision of curating a space that is safe for our community, and making sure that Black and Brown people are definitely at the forefront of things,” says Chakra-Kan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-scaled.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-800x1000.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1020x1275.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-160x200.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-768x960.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1638x2048.jpeg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1920x2400.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dennise Chakra-Kan and Lady Ryan (left to right) at their Sweet Spot New Year’s Eve party at the White Horse on Dec. 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Stephen Flynn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Ready to mingle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At a day party called Love Spell in February, a distinctly flirty energy buzzes in the room of mostly women at Oakland’s High 5ive Rooftop Bar. Two speed dating rounds — for ages 25-35 and 35+ — just wrapped, and few exuberant folks get the dance floor started. Couples lean in close or sit on each other’s laps, while those who arrived alone browse jewelry and clothing from queer vendors, glancing around in the hopes of making eye contact with an attractive stranger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our age of Tinder, Feeld and Hinge, it turns out meeting in person is back in style. “I think we’re experiencing phone fatigue and app fatigue,” says Montana Hooks, the one-woman team behind events platform and online publication \u003ca href=\"https://www.queerinoakland.com/\">Queer In Oakland\u003c/a>, which co-produced Love Spell. “It’s almost going full circle again to the simpler times before apps totally saturated the way that we connect socially, and it’s fun and it’s novel again. I definitely think that the popularity of mixers and speed dating in queer communities can speak to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953582\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953582\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Montana Hooks of Queer In Oakland at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 18, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hooks, a longtime Oakland resident who grew up in Fremont, started Queer In Oakland because she struggled to find queer community herself after returning to the Bay from a brief stint in Seattle. The project began with a humble Google calendar of event listings in 2017. After throwing some entrepreneurial mixers — and online events during COVID shutdowns — in 2023 Hooks turned her focus to producing parties, which have now flourished into \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/queerinoakland/\">some of the most eclectic queer events\u003c/a> the Town has to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent weeks, she’s put on an indie music night and a mixer for queer creatives at Nectar Social Club, and a house music night that packed out Amber Lounge on a Thursday. On March 9 at Night Heron, there’s Instinct, a sexy dance party with a dark dress code of red, black, leather and fishnets. A singles night for queer and trans people of color called Tease is slated at Sessions on 15th on March 14, followed by a queer cowgirl party called Wild West (co-produced with Reverse Cowgirl) at Fluid510 on March 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953621\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953621\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dancer moves in rhythm as the party gets started on Feb. 17, 2024. The Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 is billed as ‘a friki nite of perreo, reggaeton, cumbias & club music.’ \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As we’re becoming stronger as a queer community, I feel we can take up space now in ways that less marginalized communities don’t even have to give a second thought to,” Hooks says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nectar Social Club is certainly doing its part to strengthen the community on and off the dance floor. Recently, it hosted a photography show and launch party for \u003ca href=\"https://pusseimagazine.com/\">\u003ci>Pussei* Magazine\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, as well as artist Shreya’s exhibition of futuristic paintings inspired by South Asian folklore. Rapper and activist Aima the Dreamer, who co-produces the long-running day party \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wearesoulovely/?hl=en\">Soulovely\u003c/a>, recently launched an open mic night and artist showcase called Groove Gallery, where the night begins with a ritual and freewriting prompt, followed by music and poetry focused on Black and Brown, queer and trans liberation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malik Bey (center) and Ashley Hughes (right) work at their laptops at the bar inside Nectar Social Club on Feb. 2, 2024 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The future seems so uncertain, and we’ve been holding all of these deep political, social, health-based, economic tensions,” Redford says. “And more so than ever, we need community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[We’re] tapping into people who are just really creative and understand how to get people into the moment, how to get people out of their shell,” he adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those people is Brump, a.k.a. Princess Dxddy. The model and fashion-show producer started DJing last year. They connected with Redford through Oaklash’s Skills for Nightlife Accelerator Program and bonded over a love of music with Afro-diasporic rhythms. Earlier this year, Brump debuted Spirit, an Afrobeats, amapiano and global dance music party at Nectar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Music touches parts of our spirit, and allows our innermost worlds to come to the forefront,” says Brump, noting the importance of safe spaces for femmes and gender-nonconforming people. “To allow ourselves to be free is a very spiritual experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a man in white t shirt and necklace DJs with blue lights and a patterned ceiling in the background\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yanni Brump, who DJs as Princess Dxddy, at their Afrobeats and amapiano party Spirit on Jan. 26, 2024 at Nectar Social Club. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Nectar Social Club)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We still gon’ thrive no matter what’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even with all this new activity, downtown Oakland does feel sleepy these days. The First Friday street fair — a major foot traffic driver for businesses — went on hiatus from January to March, citing financial strain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe it’s the rain; maybe it’s grocery and gas prices; maybe it’s safety concerns or shuttered businesses — you’re not really seeing groups of young people hopping from bar to food truck to bar as they did in previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redford points to a new pattern he’s picked up on from event-goers. “The days of people waking up on a Friday and saying, ‘I’m just going to go out in downtown Oakland and walk around’ seem like they’re coming to an end,” he says. “So many people are following and tracking the community leaders [and] builders who they feel aligned with, and they’re putting on their calendars the events … that really resonate with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953622\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarahfe Harris Juarbe, a.k.a. Bruja Fe, towls off during a break from dancing at the Marimacha dance party in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. Harris Juarbe said they had three costumes to change into for the inaugural party. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Town Bar owner Joshua Huynh alluded to something similar when I visited him on a Friday before doors opened. “You really want something for everyone, literally everyone,” he says of his event schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of all the dance parties and chef pop-ups he’s hosted, the night that reflects the spirit of Town Bar for him was a low-key cookie decorating party on Christmas Eve. “People were like, ‘I had nowhere to go’ and ‘thank you.’ It was a home-y thing, so that was nice,” he recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Huynh, owner of Town Bar and Lounge in Oakland, on Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Huynh puts that community feeling into action: He regularly collects donations at the door for the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center’s food bank, and says he’s raised over $15,000 for it since Town Bar opened in April 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know 100% of our money’s directly giving back to the community without a middleman taking a cut,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, that’s been the spirit of Oakland’s queer community. It’s led by people who find themselves at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, whether immigrant, Black, gender-nonconforming, all of the above or something else entirely. And despite challenges in Oakland and society at large, our queer and trans culture-makers have always poured themselves into creating refuges for joy, self-expression and solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Bianco-Chaidez, the co-producer of the new Marimacha party, says: “We still gon’ thrive no matter what.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dancers at the Marimacha party hosted by EL AFTERS X SFLA QUEER NIGHTLIFE at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"queeroaklandvenuelist\">\u003c/a>Where to find queer nightlife in Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elaftersoakland/\">El Afters\u003c/a>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friendsandfamilybar/\">\u003cstrong>Friends and Family\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (468 25th Street). Cocktail lounge with light bites and events. Open Monday and Tuesday 5-11 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday 5 p.m.-midnight.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://feelmoresocial.com/\">\u003cstrong>Feelmore Social Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (1542 Broadway Avenue). Cocktail lounge with kink and sex-positive events. Open Sunday 11-5 p.m., Monday 5-11 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://fluid510.com/\">\u003cstrong>Fluid510\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (1544 Broadway Avenue). Large nightclub with weekly parties, serves food. Open Wednesday and Thursday 4 p.m.-midnight, Friday 4 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturday 11 a.m. – 2 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-midnight. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nectarsocialclub/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>Nectar Social Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (408 15th Street). Coffee shop and bar with evening events and late-night dance parties. Open Tuesday and Wednesday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday-Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m. and until 2 a.m. for special events. