{"id":516548,"date":"2026-11-03T00:42:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T00:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/516548\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T00:42:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T00:42:17","slug":"sro-lounge-closes-after-44-years-of-being-trans-safe-haven-in-bankers-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/516548\/","title":{"rendered":"SRO Lounge closes after 44 years of being trans ‘safe haven’ in Bankers Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"

A longtime LGBTQ+ establishment in Bankers Hill, SRO Lounge, closed Sunday after 44 years in business, a development the bar announced with just a few hours notice on Instagram<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SRO Lounge sat next to The Balboa, a bar famous for its burgers, on Fifth Avenue and Elm Street. John Sanfilippo and Bryan Galvin opened the lounge in 1982 and it became a popular destination for cross-dressing, gender non-conforming and transgender San Diegans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Transgender leader<\/a> Paris Quion said over text that the abrupt closure hit the community \u201clike a ton of bricks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"bar<\/a>Inside the SRO Lounge on Nov. 1, 2026, its last day in operation after 44 years in business. Patrons mourned the loss of a safe space. (Photo by Tyler Renner)<\/p>\n

She said for many trans and nonbinary people, \u201cSRO has been our safe haven from a difficult world to maneuver. A world that most times treats us like \u2018others,\u2019 sometimes even within our own community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She described the bar as a break from the negativity trans people experience elsewhere.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

People flooded in on Sunday night to share memories of a longtime safe space and reminisce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were just there to have one last drink,\u201d said Tyler Renner. \u201cIt was packed, wall to wall, people everywhere. The bartenders were in a really good mood. They seemed really happy to connect with so many people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Renner moved to San Diego over a decade ago and Googled LGBTQ+ bars, SRO Lounge sat at the top of the results. When he visited, it was the first queer space he went to that catered to the trans community when so many other spaces are gay-male dominated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just like, \u2018Wow, how cool that there\u2019s a space, not just for LGBT people in general, but trans-specific folks,\u2019\u201d he recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On social media, some patrons shared that SRO Lounge was a place they first felt welcome and affirmed when exploring their gender expression and coming out. Others were sad to lose another safe space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad to see it close,\u201d wrote Rev. Dan Koeshall, retired pastor of The Met Church<\/a>. \u201cMay another safe place be found for many who found refuge there.\u201c\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its farewell announcement, the SRO team wrote \u201cThis small space has given all of us a place to belong. No matter your walk of life, you always had a place where you felt welcome.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The announcement noted that the closure was a \u201csee you later,\u201d not a goodbye. SRO\u2019s owners could not be reached to clarify what their future plans may be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Developers, however, have long eyed the site, at 1807 Fifth Ave. An expired building permit from 2019 outlined plans for a four-story, mixed-use building there intended for restaurant and office use on the lower floor and 20 residential units above. <\/p>\n

Supporters hope the lounge can rise again. Quion, the owner of the Hillcrest restaurant, InsideOut, texted \u201cI personally am not giving up on continuing the legacy of SRO whether in the current space it is in or elsewhere \u2026 We can\u2019t give up on our queer spaces, it\u2019s just far too important and lifesaving.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

People on social media were also saddened not just about the SRO Lounge closing, but that yet another unique spot in San Diego had ceased to exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s truly nowhere like it anywhere else \u2014 and San Diego has lost so much of its eccentric, quirky, clever hometown spots already,\u201d lamented Michail Takach in a comment on the announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s enduring gay bars are almost entirely in Hillcrest now, with a few exceptions in North Park, including The Eagle, Pecs Bar and gay-friendly Redwing Bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Diego\u2019s longest-operating gay bar, The Hole, rebranded to Bar 1924 early this year with an upscale cocktail menu. Its history as a century-old gay bar was scrubbed from the website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A sandwich board welcomes people inside SRO Lounge on its last day in operation on Sunday, Nov. 1. (Photo by Tyler Renner) <\/p>\n

LGBTQ+ bars within Hillcrest have faced their own concerns, including pellet gun attacks, eggings and graffiti as well as fears that development could push nightlife out.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

SRO Lounge faced some of those same concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its final night came almost a year after an attack targeted the<\/a> SRO. On Nov. 15, 2025, an unknown assailant in an older F-150 truck shot pellets at bar patrons standing outside the entrance. Two transgender women were struck and injured.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Outside on Sunday, the final night\u2019s patrons lined up to take photos with the signage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a sense of like, oh, we\u2019ve all got to get our last little memory and moment here,\u201d Renner said. \u201cIt was sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n