1940s – Sol Stoumen acquires the Black Cat in the 1940s.1936 – Finocchio’s, known for its gender illusionist drag performances, moves to 506 Broadway.
It closes in 1980, the last of the gay bars on the island where Market Street meets Turk that had also been home to the College Inn and Pirate’s Den.
1935 – The Old Crow opens at 962 Market Street.Waitresses and female performers wear tuxedos in contrast to many gay bars where women were expected to wear skirts. 1934 – Mona’s, the nation’s first lesbian bar, opens on Union Street.The Black Cat Café reopens at 710 Montgomery Street before the end of the year. Decem– Prohibition is repealed with the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the U.S.1933 – The City’s first two explicitly gay bathhouses, Jack’s Turkish Baths and Third Street Baths, open.– Harvey Milk is born on Long Island in New York.Decem(or 1923) – José Julio Sarria, who is later known as the Widow Norton, is born.Constitution, which bans the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages, is ratified on on Januand goes into effect on January 17, 1920. October 1911 – The Gangway experiences its first raid for sexual activity.It’s not yet known as a homosexual hangout. 1911 – Charles Ridley acquires the Black Cat and turns it into a vaudeville-style showcase.Its claim to being the City’s first gay bar seems strong but is disputed when the Old Crow closed in 1980 after 45 years, it claimed to be the City’s oldest gay bar. Ap– The Gangway, which remains open to this day, opens in the Tenderloin.In their report, the police claim that male customers were performing oral sex under the skirts of cross-dressing men who were dancing on the tabletops. 1908 – Police close the Dash at 574 Pacific.It won’t be known as a gay bar until the 1940s. 1906 – The Black Cat Café opens at Mason and Eddy shortly after the 1906 earthquake.