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/queerinoakland/\">\u003cstrong>Queer in Oakland\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/quericonightclub/\">\u003cstrong>Que Rico\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (381 15th Street). Nightclub with drag and DJs. Open Tuesday 6 p.m.–11 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 5–10:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 5 p.m. – 2 a.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wearesoulovely/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>Soulovely\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Monthly day party on Second Sundays April-October at 7th West (1255 7th Street).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thebarsummer.com/\">\u003cstrong>Summer Bar & Lounge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (526 8th Street). Intimate venue with karaoke, drag and dancing. Tuesday-Thursday 8 p.m.-midnight, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Sunday 4-8 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goingtotownoakland.com/\">\u003cstrong>Town Bar & Lounge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (2001 Broadway Avenue). Art-deco lounge with dancing, food pop-ups and other events. Sunday-Wednesday, 5-11 p.m., Thursday 5 p.m.-midnight, Friday and Saturday 5 p.m.-2 a.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thesweetspotoak/\">\u003cstrong>The Sweet Spot\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whitehorsebar/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>White Horse Bar\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (6551 Telegraph Avenue). Historic bar and nightclub with a DJs, karaoke, drag and special events. Tuesday-Thursday 5 p.m.-midnight. Friday 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday 3-10 p.m. Monday 4-9 p.m. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "rightnowish-searching-for-a-kiki-sfs-first-black-owned-gay-bar",
"title": "Searching for a Kiki: SF's First Black-Owned Gay Bar",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Rodney Barnette first moved to San Francisco in 1969, he noticed that “it wasn’t all rah rah gay capital of the world.” His experiences with racism in San Francisco’s historic gay community led him to open the New Eagle Creek Saloon, the city’s first Black-owned gay bar, in 1990. Over 30 years later, Barnette speaks about why Black-affirming queer spaces are still needed, and what he took away from his experience operating one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC5125278989\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Below are lightly edited excerpts of the episode with Rodney Barnette and his daughter Sadie Barnette.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: Tell me about your first time getting adjusted to the gay community here in San Francisco.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: When I first moved here, it wasn’t known as the gay capital of the United States. Most of the activity was on Polk Street, but eventually things shifted to the Castro district. They started opening more restaurants … and the more white gay men that came, the more racist it got. That’s when we started getting carded, three pieces of I.D. to go in these bars. The bartender, they were always white and they would bypass you. Some of them had goons as security guards. There were fights that broke out at places that I went to that got so humiliating that I swore I would not go back because it can be dangerous for me or somebody else to be there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, things were so bad that they even created racist language to depict if a white gay guy had Black gay friends or was attracted to Black people. They came up with the term Dinge queen—Dinge means dirty. That’s how thorough the racism was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: (narration) We brunch now, but back in the day, the bars were the cornerstone of the queer social scene … How are you supposed to feel welcome in a community if you have to defend your humanity every time you go out? \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: Eventually you got the impetus to start to own a bar, to start a bar. But where did it come from?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: There was a bar back in the 70s that Black people felt comfortable going to. It was not in the Castro, It was called Bojangles. But … when we left the bar, the San Francisco Police Department was waiting outside with paddy wagons and arresting Black gay people who were standing around talking, trying to exchange numbers. So you always felt like you had to almost run to get away from being arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: You told me a story earlier about Deniece Williams at a bar.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: She had a new album out, and it was so beautiful. It turned out that she was going to be performing at one of these bars up in North Beach. And we had already had bad experiences trying to get in there, carding us with three pieces of I.D. and dress codes, so we never really went there. But we said, OK, we’re going to go see Deniece Williams. Deniece Williams came out and she started performing and singing beautiful songs, and we started clapping and cheering and then between songs, she said, ‘Wow, you guys really liked the music. I can see that you’re responding. How come there aren’t more people here?’ And almost in unison we all said, ‘Because it’s a racist gay bar.’ It’s not that she wasn’t popular, there were things restricting access to her performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: I felt like we had an opportunity to make a difference in the community. I always knew that there weren’t any Black-owned gay bars in San Francisco. This was in the late 80s, like 1989. There was a bar. It was actually called the Eagle Creek Saloon. And the owner was selling the bar. The white man’s name was John, and I knew him, and he approached me and he said, ‘Rodney, do you want to buy my bar?’ I said, ‘Wow, I’d love to, but I don’t have money.’ So he said, ‘I want to sell this bar to a Black man.’ I said, ‘Wow, OK, I’mma figure on how to get money together and buy this bar.’ We got enough money to buy the bar and my family was active in every way to get it going. And finally, when it got transferred into my name, my brothers came up, I had one brother who was a contractor, another brother who was an electrician.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My brothers always knew that I was gay and I never tried to hide it, but they got a lot closer and understood every aspect of being gay. They became friends with other gay customers and so forth, and they weren’t gay. But you know, it was a good experience, a good family venture that we went into.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I never expected the bar would be just for Black people. I wanted everybody to be welcome there. And when it finally got turned over into my name, it was a big relief because something could have happened along the way. The neighbors could have contested a liquor license being transferred in that building and so forth, so it was a big relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I changed the name to the New Eagle Creek Saloon instead of just the Eagle Creek. The idea is that you keep the old name because people from different countries come looking for it and so forth. So it was great cause for a great celebration. We wound up having eight bartenders. We had women DJs, which they didn’t have at that time in any of these gay bars. They didn’t have any Black DJs. So we were able to provide the entertainment that people wanted and provide employment for talented Black people that weren’t able to express themselves in other establishments in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: And in that way, I guess it was sort of like, yes, it’s a bar, but then it sort of functions as a community center.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: Exactly. And that’s what we would call it, a community center that served alcohol … We celebrated people’s birthdays when they had a birthday, we had food and cakes and champagne … Our customers were able to get involved and somebody came up and said, ‘Well, here’s a slogan Rodney: A friendly place with a funky bass for every race.’ And that was perfect because we wanted to let people know everybody was invited and welcomed there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose (narration): The New Eagle Creek Saloon had the formula for success: a dedicated clientele, a passionate owner, and a catchy slogan. It was also everything they needed to attract haters. Soon after the bar opened, the Bay Area Reporter ran a story that tried to scare other people from going.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: [The article was] pretty much implying that somebody got killed one time for hanging around with Black people or rough trade or whatever. So, you know, they were advising people to be leery of going to places like the New Eagle Creek Saloon. So our customers once again were outraged at that, and we sat down with a couple of our customers and wrote up a reply, demanding that they retract that article. And they actually did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose (narration): This was 1991 in San Francisco. The same year Magic Johnson publicly announced that he was HIV-positive, a year before AIDS would become a leading cause of death for young American men and several years after Rodney lost a brother to AIDS. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: I saw how badly he suffered with the illness, but that was one of the things that drove me to want to do something about the AIDS epidemic… So we did fundraisers, and eventually there were marches and candlelight vigils that took place right on Market Street. So we would shut the bar down when people were marching by and participate in the march to City Hall demanding that they fund AIDS research. We had a group of people that put in an interactive video game that showed people what safe sex was. And that might sound crazy, or anybody should know it, but it showed people a safe way to have safe sex. It was interactive and it was the first of its kind and we were honored to have it in our bar. It wasn’t put anywhere else before it was put in the Eagle Creek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose (narration): It was an arcade-style machine, where the goal was to pick the safest sexual option, a sort of choose your own adventure. And while a video game that teaches safe sex may sound obsolete now, most of the government-sponsored campaigns advertising safe sex as a way to prevent AIDS weren’t really aimed at Black people. So Rodney giving his patrons a lil’ education with the libation is community activism at its core. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: One of the things that people wanted, they said, ‘Rodney, we never had representation in the gay pride parade.’ So we figured out, well, maybe we can raise money – because it’s expensive. We sold 50 cent plastic cups of beer on Sunday. And a lot of people would come out. So we raised money that way and we got an actual committee together to get the float in the parade. We had one guy whose name was Mario. He designed all these costumes for people that were going to be on the float. We had a Black lesbian woman as the DJ. She played music in the bar a lot. And my daughter was six years old and she had a special costume made for her. And we dressed reflecting different generations of Black people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: And we’re actually also joined by Rodney’s daughter, Sadie Barnette, who is an amazing artist in her own right… What do you remember about this parade?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadie Barnette: I would have been, yes, six or seven years old, and I definitely remember it almost as a fairy tale. I remember going to the bar to try on my costume and just feeling so special and like a princess. I can’t remember the name on the float … I call it like Black people through the ages because it was like Egyptian costumes, Victorian costumes … throughout the arc of human history…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: When we turned the corner, there was a roar that went out the entire length of the parade. People were cheering us because it’s clearly a different float from everybody else’s float. We’re not just observers, people standing on the sideline watching gay pride. We’re part of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: … Something happened to the economy and all the bars were kind of suffering. I didn’t own the property, or the building that the bar was in. And rent skyrocketed. It was on Market Street, one of the most expensive rental places in the city, and I couldn’t keep paying the rent; the bar closed at the end of 1993.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s so ironic is some of these bars came out with Black Night, right? You could come on a Wednesday night and that’s when we play Black music and we won’t ask you for three pieces of I.D. So that’s what they had to resort to to stay in business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Any time I would run into somebody that went to the [New Eagle Creek Saloon], they had this feeling of, ‘Wow, I wish it was still here.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To tell you the truth, last night I ran into somebody I hadn’t seen in many years, and he realized it was me that I had owned the bar. He came there and we had a birthday party for him. And he came up and hugged me and just started crying and talked about the need for us to get together because there’s never been a place like that since then. So it touched people in a real meaningful way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose (narration): And Sadie commemorates that place—the beauty, history, and resistance—in dope art installations. Since making exhibits featuring the FBI files on her father and photos from his time with the Black Panthers, she was also commissioned [by \u003ca href=\"https://www.thelab.org/commissions\">The Lab]\u003c/a> to build a re-imagined version of the New Eagle Creek Saloon’s bar, a recreation that you can actually step inside.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadie Barnette: The name of the Eagle Creek Saloon, while it was in people’s hearts and meant so much to people who were there, it wasn’t something that was referenced in Netflix’s documentaries. It wasn’t something that grad students were studying. There was not a big paper trail of the Eagle Creek Saloon. And so for me, it was important to make sure that the name wasn’t lost and to do that through having really fun parties seemed like a great way to do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Rodney Barnette first moved to San Francisco in 1969, he noticed that “it wasn’t all rah rah gay capital of the world.” His experiences with racism in San Francisco’s historic gay community led him to open the New Eagle Creek Saloon, the city’s first Black-owned gay bar, in 1990. Over 30 years later, Barnette speaks about why Black-affirming queer spaces are still needed, and what he took away from his experience operating one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC5125278989\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Below are lightly edited excerpts of the episode with Rodney Barnette and his daughter Sadie Barnette.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: Tell me about your first time getting adjusted to the gay community here in San Francisco.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: When I first moved here, it wasn’t known as the gay capital of the United States. Most of the activity was on Polk Street, but eventually things shifted to the Castro district. They started opening more restaurants … and the more white gay men that came, the more racist it got. That’s when we started getting carded, three pieces of I.D. to go in these bars. The bartender, they were always white and they would bypass you. Some of them had goons as security guards. There were fights that broke out at places that I went to that got so humiliating that I swore I would not go back because it can be dangerous for me or somebody else to be there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, things were so bad that they even created racist language to depict if a white gay guy had Black gay friends or was attracted to Black people. They came up with the term Dinge queen—Dinge means dirty. That’s how thorough the racism was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: (narration) We brunch now, but back in the day, the bars were the cornerstone of the queer social scene … How are you supposed to feel welcome in a community if you have to defend your humanity every time you go out? \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: Eventually you got the impetus to start to own a bar, to start a bar. But where did it come from?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: There was a bar back in the 70s that Black people felt comfortable going to. It was not in the Castro, It was called Bojangles. But … when we left the bar, the San Francisco Police Department was waiting outside with paddy wagons and arresting Black gay people who were standing around talking, trying to exchange numbers. So you always felt like you had to almost run to get away from being arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: You told me a story earlier about Deniece Williams at a bar.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: She had a new album out, and it was so beautiful. It turned out that she was going to be performing at one of these bars up in North Beach. And we had already had bad experiences trying to get in there, carding us with three pieces of I.D. and dress codes, so we never really went there. But we said, OK, we’re going to go see Deniece Williams. Deniece Williams came out and she started performing and singing beautiful songs, and we started clapping and cheering and then between songs, she said, ‘Wow, you guys really liked the music. I can see that you’re responding. How come there aren’t more people here?’ And almost in unison we all said, ‘Because it’s a racist gay bar.’ It’s not that she wasn’t popular, there were things restricting access to her performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: I felt like we had an opportunity to make a difference in the community. I always knew that there weren’t any Black-owned gay bars in San Francisco. This was in the late 80s, like 1989. There was a bar. It was actually called the Eagle Creek Saloon. And the owner was selling the bar. The white man’s name was John, and I knew him, and he approached me and he said, ‘Rodney, do you want to buy my bar?’ I said, ‘Wow, I’d love to, but I don’t have money.’ So he said, ‘I want to sell this bar to a Black man.’ I said, ‘Wow, OK, I’mma figure on how to get money together and buy this bar.’ We got enough money to buy the bar and my family was active in every way to get it going. And finally, when it got transferred into my name, my brothers came up, I had one brother who was a contractor, another brother who was an electrician.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My brothers always knew that I was gay and I never tried to hide it, but they got a lot closer and understood every aspect of being gay. They became friends with other gay customers and so forth, and they weren’t gay. But you know, it was a good experience, a good family venture that we went into.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I never expected the bar would be just for Black people. I wanted everybody to be welcome there. And when it finally got turned over into my name, it was a big relief because something could have happened along the way. The neighbors could have contested a liquor license being transferred in that building and so forth, so it was a big relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I changed the name to the New Eagle Creek Saloon instead of just the Eagle Creek. The idea is that you keep the old name because people from different countries come looking for it and so forth. So it was great cause for a great celebration. We wound up having eight bartenders. We had women DJs, which they didn’t have at that time in any of these gay bars. They didn’t have any Black DJs. So we were able to provide the entertainment that people wanted and provide employment for talented Black people that weren’t able to express themselves in other establishments in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: And in that way, I guess it was sort of like, yes, it’s a bar, but then it sort of functions as a community center.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: Exactly. And that’s what we would call it, a community center that served alcohol … We celebrated people’s birthdays when they had a birthday, we had food and cakes and champagne … Our customers were able to get involved and somebody came up and said, ‘Well, here’s a slogan Rodney: A friendly place with a funky bass for every race.’ And that was perfect because we wanted to let people know everybody was invited and welcomed there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose (narration): The New Eagle Creek Saloon had the formula for success: a dedicated clientele, a passionate owner, and a catchy slogan. It was also everything they needed to attract haters. Soon after the bar opened, the Bay Area Reporter ran a story that tried to scare other people from going.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: [The article was] pretty much implying that somebody got killed one time for hanging around with Black people or rough trade or whatever. So, you know, they were advising people to be leery of going to places like the New Eagle Creek Saloon. So our customers once again were outraged at that, and we sat down with a couple of our customers and wrote up a reply, demanding that they retract that article. And they actually did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose (narration): This was 1991 in San Francisco. The same year Magic Johnson publicly announced that he was HIV-positive, a year before AIDS would become a leading cause of death for young American men and several years after Rodney lost a brother to AIDS. