Bay Area Reporter :: Barchive News

Remembering Gina LaDivina: Trailblazer, performer and local trans icon

June 9, 2024 | by Michael Flanagan

When Gina LaDivina performed "Don't Rain on My Parade" at the opening of the Stud on April 20 I had little idea it would be the last time I would see her perform. The longtime drag artist died on June 4 after a brief illness.

The Stud's return: historic bar's triumphant third time's a charm

by Michael Flanagan
Apr 23, 2024

The Stud bar's fascinating history, going back to 1966, is matched by its festive reopening on April 20 at a new SoMa location, where many longtime patrons celebrated its multiple eras.

Turned-on town: Damon Scott's 'The City Aroused: Queer Places and Urban Development in Postwar San Francisco'

by Michael Flanagan
Feb 13, 2024

"The City Aroused: Queer Places and Urban Development in Postwar San Francisco" is the perfect introduction to a tale of maritime workers, labor unions and the building of a sexual subculture that has its roots in the city before World War II.

'The Bars Are Ours' — Celebrating the spirit of bars and community spaces

by Michael Flanagan
Dec 5, 2023

Lucas Hilderbrand seeks to redress the notion that in the early days, queer culture only happened at places like The Black Cat in North Beach and the Stonewall Bar in New York by introducing us to bars throughout the country.

B.A.R.'s Bestie balloting begins

by Cynthia Laird
Sep 25, 2023

It's time for Bay Area Reporter readers to cast their ballots for the LGBTQ newspaper's annual Best of the Bay contest.

'P.S. Burn This Letter Please' — fascinating '50s New York drag scene told in new book

by Michael Flanagan
Sep 12, 2023

The discovery of a series of letters addressed to someone named Reno Martin from a writer using the name Daphne talking about drag in New York in the 1950s has led to a fascinating documentary and now a book by Craig Olsen.

The Brave Bull: Modesto bar's still kickin' at nearly 50

by Michael Flanagan
Jun 20, 2023

The Brave Bull opened on Modesto's South 9th Street in 1973, and became a gay bar a year later. At almost 50, it's been the home of drag shows since the '70s, where local and visiting patrons enjoy its inclusive appeal.

'Kids On the Street' - Joseph Plaster's queer Tenderloin history

by Laura Moreno
Feb 28, 2023

An important new scholarly book, "Kids On the Street: Queer Kinship & Religion In San Francisco's Tenderloin" by Joseph Plaster, has unearthed the queer history of 'outsider youth' that has long remained hidden.

Starr-gazing - 'Remember Me, Vicki Starr: The Visual History of a Trans Renegade' uncovers an unknown history

by Michael Flanagan
Dec 13, 2022

The 2021 photography book "Remember Me, Vicki Starr: The Visual History of a Trans Renegade" by Albert Tanquero and Lewis Rawlinson definitively answers the question of whether LGBT performers worked in historic North Beach nightclubs.

BARchive: Between the cities; an LGBTQ history of the Mid-Peninsula

by Michael Flanagan
Nov 1, 2022

Prior to Stonewall, one of the few ways we discover LGBTQ history is through encounters with the law, along with bar openings and closings, as in San Mateo and northern Santa Clara counties.

50 years in 50 weeks: BARtab's 2010 debut

by Jim Provenzano
Jan 6, 2022

When asked to create a nightlife spinoff mini-magazine for the Bay Area Reporter, it took editor Jim Provenzano only a few seconds to devise the title, BARtab. Putting out a monthly second publication took a lot more time.

Tripping through history: 'The Letters of Thom Gunn' as a roadmap to San Francisco's past

by Michael Flanagan
Dec 22, 2021

'The Letters of Thom Gunn' is both an intimate portrait of the poet and a window on the development of what would become gay and leather culture, and the rise of the hippies and drug culture.

50 years in 50 weeks; 2008's loved 'shack

by Jim Provenzano
Dec 21, 2021

In the second week of August, 2008, a beloved drag show reached its zenith, as host Heklina hosted the last weekly Trannyshack night at The Stud before exporting it to DNA Lounge and other larger venues.

50 years in 50 weeks: The Gangway, 'still here' in 2005

by Jim Provenzano
Dec 2, 2021

A classic neighborhood bar, The Gangway was a tiny yet cozy tavern noted for its exterior décor of a boat's bowsprit. Inside, colorful locals drank from the early hours.

Larry Townsend: celebrating the man behind 'The Leatherman's Handbook'

by Michael Flanagan
Sep 21, 2021

Being Folsom Week, we dive into the early roots of leather culture, specifically in California. 'The Life and Times of Larry Townsend: Saluting the 50th Anniversary of The Leatherman's Handbook,' by Jack Fritscher, is a festive romp.

BARtab :: BARchive