I was told sometime in June they’ll be moving to a new location in Hillcrest.Quote:
Originally Posted by crutsinger
Printable View
I was told sometime in June they’ll be moving to a new location in Hillcrest.Quote:
Originally Posted by crutsinger
Guys, this is kinda dumb. Virtually all of the women you met at Divas have other, regular jobs. They're waitresses, home health care workers, beauticians, some even have professional corporate jobs in the daylight hours. Working class people have good reason to worry about retirement, but women doing sex work aren't really in a different boat from any others in the service industry. It's a much bigger problem than sex workers.Quote:
Originally Posted by njjohn
Polk Gulch is rapidly gentrifying as the top of Nob Hill caters to multimillionaires and the mere millionaires have to settle for housing further down the slope in the TL. There are still tons of straight bars in the gulch, but some, like the Hemlock Tavern and blur, have closed to make way for luxury housing developments. The cheap dive bars are closing, but the higher end places like Vertigo and Mayes Oyster House are booming with rich young white straight people. Another factor is the massive new hospital going in on Polk and Van Ness. The city and California Pacific Medical Center absolutely do not want prostitutes, rent boys, and meth addicts hanging around their sparkling $2 billion hospital. Polk Gulch is not at all the seedy den of vice it was 30 years ago, and there's no chance that low-income housing is going to be located anywhere near there.Quote:
Originally Posted by gaysian71
The whole city has changed like that. Very few of the women you would have met at Divas live in SF anymore. Nobody has really paid very close attention to what the lack of affordable housing in SF has done to the arts, culture, and entertainment here, but it has been absolutely devastating to SF's old hedonistic culture. Even the gay community in SF is pretty much all wealthy and white these days. The closure of Divas may have gotten everybody's attention On Here, but for real, guys, other subcultures in SF have been losing their iconic venues for years now. It's nice to imagine that another Divas will open in SOMA, but The Stud, home to drag and transgender events for decades, is hanging onto its lease by a thread and will likely also be gone soon. LOL at the idea that you could open a transgender bar in the Castro in 2019.
If you care, start going to the Stud or Aunt Charlie's every damn week. But for Divas, it's too late. It's over.
Apparently they are staying open for a few more weeks. https://photos.app.goo.gl/8DTA5UQofSXYJ7Jj9
Sometimes these real estate transaction take more time than you think. The buyer may want to make sure they can get the needed approvals for the type of property they want to build on the site before they close escrow. Would not surprise me if it stays open a while longer.
That's cool. I'll have to stop by and see how it's going. Who knows. Maybe the closing party was just a marketing ploy to get people to come in. I saw a lot of girls there that I knew years ago when I was a regular there. And most of them are not working girls but the ones I spoke to are doing well. It's just too bad they've all been gone for so long. I've also been gone too. I'm sure that all of us being gone didn't help the place .Quote:
Originally Posted by wombat2k
Maybe if we realize that these places that we dearly enjoy will be gone for good we will begin to visit them more often.
Thanks Ben, good to know SRO is merely relocating and not closing. Did a dive type bar ever rise up in Los Angeles to replace The Oxwood?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben in LA
SRO will be a big success if its move into Hillcrest
Good to hear they'll be open a few more weeks at least - I will need to stop by next time I am in SF (soon).
I really enjoyed the place from the very first time I went there in the '00s, everything seemed to be on point - the girls, the music, the DJ, the bartender (oh, the bartender, I nutted to you a few times shortly after :)). Then it seemed to slowly go downhill, with the club not being updated/getting run down, less people, etc.
Still, highly recommend going to anyone who hasn't been.
Did any one go last night??
I'd love to see some final night photos from Divas as the place winds down. Please post some either here or in the parties section. It was a grand old bar.
Any updates on Divas???
Bumping this for an update.
I stopped by last night just before 11:00PM and they were closed.
End of an era
I will be in SF next week. I wish I could cancel the trip now that Divas is closed down. There is no other reason to visit the Bay Area.
Can we, as a community,do anything to save Divas? Either in the same place or elsewhere in the Bay Area? I think many tgirls are missing Divas too, not just us customers. Is there any entrepreneurs out there looking to start a similar place in the Bay Area? If so, I think that we, as a community, should support him/her. Let's do something about Divas! It was a unique place in the world (I can tell you this, as I am from Italy), so let's do something!!!
I'm going to be visiting SF this summer, and this news deeply saddens me.
