But San Francisco still thinks about Marlena’s.
The faces of frequent patrons may have disappeared, either to other bars, other neighborhoods, or other cities, as many San Francisco residents have due to inflated costs of living. And it was Marlena who truly owned the bar, one that became the most Christmassy drag bar-or the draggiest Christmas bar-in San Francisco, and perhaps the world. McLain, now 78, began dressing as Marlena one Fourth of July 40 years ago. Its owner was a divorcé named Gary McLain, a man who had two grown children. READ MORE: The Drag Queen Who Accidentally Broke the Internet Slays at BrunchĮmerging from the rubble of the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989, it established itself as a queer oasis for Hayes Valley, a now-gentrified neighborhood that had historically been devoid of dedicated public spaces for queer people. Marlena’s, a bar nestled in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley, was once a hamlet for San Francisco's ever-expanding, diverse queer community.
Nicholas dolls, running the gamut from life-size to Lilliputian, hovering over you as though you'd stepped into a gayer, slightly unsettling version of Santa's workshop. Oh, yeah-you’d certainly see the rows of Santa figurines lining the walls.
