Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ history is hiding in plain sight. Here’s where to look
Sacramento is known for its deep political roots — but what often gets left out of the history books is the city’s vibrant and longstanding LGBTQ+ history.
To uncover more about that legacy, a Sacramento Bee reporter sat down with Kerry Parsons, a volunteer at the Lavender Library Archives and Cultural Exchange.
Parsons shared in-depth insights into the queer stories woven throughout Sacramento’s past.
Where were Sacramento’s first gay bars?
The earliest known gay bar in Sacramento opened in 1940: the Topper Club, located at 1218 K Street in Downtown.
“Men would wait at the east side of the building until the traffic light at 12th and K Streets stopped traffic, allowing a few minutes in which gay men could enter the bar from the alley without being seen by their coworkers,” according to Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ Historic Experience Project.
The Topper Club was an interracial primarily gay male space where black and white men could find each other.
Another well-known early gay establishment was the Log Cabin, located at 1532 Sacramento Avenue in West Sacramento.
Archived interviews in a private collection curated by George Raya — a Sacramento native and prominent gay rights activist — capture firsthand accounts from men who frequented the bar.
Many recall the Log Cabin as more than just a watering hole: it was a rare early space for connection, safety and community during a time when few others existed.
“It certainly was not with a thought of community in my mind as I timidly crossed the threshold of my first gay bar (the Log Cabin) in 1960,” said an unidentified man interviewed by Raya.
“I had only a sketchy ill-defined idea of what gay was, much less what mysterious weird or perhaps dangerous things might be happening behind that bar door […] I opened the door to that bar and ventured inside. There were 8 or 10 men in the bar laughing and telling jokes. They made no move to throw me out just because I was homosexual. In fact they made me very welcome.”
Where were Sacramento’s first lesbian bars?
According to the LGBTQ+ Historic Experience Project, Sacramento’s first lesbian bars were located in West Sacramento. This was due in part to efforts by the Sacramento Police Department to block women’s bars from opening within city limits.
The first known lesbian bar was Jean’s Place, though its exact address is unknown. In 1967, another well-known bar called Off Key opened in a converted warehouse at 1040 Soule Street, near the railroad tracks in West Sacramento.
In the years that followed, more lesbian bars opened in the area, including Mirage at 601 15th Street, which was the only known Black lesbian bar in Sacramento.
“Because of the racism, discrimination, fetishization and exclusion they often experienced, LGBTQ+ people of color in Sacramento created safe spaces of their own,” according to the LGBTQ+ project. “LGBTQ+ spaces and organizations that provided important outlets for social gathering, uplift, empowerment, and connection for Sacramento’s Black LGBTQ+ community.”
Are there any archived LGBTQ+ publications in Sacramento?
Yes — and they’re full of hidden gems. The Lavender Library, Archives, and Cultural Exchangehas collected dozens of local LGBTQ+ magazines and newspapers over the years.
Titles archived at the library include Positive Social Support Newsdigest, Sacramento Area Career Women’s Network, Lambda Letters and Jane & Jane, according to archivist and volunteer Parsons.
The oldest item in the collection is a 1971 issue of Gay Voice, published by members of the Sacramento Gay Liberation Front.
Parsons said the issue is especially meaningful because it includes an ad for a landmark event.
“The Closet Explosion, ‘Sacto’s first Gay-sponsored dance’ that was held on the Delta King,” Parsons said. “It’s one of my favorite newsletters because it talks about everything from politics and support groups to the ‘homospiritual.’ I have never seen this advertised anywhere else. It is a great little nugget of Sacramento LGBTQ+ history.”
What advocacy was done in Sacramento during the AIDS pandemic?
According to the Sacramento LGBTQ+ Historic Experience Project, the spread of HIV first began affecting the city’s gay and lesbian communities between 1981 and 1985.
With little acknowledgement or support from the federal government, local LGBTQ+ residents stepped in to care for those living with the virus and advocate for medical and social resources.
As early as 1978, two internal medicine physicians — Dr. Harvey Thompson and Dr. Sandy Pomerantz, both members of the gay community — opened a medical clinic at 912A 21st Street in Sacramento. The clinic primarily served gay men and would later become a key site of early HIV and AIDS treatment in the region.
Beyond their medical work, Pomerantz regularly authored a health column in Mom…Guess What…?, one of Sacramento’s first gay newspapers. The column focused on health issues affecting the gay community.
Through grassroots organizing efforts that included Thompson and Pomerantz, the foundation was laid for what would become the AIDS/Kaposi’s Sarcoma Foundation. The organization later changed its name to the Sacramento AIDS Foundation and began operations at 2115 J Street.
How is Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ history archived?
The library has a lead archive volunteer, who is an archivist by trade and has a master’s degree in public history. The lead archive volunteer hosts training and workshops to establish a foundation of best practices for new archive volunteers.
“We have an enthusiastic group of volunteers who help us get through any project we throw at them,” the Lavender Library said. “It’s a really special group who are deeply interested and invested in the work.”
Since 2022, the Lavender Library has been working with California Revealed to digitize and host over 1,000 of our archival items on their website.
“Being discoverable online is a huge goal for us and we’re excited that researchers can find us there,” according to an email by the Lavender Library.
What misconceptions do people have about LGBTQ+ history?
According to Parsons, a misconception frequently heard is that transgender history only exists in the very recent past.
“It didn’t begin in the last 20 years. It didn’t begin at Stonewall. It’s only recently that their stories have been brought to light,” Parsons wrote in an email to the Bee. “Transgender people have always existed. My hope is that more people share their stories and their Sacramento LGBTQ+ history with us.”
