In San Francisco, and internationally, just as L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ identities are seemingly becoming more accepted, cities are losing the queer bars that center women, trans folks, and people of color. This screening and party examine the social and political importance of these spaces, why they are constructed, and challenges us to reimagine new modes of building queer community space; while investigating the causes of attrition and the psychological dislocation it engenders. Co-presented by Still Here SF, Lexington Club Archival Project, and the GLBT Historical Society, this night will feature performances by Still Here artists, short films about the now closed Esta Noche and Lexington Club, a lively panel discussion, and DJ set by DJ Johnnycakes, who will take us through a journey of booty-shaking queer sounds and voices. So, you know, reminiscent of your best nights out at your neighborhood queer bar….

Performance:

“Still Here SF” brings together artists and community to explore the experiences of queer and trans individuals raised in San Francisco still living in San Francisco/Bay Area. Still Here’s narratives of queerness, coming out, sex, loss, AIDS/HIV, memory, legacy, and more stake a claim to San Francisco. They disrupt the assumption that everyone in San Francisco is from somewhere else and redefine the meaning of home, family, and identity in a “gay mecca.”

Mix and mingle as you enjoy DJ Johnnycakes, a catered light dinner and hosted bar serving beer and wine, against a back-drop of projection films that bring to life queer life in the city.

Projection Films:

“That They” (11 m, Heather Smith, 2017) – A beautifully shot and quietly seductive queering of SF city streets.

“¡Viva 16!” (1994, Valentin Aguirre and Augie Robles) Excerpts the landmark film about the queer Latinx of the Mission from 1970’s-1990’s

Lexington Club Bathroom Portraits by Lauren Tabak & Susannah Smith

Historic footage of SF queer nightlife.