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: I saw how badly he suffered with the illness, but that was one of the things that drove me to want to do something about the AIDS epidemic… So we did fundraisers, and eventually there were marches and candlelight vigils that took place right on Market Street. So we would shut the bar down when people were marching by and participate in the march to City Hall demanding that they fund AIDS research. We had a group of people that put in an interactive video game that showed people what safe sex was. And that might sound crazy, or anybody should know it, but it showed people a safe way to have safe sex. It was interactive and it was the first of its kind and we were honored to have it in our bar. It wasn’t put anywhere else before it was put in the Eagle Creek.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose (narration): It was an arcade-style machine, where the goal was to pick the safest sexual option, a sort of choose your own adventure. And while a video game that teaches safe sex may sound obsolete now, most of the government-sponsored campaigns advertising safe sex as a way to prevent AIDS weren’t really aimed at Black people. So Rodney giving his patrons a lil’ education with the libation is community activism at its core. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: One of the things that people wanted, they said, ‘Rodney, we never had representation in the gay pride parade.’ So we figured out, well, maybe we can raise money – because it’s expensive. We sold 50 cent plastic cups of beer on Sunday. And a lot of people would come out. So we raised money that way and we got an actual committee together to get the float in the parade. We had one guy whose name was Mario. He designed all these costumes for people that were going to be on the float. We had a Black lesbian woman as the DJ. She played music in the bar a lot. And my daughter was six years old and she had a special costume made for her. And we dressed reflecting different generations of Black people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose: And we’re actually also joined by Rodney’s daughter, Sadie Barnette, who is an amazing artist in her own right… What do you remember about this parade?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadie Barnette: I would have been, yes, six or seven years old, and I definitely remember it almost as a fairy tale. I remember going to the bar to try on my costume and just feeling so special and like a princess. I can’t remember the name on the float … I call it like Black people through the ages because it was like Egyptian costumes, Victorian costumes … throughout the arc of human history…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: When we turned the corner, there was a roar that went out the entire length of the parade. People were cheering us because it’s clearly a different float from everybody else’s float. We’re not just observers, people standing on the sideline watching gay pride. We’re part of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodney Barnette: … Something happened to the economy and all the bars were kind of suffering. I didn’t own the property, or the building that the bar was in. And rent skyrocketed. It was on Market Street, one of the most expensive rental places in the city, and I couldn’t keep paying the rent; the bar closed at the end of 1993.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s so ironic is some of these bars came out with Black Night, right? You could come on a Wednesday night and that’s when we play Black music and we won’t ask you for three pieces of I.D. So that’s what they had to resort to to stay in business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Any time I would run into somebody that went to the [New Eagle Creek Saloon], they had this feeling of, ‘Wow, I wish it was still here.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To tell you the truth, last night I ran into somebody I hadn’t seen in many years, and he realized it was me that I had owned the bar. He came there and we had a birthday party for him. And he came up and hugged me and just started crying and talked about the need for us to get together because there’s never been a place like that since then. So it touched people in a real meaningful way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corey Antonio Rose (narration): And Sadie commemorates that place—the beauty, history, and resistance—in dope art installations. Since making exhibits featuring the FBI files on her father and photos from his time with the Black Panthers, she was also commissioned [by \u003ca href=\"https://www.thelab.org/commissions\">The Lab]\u003c/a> to build a re-imagined version of the New Eagle Creek Saloon’s bar, a recreation that you can actually step inside.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadie Barnette: The name of the Eagle Creek Saloon, while it was in people’s hearts and meant so much to people who were there, it wasn’t something that was referenced in Netflix’s documentaries. It wasn’t something that grad students were studying. There was not a big paper trail of the Eagle Creek Saloon. And so for me, it was important to make sure that the name wasn’t lost and to do that through having really fun parties seemed like a great way to do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "chinatown-nightclubs-showgirl-magic-museum",
"title": "Former Chorus Girls Recall Chinatown's Storied Nightlife Scene",
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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://clarionmusic.com/showgirl-magic-museum/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Showgirl Magic Museum\u003c/a> occupies the basement of the \u003ca href=\"https://clarionmusic.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clarion Performing Arts Center\u003c/a>, located down a back alley in San Francisco’s Chinatown. In the corner of the unassuming space, crammed with costumes, hats, jewelry and other memorabilia dedicated to the neighborhood’s nightclub history, there’s a photo of Pat Chin posing with Frank Sinatra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That picture was taken after he filmed \u003cem>Pal Joey\u003c/em> here in San Francisco,” says Chin, who worked as a chorus girl at Chinese Sky Room, one of around eight local nightspots, in the 1950s. “Sinatra rushed over to help me off the stage, lit my cigarette and did a lot of small talk. He was a complete gentleman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Nightlife Destination\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the 1930s to the 1960s, San Francisco’s Chinatown was a nightlife destination, where celebrity sightings, if not full-on flirting opportunities, were commonplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sidewalks bustled at 3 a.m. Busloads of tourists came through, and the neighborhood thrived with an array of glitzy supper clubs like \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City_(nightclub)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forbidden City\u003c/a>, Chinese Sky Room and Club Mandalay, where you might run into the likes of Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recently opened Showgirl Magic Museum aims to memorialize this glamorous past, with the support and from the viewpoint of the Asian American entertainers who put Chinatown on the international nightlife map.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was a dancer during the ’60s,” says museum founder and Clarion Performing Arts Center vice president Cynthia Yee. “And so it only made sense to me that I would try to bring back the history of Chinatown.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904476\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904476\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside the Showgirl Magic Museum in San Francisco’s Chinatown. \u003ccite>(Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Asian Discrimination Abounds\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yee says discrimination against Asian residents in San Francisco was rampant during the days when the clubs flourished. Remnants of the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chinese Exclusion Act\u003c/a>, which barred many Chinese people from living and working in the U.S., were still in effect. Even the bands that played the Chinese nightclubs were predominantly white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In those days, the musicians union was very strong,” Yee says. “Chinese musicians were not allowed to join the union.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were especially few professional opportunities for women, Yee adds. The burgeoning Chinatown club scene gave some measure of financial independence to the young Asian American women who worked in these nightspots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904480\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51844_cynthia-yee-ms-chinatown-1967-qut-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"772\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cynthia Yee as ‘Miss Chinatown,’ in 1967. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cynthia Yee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yee found herself hitting the road with famous dancer \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/dorothy-toy-dazzling-dancer-known-as-the-asian-ginger-rogers-dies-at-102/2019/07/27/73722096-b08b-11e9-bc5c-e73b603e7f38_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dorothy Toy\u003c/a> (a.k.a “The Asian Ginger Rogers”) as a teenager, after Toy—whose family owned the building in Chinatown where Yee lived as a child—needed to hire a replacement dancer for her troupe at short notice. Yee had been inspired by Toy to take dancing classes as a girl, and jumped at the tantalizing offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We traveled throughout the United States, to the Caribbean, and Europe,” Yee says. “We used to run around in a checker limousine and it would hold 12 of us with all of our luggage and all of our wardrobe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Chin got her start as a dancer after quitting a low-rung job at the stock exchange and facing few prospects except cafe or restaurant work. Chin says the clubs were clamoring for talent, and soon found herself treading the boards at Chinese Sky Room after responding to an ad she saw one day in a local paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They hired me immediately because they couldn’t find too many Chinese girls who would be willing to reveal their legs in public,” Chin says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904474\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-800x568.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"568\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-800x568.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-1020x724.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-768x545.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-1536x1090.