The Sailor Boy Tavern, which opened on Howard Street in 1936 near the Embarcadero YMCA, had a bit of a rougher clientele than other gay bars in the City, and that perhaps helped set the tone of gay bars in the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood that came later. It closed in 1953.
In 1962, the Tool Box opened at 4th and Harrison, becoming the City’s first gay leather bar South of Market. Life magazine featured it and the Jumpin’ Frog on Polk Street in their “Homosexuality in America” article on June 26, 1964 in which they proclaimed San Francisco to be the gayest city in America – a full five years (almost to the day) before the Stonewall Riots in New York City sparked the public perception of the modern gay rights movement.
FeBe’s opened on Folsom Street in 1966, helping establish what would be called the Miracle Mile, a strip of leather and bear bars along and near Folsom Street. Other bars along the Miracle Mile included the Ramrod, the Stud, the Gas Station, the Covered Wagon, the Leatherneck, Dirty Sally’s, the Plunge, and the Eagle, among others. FeBe’s was closed briefly in 1970 following allegations of sexual activity on the premises. It finally closed for good in 1986.
When the leather bar Boot Camp opened at 1010 Bryant Street in 1971, it made Herb Caen’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle. Gay news was becoming mainstream. Police stopped raiding gay bars in 1972 after the City passed a nondiscrimination ordinance affecting city employment as well as companies contracted to do business with the City.
The first Folsom Street Fair was held in 1984. It wasn’t initially envisioned as a leather or fetish event; the original intent was to show South of Market as a viable neighborhood, but the dominance of leather bars in the area and leathermen at the fair made an immediate imprint on the fair. Today it is the world’s largest annual leather and fetish event, and the third largest annual outdoor event in California (behind the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena and the San Francisco LGBT Freedom Day Parade and Celebration).
The Up Your Alley Fair began the following year, in 1985. It was held in Ringold Alley the first few years, relocating to Dore Alley in 1987. Though it was nicknamed the Ringold Alley Fair and then the Dore Alley Fair, its formal name has always been the Up Your Alley Fair.
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