Historic San Francisco gay club The Stud to close
The SoMA gay bar, whose intimate dance floor continued to play a crucial role in San Francisco’s underground dance music community, is closing after 54 years in business. There will be an online-only drag funeral held on May 31st, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
After being threatened with closure due to increasing rent prices, a group of 18 friends purchased the bar in 2016, making it the first worker-owned cooperative nightclub in the US. “The Stud is where it’s happening right now,” the DJ Carlos Souffront said in our 2018 feature on the Bay Area scene. “The Wednesday night, Kosmetik, that’s the shit… It’s important that people support The Stud right now…”
Sylvester, Björk, Lady Miss Kier, RuPaul and thousands of other entertainers graced The Stud’s stage over its storied run.
Update: The Stud will hold a press conference on Thursday, May 21st, running over the details of the closing of its 399 9th St. location.
— Stud_SF (@StudSF1) May 21, 2020
