Red Star Saloon (San Francisco Sex Club/70's-80's/If You're Heavy Enough, Freak Freely) san francisco gay bath Jean-Claude Forest’s Barbarella redefined sci-fi

Jean-Claude Forest’s Barbarella redefined sci-fi in 1962

bars like the Skylark remind us that vibrant queer communities flourished far beyond Hollywood and West Hollywood

Spike was one of those bars whose name alone set the tone

Marks Place

facing California Street

Red Star Saloon (San Francisco Sex Club/70's-80's/If You're Heavy Enough, Freak Freely) san francisco gay bath Jean-Claude Forest’s Barbarella redefined sci-fiThe Red Star Saloon (San Francisco, 1970s1980s) was one of the citys most infamous gay sex clubs, remembered for its unapologetic embrace of liberation era freedom. Tucked into the SoMa district, it offered a mix of barroom atmosphere and uninhibited backroom action a place where patrons could drink, cruise, and explore without pretense. Part of the constellation of leather bars and sex spaces that defined San Francisco nightlife at the time, Red Star