The San Francisco Bay Times, this year in partnership with the Oakland LGBTQ Center, will present the fourth annual Honoring LGBTQ+ Bay Area Black Women Leaders & Allies awards ceremony on February 26, 2026, at The White Horse Inn in Oakland. This will mark the first time that the popular event will be held in the East Bay.
Fifteen individuals representing multiple fields and generations will be recognized. The Co-Emcees of the event will be Imani Rupert-Gordon, who is the President of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, and Oakland LGBTQ Center CEO and Co-Founder Joe Hawkins. Welcoming guests will be Judy Young, the Executive Director of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, and the Co-Publishers of the San Francisco Bay Times, Dr. Betty Sullivan and Jennifer Viegas. Suzanne Ford, the Executive Director of SF Pride, will be heading up the live auction benefiting the Use The News Foundation and the Oakland LGBTQ Center.
The Junior, a favorite DJ at The White Horse, will be in the house that is the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the U.S. (Some historians believe that Café Lafitte in Exile, in New Orleans, is another contender for this distinction, but Cafe Lafitte moved from its original location in 1953.) A queer speakeasy since before the end Prohibition, The White Horse of the 1930s was the vision of Abraham C. Karski, a Founder of The Grand Lake Theatre, which is also still going strong. Karski was an early member of the mysterious “South of Market Boys,” a loosely-formed group in San Francisco whose members later became some of the region’s most influential men.
The White Horse was originally a combination bar and Chinese restaurant; the eatery was called T’ien T’an and served everything from giant steaks to “chopsticks hot food.” Because of its low-key atmosphere, The White Horse gained a reputation for being a discreet, “safe” refuge for members of the growing LGBTQ+ community. That was true even during the challenging 1940s–1960s, when police raids regularly took place at other bars known to draw queer patrons. Karski established a strict “no touching” policy in the early years that actually served the bar well, as that rule applied to everyone—not just LGBTQ+ individuals—and helped keep the cops away.
During the Great Depression and World War II, soldiers and sailors were in force at the bar. Word began to quickly spread that The White Horse was LGBTQ+ friendly (and, hello, sailor!) so, as of at least the mid-1940s, it became a hub for nearby UC Berkeley’s gay life.
Fast forward to Independence Day, 2022, when Patty Nishimura Dingle took over ownership of The White Horse. She had always dreamed of owning a bar, and when the well-known White Horse went up for sale, she could not resist. An honoree this year, Dingle is the first woman and first queer person of color to own the establishment. Her leadership marks a major milestone in the venue’s queer history.
Just as she could not turn down such an appealing opportunity, the San Francisco Bay Times could not refuse the opportunity to hold this year’s Honoring LGBTQ+ Bay Area Black Women Leaders & Allies event at The White Horse. Nearly everyone who has been contacted about the event has had a story to tell about spending treasured time at this beloved hangout that sports many fun faves: a jukebox, pool tables, retro DJ booth, stage with bleacher seating, a dance floor with a disco ball, and much more.
The event will be taking place just as this issue comes out, so we hope that you heeded our earlier ads and attended! Even if not, please take time to read and learn about this year’s honorees, and to plan a visit(s) to The White Horse soon.
The Fourth Annual Honoring LGBTQ+ Bay Area Black Women Leaders & Allies
February 26, 2026
The White Horse Inn
6551 Telegraph Avenue
Oakland
Black History Month
Published on February 26, 2026
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