26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
How queer Gen Zers are transforming the S.F. nightlife scene
It's a Thursday night in the Mission District and a glitter-drenched crowd of 20-somethings are gathered around a dance pole in the middle of a cozy apartment. Some take turns twirling around and twerking on it while others lounge nearby, sipping drinks and swapping hugs.
Cheers erupt above the booming music every few minutes as guests trickle in — some in torn jeans and T-shirts, others in bikini tops and fishnets — filling the room with sweaty, kinetic energy. But the house party is merely a warm up to the evening's main event: Queen Out, a new rave series shaking up San Francisco's queer nightlife.
Queen Out, founded by Jimmy Hadden and Abby Landis, launched in February as a direct response to what they observe as a stagnant queer nightclub and bar scene in the Castro. While the neighborhood has long been celebrated as a haven for gay men — particularly white men who sought refuge there in the 1960s and '70s — the two say it hasn't evolved with the diversity of today's LGBTQ community. With Queen Out, they aim to create an inclusive alternative, particularly carving out a space for Gen Z and younger millennials.
Hadden, 29, and Landis, 26, met at the inaugural Portola Festival in 2022, quickly bonding over their shared music taste. Landis, who is of Taiwanese descent, has been performing under the moniker DJ Mama San for five years and began throwing queer parties in the summer of 2024 after growing frustrated with the lack of sapphic-focused nightlife options. Hadden, who is a bisexual Black man, also observed 'it's very homogenized' in the Castro. Queen Out seeks to challenge that status quo.
'It's a kind of bucking the trend and pushing back against kind of what the culture has been,' Hadden said.
DJ China G, a Chinese American artist and mentor to Landis, noticed a similar need in the early aughts and filled the gap by co-founding Rebel Girl, a lesbian party series that ran from 2000-2009. Queen Out, the Generation Xer believes, is channeling that same spirit.
'It's a refreshing, inclusive and much needed alternative to the mainstream nightlife scene in the Castro,' DJ China G said. 'It's beautiful to witness this next generation of queers carrying the torch.'
The monthly event has become so popular that this month — notably Pride Month — marks the first time they've hosted multiple events. The duo also had to move it from the nearly 500-capacity The Cafe — the largest gay bar and club in the Castro, where they sold out their first four Queen Out parties — to Public Works, a Mission District venue that holds 1,200, for their most recent event on Juneteenth.
'I feel like a lot of queer BIPOC people don't get a lot of spaces like this, so it's important that when they're available to us we take advantage of them,' said Lia Kitahada, a 25-year-old Japanese American lesbian who lives in Hayes Valley, during the party on Thursday, June 19. 'More events like this are needed.'
Queen Out feels especially urgent amid renewed political attacks on LGBTQ rights from President Donald Trump and his administration. From anti-diversity, anti-equity and anti-inclusion policies to the weaponization of the law against transgender people and the shut down of the national suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth, events like these serve as vital affirmations of queer identity and solidarity.
'Community is always important, but especially in a time like this' said 24-year-old Berkeley resident Hallie Macaulay, who identifies as a white gay woman. Queen Out, she noted, brings like-minded people together 'to really lean on each other and feel less alone. It's a major thing that gives hope.'
Hadden agreed these events are crucial, particularly for those actively involved in LGBTQ advocacy and resistance.
'It wears on you,' he said. 'You need spaces to queen out, so that you can recharge your battery.'
'We need a place where we can just feel safe and shake ass and have fun,' Landis, who identifies as queer and uses they/them pronouns, added. 'Otherwise the world can feel like it's way too much.'
In addition to hosting the parties, Landis and Hadden have been donating a portion of Queen Out proceeds to various LGBTQ charities. Thursday's event benefited the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, which defends the rights of Black trans people.
Both Hadden and Landis research talent for each Queen Out event, scouring the internet for up-and-comers and pulling from their own ever-expanding music libraries. As DJ Mama San, Landis has spun at several local events and is slated to perform at the Outside Lands festival's queer open-air dance floor, known as Dolores', on Aug. 8. But they chose to sit out the Juneteenth Queen Out party to make room for Black artists to shine. That night's lineup featured R&B pop artist Bayli and DJ Prosperity Room, both based in New York, and Bay Area DJ Queermom, who helped fill Public Works by 11 p.m.
The crowd of at least 500 moved fluidly throughout the two-floor venue, with those on the dance floor bathed in colorful lights and fully immersed in the thumping hyperpop music, which included remixes of tunes by Whitney Houston, Doechii and Charli XCX. There wasn't a phone in sight.
In bathroom lines and tucked-away corners, strangers exchanged Instagram handles and fashion praise.
It was clear this wasn't a typical night out at the club — Queen Out felt like true community, a place for queer people to find genuine connection.
'I think we brought a whole new generation of club kids to the Castro,' Hadden said of their Queen Out events at The Cafe. 'I really hope what we're doing spreads … to all of San Francisco, all of the Bay.'
