SF’s oldest gay bar forced to vacate its home but vows to stay alive

 

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A post shared by The Stud Collective (@studsf) on Jul 29, 2018 at 3:08pm PDT

San Francisco’s oldest surviving gay bar, The Stud, will not be reopening at its current home but is vowing to keep trading. This may be in the form of a virtual club space and (post-lockdown) pop-ups.

The Stud first opened in 1966. It’s been at its current South Market home on 399 Ninth Street for the past 33 years. In 2016, facing closure, its ownership was taken over by an LGBTQ collective of scene performers and promoters, who together breathed new life into the business.

However, then COVID-19 came along. Like all other bars in the city, the venue had to close its doors but its landlord still wants the rent to be paid.

Related: Coronavirus is dealing a death blow to LGBTQ nightspots around the globe

Yesterday, one of the co-owners, drag performer Honey Mahogany issued a press release announcing a drag funeral for the venue will take place via Zoom on May 21 at 2pm. This led to the Bay Area Reporter running a story about the venue’s closure. Mahogany subsequently sent out a clarifying email, saying a press conference about The Stud’s future will take place today (May 21) at 2pm.

The Stud itself has posted to social media confirming that it will not be reopening at 399 Ninth Street and further details will be announced later today.

Another of The Stud’s co-owners, journalist Marke Bieschke, offered more details on 48Hills. He confirmed that The Stud would not return to its current home.

“As a member of the Stud Collective, a wonderful group of 17 friends that purchased the Stud in 2016, in order to save it after a huge rent hike, I am weeping for that beautiful, scrappy space—its gold and red velvet-and sequined curtains parting for kooky drag shows, its graffiti-laden bathroom stalls, its very naughty green room, its dance floor packed with gorgeous creatures from all walks—that was such a vibrant and essential part of the community.

“Here’s the thing, though: The Stud, the nightlife entity, is not dead. We’re still going to come back when this is over—a different space with the same lovingly outrageous vibe.”

He went on to point out that the venue still had to pay its landlord and utility bills, despite having no income.

“Loans and grants pretty much go directly to landlords and utilities, who are the true government-subsidized businesses here, in an arduous, arcane process that looks more and more like a bizarre money-laundering scheme.”

 

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He says that even when lockdown ends, the reality of running a bar with social distancing measures in place is not feasible at the current location. The bar’s lease was also up at the end of this year, so the team had been thinking about the future.

In the short term, they will continue to stream performances and exist as a virtual space. Post-lockdown, they may operate as a pop-up initiative or hold one-off parties. Eventually, it might return to new premises. Bieschke suggested that unless The Stud collective acted now, the business risked building up huge debts from which it would be impossible to recover.

“Without any rent breaks/suspension or more direct financial support, small business like ours are faced with a tough choice: Close our doors now, get nimble, and try to move forward? Or keep losing money and hope this blows over before we owe hundreds of thousands of dollars?”

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing already-struggling LGBTQ venues, or those with their leases due to expire, to consider closure. Earlier this month, it was announced that Washington DC’s two oldest gay venues – DC Eagle and Ziegfelds-Secrets – would not be reopening following the COVID-19 lockdown.

Related: Washington DC loses two of its biggest and longest-running gay venues 

The situation is hitting gay bars further afield. Earlier this week, the oldest surviving gay bar in London, England, The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, launched a fundraiser to help it survive. Again, like The Stud, its management said its landlord still wanted rent and says it’s not eligible for UK grants available to some smaller businesses.

The bar is seeking to raise £50,000 ($61,000), and has managed to raise half that amount in just six days.

www.queerty.com/sfs-oldest-gay-bar-forced-vacate-home-vows-stay-alive-20200521?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

‘I Didn’t Even Recognize Myself’: Gay Nurse Who Shared Shocking COVID-19 Photos Speaks to CNN (WATCH)

Mike Schultz, the gay San Francisco nurse who recently shared shocking before-and-after photos from his struggle with COVID-19, appeared on CNN on Thursday morning to discuss his ordeal.

After contracting the coronavirus at the Winter Party Festival in Miami Beach in early March, Schultz spent four-and-a-half weeks on a ventilator and lost 50-60 pounds.

“I’m doing really well,” Schultz told CNN’s John Berman. “I’m able to move around and walk and go up and down stairs, and pretty much do anything on my own. It’s just I have to take a lot of rest breaks, and I just know that my lung capacity is not totally there yet.”

Schultz explained that he fell critically ill on Tuesday, March 17, after flying to Boston to visit his boyfriend, the week after they had attended the gay circuit party in Florida. Three people have died after contracting COVID-19 at the Winter Party Festival.

Asked how he felt after finally coming off the ventilator, Schultz told CNN: “I didn’t even recognize myself. I pretty much cried when I looked in the mirror. I had no idea how long I had been there, so it was kind of a shock taking all this in at once.”

“I’m slowly gaining weight,” Schultz added. “My face is starting to fill out more and I’m getting stronger. I know it’s going to be a long road.”

Schultz had no underlying medical conditions and worked out almost every day. He told BuzzFeed News he shared the before-and-after photos with his 30,000 Instagram followers as a warning.

“I knew what I thought going in [about the coronavirus],” he said. “I didn’t think it was as serious as it was until after things started happening. I thought I was young enough for it not to affect me, and I know a lot of people think that. I wanted to show it can happen to anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, have preexisting conditions or not. It can affect you.”

After CNN first aired the shocking photos of Schultz on Wednsesday, medical analyst Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips weighed in.

