The tale is familiar in a city that is becoming ever wealthier with the arrival of newcomers taking high-paying technology jobs downtown or in nearby Silicon Valley. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter > On Sunday, he called an emergency meeting to break the news to regulars. In June, the building was sold, and the bar’s owner received a notice that the monthly rent for the 2,800-square-foot space would leap from $3,800 to $9,500 in September. A sign at the front door, decorated with gold tinsel, reads: “Everybody is welcome at The Stud. One of the nation’s most celebrated gay bars may soon go out of business after a new landlord more than doubled the rent, part of a trend that has old-timers lamenting that the San Francisco they know and love - dilapidated and diverse - is disappearing.Īt 50 years old, the Stud is the longest continuously running gay bar in the city and known throughout the country as one of the bohemian, gender-bending, anything-goes institutions that made San Francisco into a gay mecca.