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Advertising for ‘Toy and Wing’s Oriental Playgirl Revue’ at Chinese Sky Room, circa 1960s. Dorothy Toy and Paul Wing were famous dancers on San Francisco’s Chinese nightclub scene, which flourished from the 1930s to 60s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Showgirl Magic Museum)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like many other Chinatown chorus girls, who performed three shows a night in skimpy sequined outfits before predominantly white audiences, Chin didn’t tell her family about her line of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I kept it a secret for a long time,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin says her parents eventually found out when they saw her picture in the paper, by which time they didn’t have the will to do anything about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By then it’s too late,” Chin says. “Because here I am earning a living and sending money home. And there’s no complaints there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yee’s family, meanwhile, took a more benign view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most families would shun at the idea of joining the show,” she says. “But I was lucky because Dorothy Toy had promised my mom that she would take care of me. And she did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Scene in Decline\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the late 1960s, the elegant showgirls and big bands of Chinatown’s nightclubs started to fall out of fashion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin and Yee blame the topless venues that started to proliferate in nearby North Beach, like the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor_Club\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Condor Club\u003c/a>, which became notorious after a cocktail waitress named \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Doda\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carol Doda\u003c/a> first danced in a topless swimsuit in 1964.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904481\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pat Chin chats with KQED at the Showgirl Magic Museum. \u003ccite>(Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I guess people would rather go see the topless performers and go-go dancers who danced inside of cages on Broadway,” says Chin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It killed a lot of the business,” adds Yee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toughening zoning laws in the neighborhood also played a role in the dwindling of the scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13914487']“The community leaders changed the zoning to protect Chinatown,” says \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.org/entertainment/entertainment-representative-steven-lee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Lee\u003c/a>, a member of \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/departments/city-administrator/entertainment-commission\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Francisco’s Entertainment Commission\u003c/a> and the owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.lionsdenbarandlounge.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lion’s Den Bar and Lounge\u003c/a>, one of very few new nightclubs to have opened in Chinatown in the last few years. “There was a lot of bars in Chinatown at the time and they didn’t want them to become strip clubs. They wanted to keep Chinatown historic. So after a while, the entertainment scene in Chinatown was near nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, according to the San Francisco Entertainment Commission, entertainment could only be offered in the neighborhood in conjunction with an existing restaurant permit. That requirement was lifted as part of Chinatown’s zoning reorganization legislation in 2019, and Lee says he’s eager to see Chinatown’s nightlife scene spring back to life. Lion’s Den, which offers food as well as live music and DJs, opened its doors in March of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s why I wanted to open Lion’s Den,” Lee says. “It’s trying to show that we can maybe help Chinatown a different way than just having a store selling back scratchers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13904482 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51845_lions-den-qut-e1633997514794-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"772\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Outside the Lion’s Den Bar and Lounge, one of very few new nightspots to have opened in Chinatown in recent years. \u003ccite>(Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Chinatown’s Nightlife Prospects\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Running a nightclub today is different than it was in the 1950s. There are parking issues, and car break-ins are on the rise. The yo-yoing COVID-19 restrictions of the past 18 months have added a further layer of challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were starting to come out,” Lee says. But as soon as the Delta variant caused new restrictions, “tables were canceling and bands were canceling, because we’re requiring vaccine cards now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the recent spate of racially motivated attacks against the local Asian population to contend with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former showgirl Chin, who’s now in her 80s and lives in the Richmond but spends a lot of time in her old neighborhood, says she misses the Chinatown of her youth—not just because of the bustle, but also because of its safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was so lovely then. I would go out at midnight just to pick up the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> for my mother. So here I am, a little girl, about 9 or 10 years old, still walking the streets and it’s safe.” Chin says. “We didn’t have to worry about people hitting us over the head or robbing us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not that this former chorus girl plans to stay home anytime soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2004, Chin and Yee have been members of the \u003ca href=\"http://grantavenuefollies.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grant Avenue Follies\u003c/a>, a performance group that focuses on vintage tap dance routines. It’s a way of bringing back the glory days of the Chinatown nightclub scene, along with preserving its artifacts at the Showgirl Magic Museum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gzk0fQhV9I\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this year the group made an artistic departure. They got political, creating a rap in response to racist attacks against Asian elders with impassioned lyrics like, \u003cem>“The elders are your teachers, the elders are your guides / When you mess with them, you’re committing suicide.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high-energy video for the “Gai Mou Sou Rap” racked up over 80,000 views on YouTube and made the evening news.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to show people that you can’t bully us,” Chin says. “Because we will fight back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Learn \u003ca href=\"https://clarionmusic.com/showgirl-magic-museum/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more about the Showgirl Magic Museum here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://clarionmusic.com/showgirl-magic-museum/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Showgirl Magic Museum\u003c/a> occupies the basement of the \u003ca href=\"https://clarionmusic.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clarion Performing Arts Center\u003c/a>, located down a back alley in San Francisco’s Chinatown. In the corner of the unassuming space, crammed with costumes, hats, jewelry and other memorabilia dedicated to the neighborhood’s nightclub history, there’s a photo of Pat Chin posing with Frank Sinatra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That picture was taken after he filmed \u003cem>Pal Joey\u003c/em> here in San Francisco,” says Chin, who worked as a chorus girl at Chinese Sky Room, one of around eight local nightspots, in the 1950s. “Sinatra rushed over to help me off the stage, lit my cigarette and did a lot of small talk. He was a complete gentleman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Nightlife Destination\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the 1930s to the 1960s, San Francisco’s Chinatown was a nightlife destination, where celebrity sightings, if not full-on flirting opportunities, were commonplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sidewalks bustled at 3 a.m. Busloads of tourists came through, and the neighborhood thrived with an array of glitzy supper clubs like \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City_(nightclub)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forbidden City\u003c/a>, Chinese Sky Room and Club Mandalay, where you might run into the likes of Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recently opened Showgirl Magic Museum aims to memorialize this glamorous past, with the support and from the viewpoint of the Asian American entertainers who put Chinatown on the international nightlife map.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was a dancer during the ’60s,” says museum founder and Clarion Performing Arts Center vice president Cynthia Yee. “And so it only made sense to me that I would try to bring back the history of Chinatown.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904476\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904476\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51835_IMG_5744-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside the Showgirl Magic Museum in San Francisco’s Chinatown. \u003ccite>(Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Asian Discrimination Abounds\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yee says discrimination against Asian residents in San Francisco was rampant during the days when the clubs flourished. Remnants of the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chinese Exclusion Act\u003c/a>, which barred many Chinese people from living and working in the U.S., were still in effect. Even the bands that played the Chinese nightclubs were predominantly white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In those days, the musicians union was very strong,” Yee says. “Chinese musicians were not allowed to join the union.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were especially few professional opportunities for women, Yee adds. The burgeoning Chinatown club scene gave some measure of financial independence to the young Asian American women who worked in these nightspots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904480\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51844_cynthia-yee-ms-chinatown-1967-qut-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"772\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cynthia Yee as ‘Miss Chinatown,’ in 1967. