Black Cat Tavern T-Shirt | Gay History San Francisco LGBTQ Tee

Before Stonewall, before the marches, before any of it — gay men in San Francisco were fighting for the right to simply exist in a bar together. The Black Cat was where that fight happened.

On North Beach's Columbus Avenue, the Black Cat Tavern was one of San Francisco's oldest and most beloved bars — and from the late 1940s through to its forced closure in 1963, it became the unlikely frontline of the American gay rights movement. It fought the California liquor board all the way to the state Supreme Court and won. It was where José Sarria — the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States — performed, organised, and refused to be quiet. It was a place that existed before gay people were supposed to have places, and it paid for that existence every single day until it was finally shut down.

This t-shirt is for the men who know that history — and for the ones who are about to. Gay history apparel that honours the bars and the people who built the foundation everything else stands on. Available in a full range of men's sizes and 15 colours.

A birthday gift for the gay man who takes his history seriously, a Pride season essential for the San Francisco faithful, or something to wear as a quiet salute to the men who were fighting long before the word Pride was ever used as a verb.

Printed and dispatched worldwide — delivered locally to you.

Thank you so much for supporting an independent gay designer — it really means the world. 🐻🏳️‍🌈

EU representative: HONSON VENTURES LIMITED, gpsr@honsonventures.com, 3, Gnaftis House flat 102, Limassol, Mesa Geitonia, 4003, CY

Product information: Gildan 5000, 2 year warranty in EU and Northern Ireland as per Directive 1999/44/EC

Warnings, Hazard: For adults, Made in Nicaragua

Care instructions: Machine wash: cold (max 30C or 90F), Non-chlorine: bleach as needed, Tumble dry: low heat, Do not iron, Do not dryclean