Tavern Guild of San Francisco

Organizational History

The Tavern Guild of San Francisco (TGSF) was founded in 1962. The organization had its roots in an informal gathering of gay bar owners and employees who met regularly to socialize and to share news of interest to members of the gay bar community. Phil Doganiero, a bartender at the Suzy-Q bar on Polk Street, was elected the first president of the nascent organization; he was followed by others such as Bill Plath (owner of the D'Oak Room) and Darryl Glied (owner of the Jumpin' Frog). In Wide Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965, historian Nan Boyd writes, The Tavern Guild had initially formed to bring business to alternating bars on typically slow Tuesday afternoons, and the original members stressed the importance of drinking--and gossip. But within its first year, TGSF instituted a number of policies that helped protect bartenders, bar owners, and patrons from continued problems. (p. 223) These problems included patrons who wrote bad checks, police harassment, Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) actions against bars, and the chronic unemployment faced by bartenders whose jobs were subject to the whims of patrons and the actions of police. While the core of the Tavern Guild was bar owners and employees, members of the homophile movement were involved (like Hal Call of the Mattachine Society) and helped provide the Tavern Guild with an organizational structure in its early years.

...