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cynthia Yee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yee found herself hitting the road with famous dancer \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/dorothy-toy-dazzling-dancer-known-as-the-asian-ginger-rogers-dies-at-102/2019/07/27/73722096-b08b-11e9-bc5c-e73b603e7f38_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dorothy Toy\u003c/a> (a.k.a “The Asian Ginger Rogers”) as a teenager, after Toy—whose family owned the building in Chinatown where Yee lived as a child—needed to hire a replacement dancer for her troupe at short notice. Yee had been inspired by Toy to take dancing classes as a girl, and jumped at the tantalizing offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We traveled throughout the United States, to the Caribbean, and Europe,” Yee says. “We used to run around in a checker limousine and it would hold 12 of us with all of our luggage and all of our wardrobe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Chin got her start as a dancer after quitting a low-rung job at the stock exchange and facing few prospects except cafe or restaurant work. Chin says the clubs were clamoring for talent, and soon found herself treading the boards at Chinese Sky Room after responding to an ad she saw one day in a local paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They hired me immediately because they couldn’t find too many Chinese girls who would be willing to reveal their legs in public,” Chin says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904474\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-800x568.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"568\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-800x568.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-1020x724.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-768x545.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut-1536x1090.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51840_Toy-and-Wings-Oriental-Playgirl-Revue-publicity-for-Chinese-Skyroom-Nightclub-circa-early-1960s-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Advertising for ‘Toy and Wing’s Oriental Playgirl Revue’ at Chinese Sky Room, circa 1960s. Dorothy Toy and Paul Wing were famous dancers on San Francisco’s Chinese nightclub scene, which flourished from the 1930s to 60s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Showgirl Magic Museum)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Like many other Chinatown chorus girls, who performed three shows a night in skimpy sequined outfits before predominantly white audiences, Chin didn’t tell her family about her line of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I kept it a secret for a long time,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin says her parents eventually found out when they saw her picture in the paper, by which time they didn’t have the will to do anything about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By then it’s too late,” Chin says. “Because here I am earning a living and sending money home. And there’s no complaints there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yee’s family, meanwhile, took a more benign view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most families would shun at the idea of joining the show,” she says. “But I was lucky because Dorothy Toy had promised my mom that she would take care of me. And she did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Scene in Decline\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the late 1960s, the elegant showgirls and big bands of Chinatown’s nightclubs started to fall out of fashion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chin and Yee blame the topless venues that started to proliferate in nearby North Beach, like the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor_Club\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Condor Club\u003c/a>, which became notorious after a cocktail waitress named \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Doda\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carol Doda\u003c/a> first danced in a topless swimsuit in 1964.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904481\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51838_pat-chin-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pat Chin chats with KQED at the Showgirl Magic Museum. \u003ccite>(Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I guess people would rather go see the topless performers and go-go dancers who danced inside of cages on Broadway,” says Chin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It killed a lot of the business,” adds Yee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toughening zoning laws in the neighborhood also played a role in the dwindling of the scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The community leaders changed the zoning to protect Chinatown,” says \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.org/entertainment/entertainment-representative-steven-lee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Lee\u003c/a>, a member of \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/departments/city-administrator/entertainment-commission\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Francisco’s Entertainment Commission\u003c/a> and the owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.lionsdenbarandlounge.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lion’s Den Bar and Lounge\u003c/a>, one of very few new nightclubs to have opened in Chinatown in the last few years. “There was a lot of bars in Chinatown at the time and they didn’t want them to become strip clubs. They wanted to keep Chinatown historic. So after a while, the entertainment scene in Chinatown was near nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, according to the San Francisco Entertainment Commission, entertainment could only be offered in the neighborhood in conjunction with an existing restaurant permit. That requirement was lifted as part of Chinatown’s zoning reorganization legislation in 2019, and Lee says he’s eager to see Chinatown’s nightlife scene spring back to life. Lion’s Den, which offers food as well as live music and DJs, opened its doors in March of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s why I wanted to open Lion’s Den,” Lee says. “It’s trying to show that we can maybe help Chinatown a different way than just having a store selling back scratchers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13904482 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/RS51845_lions-den-qut-e1633997514794-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"772\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Outside the Lion’s Den Bar and Lounge, one of very few new nightspots to have opened in Chinatown in recent years. \u003ccite>(Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Chinatown’s Nightlife Prospects\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Running a nightclub today is different than it was in the 1950s. There are parking issues, and car break-ins are on the rise. The yo-yoing COVID-19 restrictions of the past 18 months have added a further layer of challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were starting to come out,” Lee says. But as soon as the Delta variant caused new restrictions, “tables were canceling and bands were canceling, because we’re requiring vaccine cards now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the recent spate of racially motivated attacks against the local Asian population to contend with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former showgirl Chin, who’s now in her 80s and lives in the Richmond but spends a lot of time in her old neighborhood, says she misses the Chinatown of her youth—not just because of the bustle, but also because of its safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was so lovely then. I would go out at midnight just to pick up the \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> for my mother. So here I am, a little girl, about 9 or 10 years old, still walking the streets and it’s safe.” Chin says. “We didn’t have to worry about people hitting us over the head or robbing us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not that this former chorus girl plans to stay home anytime soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2004, Chin and Yee have been members of the \u003ca href=\"http://grantavenuefollies.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grant Avenue Follies\u003c/a>, a performance group that focuses on vintage tap dance routines. It’s a way of bringing back the glory days of the Chinatown nightclub scene, along with preserving its artifacts at the Showgirl Magic Museum.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/_gzk0fQhV9I'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/_gzk0fQhV9I'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Earlier this year the group made an artistic departure. They got political, creating a rap in response to racist attacks against Asian elders with impassioned lyrics like, \u003cem>“The elders are your teachers, the elders are your guides / When you mess with them, you’re committing suicide.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high-energy video for the “Gai Mou Sou Rap” racked up over 80,000 views on YouTube and made the evening news.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to show people that you can’t bully us,” Chin says. “Because we will fight back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Learn \u003ca href=\"https://clarionmusic.com/showgirl-magic-museum/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more about the Showgirl Magic Museum here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "i-went-to-yolo-the-nightclub-that-replaced-slims-so-you-dont-have-to",
"title": "I Went to YOLO—the Nightclub That Replaced Slim's—So You Don't Have To",
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"headTitle": "I Went to YOLO—the Nightclub That Replaced Slim’s—So You Don’t Have To | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Though it opened just this past weekend, people have been upset about new San Francisco nightclub \u003ca href=\"https://www.yolonightclub.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YOLO\u003c/a> for months now. (Broke Ass Stuart referred to the club as a “\u003ca href=\"https://brokeassstuart.com/2020/08/13/slims-to-be-replaced-by-yolo-nightclub-douchefest/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">douchefest\u003c/a>” all the way back in August 2020.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13877225']For live music fans, the reality of YOLO’s opening was reason enough to be upset. Slim’s, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877225/slims-a-storied-sf-concert-hall-permanently-closes-after-30-years\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">live music institution in the city for over 30 years\u003c/a>, was being replaced by a dance club featuring DJs only. Then, it was discovered that the new owners were Peter Lin and Michael Hu, who own Sunnyvale’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.purenightclub408.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pure Nightclub\u003c/a>. And Pure is the kind of place where “\u003ca href=\"https://www.purenightclub408.com/dress-code-policy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sports, recreation [and] athletic attire\u003c/a>” are prohibited for club-goers, but female waitresses are required to wear\u003ca href=\"https://www.purenightclub408.