page_title: White Horse Inn (Oakland, California)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: White Horse Inn (Oakland, California) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The image shows the Oakland Naval Supply Depot under construction at the Oakland Outer Harbor.
context_page_description: The White Horse Inn is a gay bar located at 6551 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland's Bushrod Park neighborhood. It officially opened in 1933 but is rumored to have operated as a gay speakeasy since before the end of Prohibition. It is said to be the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the United States, along with Cafe Lafitte in New Orleans, Louisiana which has also operated since 1933. The White Horse is situated geographically near the Oakland-Berkeley border and in close proximity to the University of California, Berkeley campus.
context_section_description: Early history of the White Horse Inn is unclear; it officially states that it opened in 1933 following the passage of the 21st Amendment,, although it is rumored to have operated as a speakeasy during the Prohibition period. Records show that local businessman Abraham C. Karski, founder of the Grand Lake Theater, ordered the construction of the building and founded the bar. At its opening in the 1930s, the White Horse was not explicitly a gay bar but rather a "gay-friendly bar [with a] no-touching policy" and Chinese restaurant. Advertisements from the 1940s state that the restaurant offered "exotic Chinese dinners and distinctive American cuisine." It was likely frequented by factory and port workers from nearby industrial centers as well as soldiers and sailors, especially during the Great Depression and World War II. The bar's small distance to the local university meant many students visited the bar; a patron who began attending the White Horse Inn in 1948 says the bar had a "reputation for being Cal's gay life."
  Police raids began targeting gay and lesbian bars in the San Francisco Bay Area intensely from the 1950s onward. A variety of laws including "public morals" and sexual perversion ordinances were used to harass bars and their patrons. This occurred in the midst of post-war politics and anti-gay attitudes which "associated gay men with poor morals and weak wills," placing homosexual perspectives in opposition to national policies. In 1961 and 1962, police shut down nearly half of all gay bars in San Francisco, and raids continued into the 1970s. San Francisco police often arrested men leaving bars, demanded "extortion payments" from bars, and forcefully revoked liquor licenses. However, unlike other bars in the region, the White Horse Inn was never raided by police. The White Horse Inn thus served as a sanctuary for gays and lesbians in the area.
  Oakland and Berkeley became a prominent site for activism by the 1960s and 1970s. For example, the Free Speech Movement led marches down Telegraph Avenue and the Berkeley chapter of the Gay Liberation Front were founded during this time. Though the White Horse Inn was "never a hotbed of political action," "protesters and hippies" frequently met here. One patron noted many visitors had "long hair [and] attitude," and held views against the Vietnam War. In September 1970, the bar witnessed a sit-in protest and boycott because the bar refused to distribute Gay Sunshine, a gay liberation-oriented newspaper, and prohibited gay couples from showing physical affection. Berkeley GLF founder Nicholas F. Benton instead hosted "People's Alternative" dance parties as a response to what radical activists saw as the "cynical and apolitical" atmosphere of the White Horse Inn. Radical activists saw bars like the White Horse as "symbols of oppression, rather than as safe harbors." Resolution to the September protests came when the bar met some of the protestors' concessions including permitting slow dancing, reversing bans on over one hundred GLF members, and allowing distribution of Gay Sunshine.
  In August 2018, the crosswalks outside the White Horse were painted rainbow by an unofficial group to support LGBTQ+ rights.
caption: The Naval Supply Depot in Oakland was built in 1941. The White Horse Inn likely served as a place of gathering for gay and lesbian members of the military stationed in Oakland.
exif: {}