Supporters of the now-closed Gangway worked to save items from the gay bar's interior.

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.

The Gangway, at 841 Larkin Street, one of the Tenderloin district's last gay bars, closed for good Saturday, January 27.

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.

Codeword, the queer-friendly nightclub in San Francisco's South of Market district, has closed. Its sister club DNA Lounge, under the same ownership as Codeword, is struggling.

Gameboi, the monthly gay Asian and pals' dance party, took over the Rickshaw Stop (155 Fell Street) with panache and a Pokemon Go presence, including Poke-swag, a few guys in Poke-costumes.

Gay bar history got a resurrection of sorts, with the soft opening of the new/old Ginger's Trois, located in the basement of Rickhouse, the bar that took over its location several years ago.

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.

There are rare bars that are popular in one generation and come back a second time. Even rarer is one which has three lives. The 181 Club was such a bar. It lasted from the 1950s to the 1990s and left its mark on three generations.

The Stud, the popular South of Market gay bar, will stay at its current home at Ninth and Harrison for the next two years, and then move to a new location, if a recently launched three-month crowdfunding campaign to raise $500,000 is successful.

In more good news for South of Market gay bars, The Lone Star Saloon was recently granted Legacy status by a new measure that aims to support historic businesses.

The historic Stud bar, under seige with the possibility of closing after the building's sale and a triple raise in rent, has found a group of nightlife and business professionals who've joined together to find alternative ways to keep the SoMa bar open.

Located next door to the iconic Paramount Theatre, and convenient to BART and other public transit, The Port welcomed guests on Saturday, July 9 after more than a week's 'soft opening.'

That first step inside a gay bar, that first kiss between two girls, that first sighting of a trans or drag performer, are rites of passage for most of us, whether magical or awkward. It's a part of coming out and coming of age.