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> lingerie\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More recently, adding insult to injury was \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/yolonightclub/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YOLO’s social media\u003c/a>. It didn’t start out great: a series of images focused mostly on objectifying women—\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNxwHyjDCQQ/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disembodied legs\u003c/a> in stockings, faceless \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COjGgKtDaZ6/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bunny girls\u003c/a>, faceless \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CPR2gnlD1tN/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">space girls\u003c/a>, faceless \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CN21Pg9DpH2/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">side boob\u003c/a>. But then the club ramped things up with a motivational meme that told people to “Speak English” and “Spend Arab.” (One KQED Arts reader was alarmed enough to take a screenshot and send it to us.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899098\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 716px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899098\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.30.18-PM.png\" alt=\"YOLO posted this mess back in April, then deleted it a month later.\" width=\"716\" height=\"916\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.30.18-PM.png 716w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.30.18-PM-160x205.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 716px) 100vw, 716px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">YOLO posted this mess back in April, then deleted it a month later. \u003ccite>(Debbie Doom)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With all this in mind, I was fairly stunned on Friday night to drive past 333 11th Street at 10:45pm and see pandemonium outside the club. It was a lot, even for the first weekend after California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11868240/newsom-announces-plan-to-open-up-business-as-usual-in-california-by-june-15\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lifting of COVID restrictions\u003c/a>. There was a throng under the awning, and roped-off lines to both the left and right of the front door. People weren’t just casually trying out YOLO, I realized—they were willing to stand in very long lines to get in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a fit of masochistic madness, and after seeing a sea of YOLO hate on my Facebook feed, I decided to go the following night. I did so knowing full well that I’d have to go it alone (no one I know would agree to step foot in there), and that the experience might be a little emotionally wrenching. Slim’s wasn’t just a place where I saw a lot of great shows; it was a place where I had in fact worked for a couple of years, over a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of my general aversion to standing in lines, I got to YOLO two minutes after it opened. To the right of the door was the line for VIPs—people who had paid in advance for tables. I joined the line on the left for RSVPs and guest list. (All future events at YOLO will be ticketed; July 9 tickets to see \u003cem>Jersey Shore\u003c/em>‘s Pauly D, for example, will cost you $35-45, plus booking fee.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It only took me a few minutes to get inside. Once in, I was immediately greeted by the sight of multiple female employees dressed in bras, high-waisted underwear and stockings, and the sound of Justin Bieber’s “Sorry.” I had been expecting EDM, but the music for the rest of the night was decidedly and surprisingly… well… \u003cem>basic\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13907442 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the decor, the Slim’s bar that once took up most of the far wall has been ripped out and replaced by two rows of plush blue seats. That fenced-in area is where groups of up to eight people can now pay $800 for the privilege of sitting. (Woo?) These tables are guarded by the women in lingerie who move bottles from the bar to the tables, and occasionally hold up props. At one point, I witnessed them waving a “Happy Birthday” placard and a white UV seagull on a stick, the symbolism of which escaped me entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I managed to sneak a look at a drinks menu from a VIP table and it was fairly jaw-dropping. $1,400 for a magnum of Don Julio 1942 tequila; $900 for a bottle of Dom Pérignon Rosé; $675 for a handle of Grey Goose; and—my personal favorite—$375 for a bottle of Jameson that costs $24.99 in Trader Joe’s. Also, curiously, at the bottom of the UV-lit menu are three options for something called the “Bottle Parade Packages (With Presentation).” These range from $5,500-$6,000. I did not witness one of these presentations during my time at YOLO, but I can only assume they involve more UV animals on sticks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899099\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13899099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"The stage where your favorite bands used to play.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The stage where your favorite bands used to play. \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A much smaller version of the old bar still stands at the back of the room under what used to be the Slim’s dinner balcony, which now houses the more “exclusive” VIP tables. I can only suspect that the bar has been reduced to this minimal size to cause long lines, further incentivizing patrons to throw down for table service. For those willing to wait, though, prices at the bar were reasonable by club standards. I paid $11 for a vodka soda, and it was a heavy pour served by a very efficient bartender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the front of the club, the Slim’s stage is now dominated by a DJ booth with garish projections both in front of and behind the DJ. These screens never stop telling you where you are, lest you forget how embarrassing the name of this club is. More bizarrely, in front of the stage, taking up a deeply impractical amount of space, is an undulating light fixture. It is roped off and inaccessible, and prevents nightclub patrons from getting within 20 feet of the DJ booth. It also takes out an enormous amount of the club’s floor space. Of all of the endless barriers installed in YOLO, the disco jellyfish is by far the most elaborate and stupid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899100\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13899100\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"The undulating jellyfish of DJ protection.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The undulating jellyfish of DJ protection. \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The door to the right of the stage, where bands used to load in, now leads to the smoking area, which comes with its very own security guard. (He was talking about Lamborghinis with another employee when I got there.) To the left of the stage, down the stairs, is the only part of YOLO that still bears a real resemblance to Slim’s. The coatcheck room is still there, but (practicality be damned!) was closed. And the bathrooms look exactly the same, even down to the leaky toilets in the ladies room. (The upstairs bathrooms were—alas—also roped off.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more unfathomable than the closed coatcheck is the fact that no one bothered to throw down a couple of hundred bucks to paint the basement walls. The remaining grubby pattern of vertical rectangles is a sad reminder that these halls used to be lined with decades of show posters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899101\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13899101\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"YOLO's painting budget didn't extend to the basement, apparently.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">YOLO’s painting budget hasn’t yet extended to the basement, apparently. \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One thing that I will say for YOLO is that its staff was, across the board, remarkably warm and friendly—even the be-suited security guys. I took some consolation in that after an evening spent thinking about \u003ca href=\"http://santamonicainjurylawyer.com/the-skinny-on-san-franciscos-ban-on-size-discrimination/#:~:text=Section%203303%20of%20the%20San,the%20recruitment%2C%20engagement%2C%20use%2C\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Section 3303\u003c/a> of the San Francisco police code. You know—that thing where you’re legally prohibited from hiring and firing people based on their weight. (Look it up, YOLO.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing that I was most surprised about, however, were the patrons. These clubbers weren’t the obnoxious, over-privileged d-bags I had been expecting. They were regular people, mostly in their early-to-mid-twenties, wearing smart-casual shirts and camisoles. They were, in the majority, grown men and women dancing in gender-separated circles, like it was a school dance. I watched one group of twenty-somethings on that top balcony, staring longingly at the dance floor, seemingly having the realization that they’d paid a ton of money to not dance or meet anyone new. I was left with the distinct impression that all of these people were forking over too much of their hard-earned cash for, I presume, aspirational reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899096\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13899096\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_231902-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"YOLO—the nightclub that replaced Slim's—during opening weekend. June 19, 2021.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">YOLO—the nightclub that replaced Slim’s—during opening weekend. June 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On my way home from the club, my mother—who lives in a timezone eight hours ahead—happened to call me. I told her about YOLO in some depth and sent her some photos. “To each their own,” she said. “But gosh, vanity is expensive.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Waitresses in lingerie. $900 bottles of rosé. The club everyone was dreading is here, and it's exactly what you thought it'd be.",
