In fact, featured prominently as a backdrop to the SF gay rights movement, it’s believed to be one of the first gay bars in America. The risks of police raids deterred some men from stepping into a gay bathhouse, but ultimately the need for intimate companionship outweighed the danger posed by police. Opened in 1972 by the girls Mary Ellen Cunha and Peggy Forster, Twin Peaks Tavern on the corner of Castro and Market isn’t just an official San Francisco landmark it’s a historical one as well. In the 1800s, police in Paris raided a bathhouse and arrested six.Īs institutions, bathhouses gained popularity in the last century, in part due to growing gay populations lacking places where they could publicly gather. In the late 1400s, police in Florence, Italy, monitored homosexual activity and “suspect boys” at bathhouses. The tradition of gay male bathing spaces dates back to the 15th century - and more gender-neutral bathing is recorded as early as 6 BC. This marked the first recorded time that police raided a gay bathhouse in America, but it certainly wasn’t the last. On Mondays, head to the Eagle for karaoke and cheap beer, or wait until Tuesday, when top-shelf tequila drinks are 5. Eleven people were charged with felonies, and 37 were eventually arrested. This legendary Montrose bar, open since 1970, boasts worthy drink specials and plenty of entertainment options pretty much every night of the week. In later testimony, police reported witnessing anal sex. Infiltrating the establishment, they were aghast.
Police had been spying on the men at The Ariston Hotel Baths for days.
