The bars that shaped us: The first time I was in a queer bar in the mission district to be honest I was overwhelmed. I ordered some silly cocktail and nervously chatted with my partner at the time while my eyes were just elsewhere. There were so many people who were at different stages of peacocking their queerness and at first it was intimidating, but comforting at the same time because man does it feel good to be in a room with like-minded folks. The patrons of this bar were strangers to me, but meant so much because their stories and lives are what makes this a queer bar, especially because of the Lesbian history of San Franciscos Mission district. LGBTQ community is not exempt from the hierarchy that is put upon us so when we're talking about queer space which already is small space its usually cis male first. Queer spaces are few but when your a minority of a minority your likelihood of carving out a safe space for yourself gets less and less so it is so important to pay homage to the establishments that made it through such adversity and gives us hope to carve out more and more spaces for own communities. Mission district in San Francisco has a super strong history in the Lesbian community from Kellys, in the 70s which was the first lesbian bar on Valencia along with many other lesbian establishments, like queer bookstores and a lesbian bathhouse, to current El Rios outdoor patio where your shoulder to shoulder with queer folks. From playing pool in the 2010s at the Lexington to getting drinks at Wild Side West, one of the oldest lesbian owned bars thats still kicking. And memories of going to The Mix to watch with the community the late 00s boom of queer tv shows where we would boo our least fav characters and cheer on the queer love stories, can’t wait to do it next season. Keeping these spaces alive is what keeps queer stories going and community engaged and I’m so excited to have our first in person pride this year so we can come together @absolutus #absolutpartner #outandopen