A literary spark started fires on both U.S. coasts following World War II. The Beat writers in New York and the Berkeley renaissance poets in the Bay Area started out separately, but they converged in a conflagration that burns to this day.

From 1975 to 1988 Frank Banks was both defined by and helped define The Mint (1942 Market) in San Francisco. He would go on to play other bars before he left and his presence here was felt all the way to City Hall, but The Mint was his home.

When Laverne Cummings died in a pedestrian accident in Las Vegas on March 22, 2018, we lost more than an astounding artist, vocalist and female impersonator. We lost a connection to a world that is quickly fading from view.

Linda Pancost's forty years of gay bars in San Francisco included The Tower Lounge and The Phone Booth.

The late 1980s saw something of an explosion of women's venues, which was followed shortly thereafter with an implosion. Café San Marcos found itself in an unusual situation: Was it a mixed bar or a women's bar?

Late in 2016, the press buzzed with word of tunnels beneath the 900 block of Market Street that provided escape routes from bars. There was more underground about these bars than tunnels, however. They were a hotbed of trade.

There is a special kind of performer who is somewhat well known by the world at large, but held a special place in the heart of San Franciscans. The actor, comic and writer Michael Greer was one of these performers.

The roots of our holiday traditions in the gay community run deep. It should come as no surprise that when the darkest days of the AIDS crisis hit, we responded in the spirit of the season.

Curious about the history of pagan and occult interests among LGBT people in San Francisco? This is the perfect time of year to explore that topic.

During its classic period from 1977 to 1979, the magazine "Drummer" introduced the growing leather culture to both San Francisco and the world.

When we think of the history of our community, we usually think of neighborhoods. But there are places that exist outside of neighborhoods, and Club Dori was one of them.

If you have moved to the Bay Area recently, you no doubt think of Sausalito as a quaint touristy town - the perfect sort of place to take visiting relatives. It hasn't always been that way.

The start of the Pride Parade has a secret - and it's hidden! The downtown assembly area on the waterfront is among the oldest LGBT neighborhoods in the city, and there is barely a trace of it left.

In a few short years North Beach was ground zero for a host of talented musicians, comics and poets not associated with the Beats. The Purple Onion was central to that world.