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"title": "I Went to YOLO—the Nightclub That Replaced Slim's—So You Don't Have To | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Though it opened just this past weekend, people have been upset about new San Francisco nightclub \u003ca href=\"https://www.yolonightclub.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YOLO\u003c/a> for months now. (Broke Ass Stuart referred to the club as a “\u003ca href=\"https://brokeassstuart.com/2020/08/13/slims-to-be-replaced-by-yolo-nightclub-douchefest/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">douchefest\u003c/a>” all the way back in August 2020.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For live music fans, the reality of YOLO’s opening was reason enough to be upset. Slim’s, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877225/slims-a-storied-sf-concert-hall-permanently-closes-after-30-years\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">live music institution in the city for over 30 years\u003c/a>, was being replaced by a dance club featuring DJs only. Then, it was discovered that the new owners were Peter Lin and Michael Hu, who own Sunnyvale’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.purenightclub408.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pure Nightclub\u003c/a>. And Pure is the kind of place where “\u003ca href=\"https://www.purenightclub408.com/dress-code-policy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sports, recreation [and] athletic attire\u003c/a>” are prohibited for club-goers, but female waitresses are required to wear\u003ca href=\"https://www.purenightclub408.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> lingerie\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More recently, adding insult to injury was \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/yolonightclub/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YOLO’s social media\u003c/a>. It didn’t start out great: a series of images focused mostly on objectifying women—\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNxwHyjDCQQ/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disembodied legs\u003c/a> in stockings, faceless \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COjGgKtDaZ6/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bunny girls\u003c/a>, faceless \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CPR2gnlD1tN/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">space girls\u003c/a>, faceless \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CN21Pg9DpH2/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">side boob\u003c/a>. But then the club ramped things up with a motivational meme that told people to “Speak English” and “Spend Arab.” (One KQED Arts reader was alarmed enough to take a screenshot and send it to us.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899098\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 716px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899098\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.30.18-PM.png\" alt=\"YOLO posted this mess back in April, then deleted it a month later.\" width=\"716\" height=\"916\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.30.18-PM.png 716w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-21-at-1.30.18-PM-160x205.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 716px) 100vw, 716px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">YOLO posted this mess back in April, then deleted it a month later. \u003ccite>(Debbie Doom)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With all this in mind, I was fairly stunned on Friday night to drive past 333 11th Street at 10:45pm and see pandemonium outside the club. It was a lot, even for the first weekend after California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11868240/newsom-announces-plan-to-open-up-business-as-usual-in-california-by-june-15\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lifting of COVID restrictions\u003c/a>. There was a throng under the awning, and roped-off lines to both the left and right of the front door. People weren’t just casually trying out YOLO, I realized—they were willing to stand in very long lines to get in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a fit of masochistic madness, and after seeing a sea of YOLO hate on my Facebook feed, I decided to go the following night. I did so knowing full well that I’d have to go it alone (no one I know would agree to step foot in there), and that the experience might be a little emotionally wrenching. Slim’s wasn’t just a place where I saw a lot of great shows; it was a place where I had in fact worked for a couple of years, over a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of my general aversion to standing in lines, I got to YOLO two minutes after it opened. To the right of the door was the line for VIPs—people who had paid in advance for tables. I joined the line on the left for RSVPs and guest list. (All future events at YOLO will be ticketed; July 9 tickets to see \u003cem>Jersey Shore\u003c/em>‘s Pauly D, for example, will cost you $35-45, plus booking fee.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It only took me a few minutes to get inside. Once in, I was immediately greeted by the sight of multiple female employees dressed in bras, high-waisted underwear and stockings, and the sound of Justin Bieber’s “Sorry.” I had been expecting EDM, but the music for the rest of the night was decidedly and surprisingly… well… \u003cem>basic\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13907442 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/267156295_2129049133914372_3518268310006300516_n.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the decor, the Slim’s bar that once took up most of the far wall has been ripped out and replaced by two rows of plush blue seats. That fenced-in area is where groups of up to eight people can now pay $800 for the privilege of sitting. (Woo?) These tables are guarded by the women in lingerie who move bottles from the bar to the tables, and occasionally hold up props. At one point, I witnessed them waving a “Happy Birthday” placard and a white UV seagull on a stick, the symbolism of which escaped me entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I managed to sneak a look at a drinks menu from a VIP table and it was fairly jaw-dropping. $1,400 for a magnum of Don Julio 1942 tequila; $900 for a bottle of Dom Pérignon Rosé; $675 for a handle of Grey Goose; and—my personal favorite—$375 for a bottle of Jameson that costs $24.99 in Trader Joe’s. Also, curiously, at the bottom of the UV-lit menu are three options for something called the “Bottle Parade Packages (With Presentation).” These range from $5,500-$6,000. I did not witness one of these presentations during my time at YOLO, but I can only assume they involve more UV animals on sticks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899099\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13899099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"The stage where your favorite bands used to play.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_225503-scaled-e1624314303718.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The stage where your favorite bands used to play. \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A much smaller version of the old bar still stands at the back of the room under what used to be the Slim’s dinner balcony, which now houses the more “exclusive” VIP tables. I can only suspect that the bar has been reduced to this minimal size to cause long lines, further incentivizing patrons to throw down for table service. For those willing to wait, though, prices at the bar were reasonable by club standards. I paid $11 for a vodka soda, and it was a heavy pour served by a very efficient bartender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the front of the club, the Slim’s stage is now dominated by a DJ booth with garish projections both in front of and behind the DJ. These screens never stop telling you where you are, lest you forget how embarrassing the name of this club is. More bizarrely, in front of the stage, taking up a deeply impractical amount of space, is an undulating light fixture. It is roped off and inaccessible, and prevents nightclub patrons from getting within 20 feet of the DJ booth. It also takes out an enormous amount of the club’s floor space. Of all of the endless barriers installed in YOLO, the disco jellyfish is by far the most elaborate and stupid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899100\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13899100\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"The undulating jellyfish of DJ protection.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221607-scaled-e1624314653428.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The undulating jellyfish of DJ protection. \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The door to the right of the stage, where bands used to load in, now leads to the smoking area, which comes with its very own security guard. (He was talking about Lamborghinis with another employee when I got there.) To the left of the stage, down the stairs, is the only part of YOLO that still bears a real resemblance to Slim’s. The coatcheck room is still there, but (practicality be damned!) was closed. And the bathrooms look exactly the same, even down to the leaky toilets in the ladies room. (The upstairs bathrooms were—alas—also roped off.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more unfathomable than the closed coatcheck is the fact that no one bothered to throw down a couple of hundred bucks to paint the basement walls. The remaining grubby pattern of vertical rectangles is a sad reminder that these halls used to be lined with decades of show posters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899101\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13899101\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"YOLO's painting budget didn't extend to the basement, apparently.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_221708-scaled-e1624315282890.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">YOLO’s painting budget hasn’t yet extended to the basement, apparently. \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One thing that I will say for YOLO is that its staff was, across the board, remarkably warm and friendly—even the be-suited security guys. I took some consolation in that after an evening spent thinking about \u003ca href=\"http://santamonicainjurylawyer.com/the-skinny-on-san-franciscos-ban-on-size-discrimination/#:~:text=Section%203303%20of%20the%20San,the%20recruitment%2C%20engagement%2C%20use%2C\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Section 3303\u003c/a> of the San Francisco police code. You know—that thing where you’re legally prohibited from hiring and firing people based on their weight. (Look it up, YOLO.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing that I was most surprised about, however, were the patrons. These clubbers weren’t the obnoxious, over-privileged d-bags I had been expecting. They were regular people, mostly in their early-to-mid-twenties, wearing smart-casual shirts and camisoles. They were, in the majority, grown men and women dancing in gender-separated circles, like it was a school dance. I watched one group of twenty-somethings on that top balcony, staring longingly at the dance floor, seemingly having the realization that they’d paid a ton of money to not dance or meet anyone new. I was left with the distinct impression that all of these people were forking over too much of their hard-earned cash for, I presume, aspirational reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899096\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13899096\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/20210619_231902-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"YOLO—the nightclub that replaced Slim's—during opening weekend. June 19, 2021.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">YOLO—the nightclub that replaced Slim’s—during opening weekend. June 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"soldout": {
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"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
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