The Lexington Club, San Francisco

About The Lexington Club

”The Lexington Club, often referred to as The Lex, was a dive bar, primarily catered towards queer women, in the Mission District in the American city of San Francisco, California. 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.HistoryThe 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 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 responseThe bar closed on April 30, 2015, the last remaining lesbian bar in San Francisco. Community members, including the GLBT Historical Society and Supervisor David Campos, initiated a fundraiser for a commemorative plaque. It was unveiled in a ceremony on September 19, 2016. Read more

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