The Lexington Club, often referred to as The Lex, was a

dive bar A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; it may feature dim lighting, shabby or dated decor, neon beer signs, packaged beer sales, cash-only service, and a local clientele ...

, primarily catered towards queer women, in the

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

in the American city of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It was recognized as one of the central landmarks for LGBTQ culture, especially for lesbians and queer women, in San Francisco. The club was founded in 1997 and closed at the end of April 2015.

History

The Lexington Club was opened in 1997 by Lila Thirkield as a response to the numerous options for gay men but lack of options for lesbians and other queer women in San Francisco. She noticed that 16th and Mission had a "significant dyke presence" there and decided that it would make a good spot for her lesbian-owned business. Other such businesses and services in the area catering to queer women included

The Women's Building The Women's Building is a women-led non-profit arts and education community center located in San Francisco, California, which advocates self-determination, gender equality and social justice. The four-story building rents to multiple tenants an ...

, the Osento bathhouse, Old Wives Tales bookstore, and Amelia's bar, which had closed in 1991. The Lexington's site had previously housed a Mexican bar, Sunset. In October 2014, Thirkield announced that she would sell the Lexington Club and close the establishment in 2015. Thirkield cited rising rent and the changing neighborhood as factors behind her decision to sell, specifically the decline of LGBT patrons residing in the area that made the business unsustainable. She is a co-owner of another bar in the Mission, Virgil's Sea Room. In February 2015, she announced that the Lexington Club would close at the end of April, and that she sold the bar to the PlumpJack Group. The space is now a bar called Wildhawk.

Closing and response

The bar closed on April 30, 2015, the last remaining lesbian bar in San Francisco. Community members, including the

GLBT Historical Society The GLBT Historical Society (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society) (formerly Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California; San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society) maintains an extensive collection ...

and Supervisor

David Campos David Campos (born September 28, 1970), is a politician who is Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party. In 2008 he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where he represented San Francisco's District 9 (Bernal Heights, P ...

, initiated a fundraiser for a commemorative plaque. It was unveiled in a ceremony on September 19, 2016. The Lexington Club Archival Project was started by two filmmakers, Susie Smith and Lauren Tabak, in early 2015. The project's mission is stated on their website as: "dedicated to documenting the stories, sounds and images from San Francisco's last full-time lesbian bar, which closed April 30th 2015." The

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

screened a short version of the project's work-in-progress documentary film ''Never a Cover'' on April 30, 2015. As of September 2015, the project was continuing work on the feature-length documentary and had raised $20,656 in a Kickstarter project.

Culture

Michelle Tea Michelle Tea (born Michelle Tomasik, 1971) is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, sex work, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachuse ...

's book ''Valencia'' (), which takes place in the Mission District of San Francisco, mentions the Lexington Club. This book has been adapted into a film. Other movies that have featured or been set in the Lexington Club include ''Ashley 22'', ''How to Pick Up Girls'', ''By Hook or By Crook'', ''The Wild Search'', ''Mechanic's Daydream'', ''Getting Off'', and ''Lit''.

References

External links

LocalWiki: Lexington Club

* [http://www.sfweekly.com/foodie/2014/10/23/the-lexington-club-is-closing-because-the-mission-has-dramatically-changed SF Weekly: The Lexington Club Is Closing Because the Mission Has "Dramatically Changed"] {{DEFAULTSORT:Lexington Club, The 1997 establishments in California 2015 disestablishments in California Bars (establishments) Lesbian culture in California Lesbian history LGBT culture in San Francisco Defunct LGBT nightclubs in California Mission District, San Francisco Nightclubs in San Francisco

History

Closing and response

Culture

See also

References

External links