“It’s not just the virus but actually staying in an ICU is really hard on the body and we’ve known for a long time that there is a condition called ICU Associated Weakness that happens when people are prolonged on a ventilator,” Compton-Phillips said. “Usually, by the way, they’re put into a medically-induced coma on the ventilator because it’s not a pleasant sensation to have to live through, so two big things happen. One is that you get something called a catabolic state where your body starts actually turning to muscle for fuel, so you start breaking down your own muscles, and the second is deconditioning. You are at complete rest, you’re not moving around, so your muscles get super, super weak, and at the end of that what happens is what my Kentucky father-in-law would describe as you end up weak as a kitten.”

 The picture on the left was taken about a month before he first got sick. He took the photo on the right in a recovery ward. 

The post ‘I Didn’t Even Recognize Myself’: Gay Nurse Who Shared Shocking COVID-19 Photos Speaks to CNN (WATCH) appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

‘I Didn’t Even Recognize Myself’: Gay Nurse Who Shared Shocking COVID-19 Photos Speaks to CNN (WATCH)

SF’s Oldest Gay Bar to Close After 55 Years, But Owners Say The Stud is ‘Not Dead’

San Francisco’s oldest continuously operating queer nightclub, The Stud, is permanently closing its current location at Ninth and Harrison streets in SoMa amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“The Stud is the country’s only cooperatively owned LGBT venue and has been in operation for 55 years,” a 17-member collective that owns The Stud announced in a news release Wednesday. “Because of a lack of revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the historic bar will be announcing that they are permanently closing their location and will be holding a drag funeral to honor the end of an era of LGBT nightlife.”

After initial reports suggested The Stud would be closing for good, co-owners said they plan to look for a new location. Originally situated on Folsom Street, The Stud has been at 399 Ninth St. for the last 33 years.

Co-owner Marke Bieschke reports that the bar’s lease will be up at the end of the year anyway, and amid the COVID-19 crisis, it has been transforming into “a full-fledged virtual club.”

“The Stud, the nightlife entity, is not dead,” Bieschke wrote on the news site 48 Hills. “We’re still going to come back when this is over—a different space with the same lovingly outrageous vibe. … And after this is all over, a new permanent location, to help rebuild the city’s shattered nightlife scene—and continue the Stud’s rough-and-tumble legacy the only way we know how: with shots up and heels high.”

More from the San Francisco Chronicle: The move itself is not entirely surprising. The bar almost closed in 2016 due to a rent increase but was saved by a group of patrons who rallied and reworked the Stud as a cooperative. Among the city’s many gay bars, the Stud has long had a reputation as a home for an alternative queer scene, one that is deliberately open to all. “On any given night you’ll see men in leather, punks with pink hair and even women,” read a 1980 article in Drummer magazine. “But the mix works fabulously and the Stud remains one of the dominant dance bars in a city famous for its discos and clubs.” Etta James performed there; Sylvester, Bjork, Lady Gaga and RuPaul too. Through the years, the Stud’s stage has been home to a wide range of experimental music and performance. And more recently, after the collective took control of the bar, it seemed to enter a new renaissance.

The post SF’s Oldest Gay Bar to Close After 55 Years, But Owners Say The Stud is ‘Not Dead’ appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

SF’s Oldest Gay Bar to Close After 55 Years, But Owners Say The Stud is ‘Not Dead’

HRC and PSB Research Release Data on the Economic Impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQ Communities of Color

Today, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation released new data outlining the economic impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQ communities of color. The research, released in partnership with PSB Research, builds on prior data showing that LGBTQ people are disproportionately impacted economically by the pandemic, and shows that LGBTQ people of color are more likely to have become unemployed due to the virus, are more likely to have had their work hours reduced, and more likely to have asked for delays in paying their rent or bills.

“This new data, showing that LGBTQ communities of color are facing the severe economic consequences of this pandemic, is unfortunately not surprising,” said HRC President Alphonso David.  “We know that multiply marginalized populations are at an increased risk of contracting the virus and suffering its effects — vulnerable communities are facing higher death rates than the general population across the country.  We must acknowledge that these communities, particularly LGBTQ people of color, face systemic biases that are placing them at greater risk.  Understanding this data is the first step towards addressing these injustices as we build towards recovery.”

The data shows that:

• 38% of LGBTQ people of color have had their work hours reduced, compared to 29% of white LGBTQ people, and 24% of the general population
• 19% of LGBTQ people of color have asked for delays in payments on bills, compared to 14% of white LGBTQ people and 12% of the general population
• 14% of LGBTQ people of color have asked for delays in rent payment, compared to 8% of white LGBTQ people and 7% of the general population
• 23% of LGBTQ people of color have checked if their account has overdrafted, compared to 13% of white LGBTQ people and 10% of the general population

The data also shows, unsurprisingly, that across all demographics, many feel that they are worse off financially than they were a year ago, and have taken measures to spend less and change their budgets:

• 38% of LGBTQ people of color say they are somewhat or much worse off financially than a year ago, compared to 45% of white LGBTQ people and 36% of the general population
• 53% of LGBTQ people of color have spent less money, compared to 50% of white LGBTQ people and 49% of the general population
• 33% of LGBTQ people of color have changed their household budget, compared to 29% of white LGBTQ people and 27% of the general population

Read the full report at this link.

The new data builds on HRC’s previously released reports, “The Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the LGBTQ Community,” and “The Lives and Livelihoods of Many in the LGBTQ Community are at Risk Amidst COVID-19 Crisis,” published earlier this spring.  HRC has previously called attention to the disproportionate impact the virus has had on marginalized communities and has called for more inclusive data collection for years.

Read more about HRC’s efforts during COVID-19 here.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-and-psb-research-release-data-on-economic-impact-of-covid-19-on-lgbtq?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

San Cha is Breaking Ground For Queer Latinx Artists

The Los Angeles-based Mexican-American queer musician is one of The Advocate‘s Women of the Year. 

www.advocate.com/exclusives/2020/5/21/san-cha-breaking-ground-queer-latinx-artists