The Castro’s most iconic bar, and one of its oldest, just received historic landmark status from the Board of Supervisors last week. Twin Peaks Tavern has been a bar since 1935, and has been a gay bar under its current lesbian owners since 1972. As the Chronicle reports, owners Mary Ellen Cunha and Peggy Forster uncovered all those windows because they simply “wanted to look out,” and because gay bars were still subject to raids by the police, they instituted a “no touching” rule, which meant it had to be more of a casual lounge than a pick-up bar, which it remains today. It has earned the nickname The Glass Coffin because of its predominantly older clientele, but within the neighborhood that name comes with a certain amount of endearment. People who love the bar, and who go there frequently, often use the nickname with pride. [Chron, Earlier, Earlier still]