A bar where some of the girls hang out in SF seems to be Jolene's Bar in the Mission, especially on Friday nights.
It's a shame what happened to Diva's but the combination of one of the worst managed clubs - and an owner without much business sense, coupled with factors in the market AND the fact that property were was worth a small fortune in SF could only but lead to it's demise. I was invited to look at the potential of buying it a few years ago - but the owner was so aloof and pointless (was more interested in hosting his karaoke for 8 people, then actually talking to me for any length of time when I'd traveled there especially, that even if I had been able to afford it I was put off.
With trans becoming more accepted then you'd find it hard to run a full time bar or club that specializes to a crowd like Diva's or other bars used to. The girls who "pass" or don't care about being clocked, would rather go to gay, mixed or straight clubs instead of a club which is usually on the seedier side, and the strange clientele it attracts. Any of you who have been to places like Diva's, would have noticed the socially awkward, or embarrassed to be there 'chasers' floating around being creepy. If you didn't see them - it's because you were it.
The real death of the 'tranny club' was the internet. When those looking for engagements could find what they wanted online, and when trans became more accepted at other venues then there was always going to be limited appeal. It is a shame, as many of these places provided an outlet where closet girls could be themselves, or those at the start of their transition could be more comfortable.
What you have now are specific nights, instead of a bar/club running 7 nights a week. Jamie's Tgirl Nights in LA is very good, a mixture of stars and faces, and lots of girls who are either just dressed for the night, or more discreet. There are other club nights of course, and there always will be but from a business perspective, thinking about running a 7 nights a week venue, I think is a lost cause.
good points there Steven.
it is sad but I believe grooby is correct and laid out the reasons exactly as they are wish it wernt so
I think you hit the nail on the head, GroobySteven. Some have intimated here and in other threads that SF's housing market was a death blow to Divas. However, there are still tons of transwomen in SF proper and surrounding cities. But, in my experience, very few frequented Divas with any regularity, unless they worked there, and most prefer other spots for a nightclub outing. I don't know the now-former owner, but over the years I have known enough girls who tended bar or danced there to understand that he is pretty kooky and was an oddly unmotivated businessman.Quote:
Originally Posted by GroobySteven
Some people (even business owners) just want to get by in life. I have known a couple of business people that were not equipped to be the best they could be. They wanted to get by just enough without having to be responsible of something that functions on a high level. Some people are more content being King of the Craphole than Lord of the Manor.
Water seeks its own level.
Apparently some of the Diva's girls are doing shows every 2nd Saturday at Jolene's. If anyone checks it out, report back!
https://instagram.com/t4tsf
I always prefer going to a club to meet gurls, rather than going on the Internet. I used to live in SF and have visited there even after moving away. I went to Divas
when I was horny.
I drove by and the sign was still up and I saw someone standing outside the door. If you search on google it says recently opened. Anyone been lately?
It has reopened !!! Let's all try to support this wonderful establishment. There are only a few of these special venues left and we need to support them as much as we can.
Really?Quote:
Originally Posted by golffool
check out the newly updated website!!
It looks like their website was hacked, or someone bought the url when it expired.
Chrome gives a warning that its not safe.
Guys, no. Divas has not re-opened. Their website, http://www.divassf.com, hasn't been updated in over a year.
It's all over. The building has been sold. It's not coming back.
The site has not been updated. Unfortunately divas is gone forever. I walked by there today and saw the transfer of ownership sign on the front door. Apparently some sandy bought the place and is turning into a burrito shop. Sounds kind of fishy. Last time I saw a sandy open a Mexican reaturaunt it went out of business within a year.Quote:
Originally Posted by golffool
I for one will miss that place. The first time I had ever been with a trans girl was with one that I met there. That was back in the early 2000's back when divas was a real hot spot. Anyone who went to the final show night a couple months ago could have seen what divas was like back in the day. I doubt if there will ever be anything like it again in the SF bay.
Is there any other similar bar in San Francisco ?
Or any where in the USA or Canada?Quote:
Originally Posted by PEPE3Z
There are plenty of TS bars in NYC and Chicago.
I am asking for S. Francisco
Oasis looks pretty cool, probably less working girls too and more CDs looking for guys
Aunt Charlie's.
Has the crowd from Diva's relocated there or do you mean generally since Aunt Charile's has a trans clientele?Quote:
Originally Posted by thombergeron
I live in SF, there's nothing left really. Sad.