Black gay men seek community space in SF

Isolated not only from the larger LGBT community, but also from each other, the city’s black gay male population is seeking a place to call home.

Unlike other ethnic groups, the approximately 4,500 gay black men who reside in San Francisco do not have a central gathering place to meet, socialize and create a sense of community. The Castro is seen as a neighborhood for white gay men, and with the shuttering of the Pendulum bar several years ago, black gay men lost the last remaining gay space that catered to them.

“There is no place to socialize. It is very limited for us,” said Norman Tanner, an outreach worker with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Black Brothers Esteem program who has lived in the Tenderloin since the mid-1970s. “The nightlife is not what it used to be.”

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Bay Area Reporter, CA