Leather bar

A gay bar for men into leather, gear and kink, with a dress code, a masculine biker look and a crowd of leather daddies, pups and bears.

A leather bar is a gay bar for men into leather: jackets, chaps, harnesses, boots, caps, and the masculine, kinky, slightly biker world that goes with them. It is a bar first, with beer and a pool table, but it is also a clubhouse for a whole tribe, from the leather daddy at the end of the counter to the pup on his first night out and the rubber guys who share the space.

It is not a costume party. The dress code is real, the black is serious, and the friendliness is real too: leather bars are often the warmest bars in town once you get past the look.

Where it comes from

Leather bars grew out of the postwar years, when men back from the military and motorcycle clubs built a gay culture that was rough, masculine and unapologetic. In San Francisco, the Sailor Boy Tavern, open from 1936 to 1953, is remembered as one of the first leather bars, and in 1966 Fe-Be's opened as the first on Folsom Street, with its own leather shop and a "Mr. Fe-Be's" contest. Folsom became the leather heart of the city, with the Ramrod opening in 1967, and the street fair that now carries its name.

America at large discovered the leather bar in 1964, when Life magazine illustrated its feature "Homosexuality in America" with a photo of the Tool Box, a South of Market bar with a huge mural of men in leather. The article meant to shock; some gay men in small towns read it as directions.

How it is used today

Leather bars survive in most big cities, though fewer than in their heyday: Fe-Be's itself closed in 1986, one of many victims of the AIDS years. Many have gear nights with a strict dress code, a darkroom or backroom, and host contests, fundraisers and club meetings. The crowd has grown wider too: bears, pups, skins and plain men who like a bar without a dance floor.

Close relatives

• Leather daddy: the man the bar was built for.
• Hanky code: the colored handkerchiefs in the back pocket that told you what someone was into, born in the same bars.
• Clone: the mustache and denim look that shared the 1970s streets with leather.

Related terms