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Divas, The Bay Area’s Only Transgender Bar, is Closing

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Image from the Divas website.

On Wednesday the Bay Area Reporter broke the news that Divas, the Bay Area’s only Transgender bar, is closing on March 30th. This is especially sad news for the Trans community because it was one of only three bars in the United States that had a specially Transgender clientele, and it was the only one in California.

That’s not to say that there aren’t other bars where Transgender people hang out. Places like The Stud have a large Transgender clientele, and considering that this is the Bay Area in 2019, Transgender people are welcome and supported at establishments all over the region.

That said, what made Divas special is that it was a refuge for Trans people way before our modern era of acceptance (and this era still isn’t accepting enough). For decades Divas was one of the few public places where Trans women felt safe and comfortable being themselves. Sure SF has long been considered an LGBTQ friendly place, but even in other parts of the Queer community, Transgender people weren’t always welcome.

Like pretty much every story you read that concerns the closing an iconic business, the building that Divas is in is being sold. As the Chronicle reports, “A real estate listing with NAI Real Estate reveals the building at 1081 Post St. is on the market for $3.8 million and will be ‘delivered vacant at the close of escrow.'”

This is yet another sad chapter in the greed machine that is killing the soul of San Francisco.

For those of who want one last celebration at Divas, they are throwing their final party on March 30th.

 

 

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Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Stuart Schuffman, aka Broke-Ass Stuart, is a travel writer, poet, TV host, activist, and general shit-stirrer. His website BrokeAssStuart.com is one of the most influential arts & culture sites in the San Francisco Bay Area and his freelance writing has been featured in Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveler, The Bold Italic, Geek.com and too many other outlets to remember. His weekly column, Broke-Ass City, appears every other Thursday in the San Francisco Examiner. Stuart’s writing has been translated into four languages. In 2011 Stuart created and hosted the travel show Young, Broke, and Beautiful on IFC and in 2015 he ran for Mayor of San Francisco and got nearly 20k votes.

He's been called "an Underground legend": SF Chronicle, "an SF cult hero":SF Bay Guardian, and "the chief of cheap": Time Out New York.