San Francisco’s Largest Gay Sex Club, Blow Buddies, May Be Forced to Close Up Shop
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“I still can’t believe you have a place called Blow Buddies,” John Waters once said to the San Francisco Chronicle. He was of course referring to the city’s completely nondescript gay sex club, located in its SoMa neighborhood. But the popular spot for gay play has had to prepare for some bad news, as the building that houses Blow Buddies is currently on the market.
According to SFist, if the building where Blow Buddies has resided for the past three decades sells to new owners with no interest in renting to a gay sex club, the city’s queer community could very well lose one of its hallowed spaces. It’s been reported that the current owners of Blow Buddies are hoping to keep the gay sex club in tact and open to the city’s queer clientele.
Apparently the building was purchased for only $500,000 in 1993, but it’s now on the market for $3.25 million — which seems pretty standard for San Francisco, a city that over the last decade has seen a ton of gentrification, often to the detriment of the LGBTQ community’s spaces and the city’s overall ‘vibe’ of openness and rebellion.
Some have remarked the Blow Buddies building hasn’t yet been sold yet because of its limited zoning; any new owner would be unable to expand upon its 30-foot height, which means it can’t be turned into condos, and it can only be used for “commercial, manufacturing, home and business service, and light industrial activities, with an emphasis on preserving and expanding arts activities.”
A full-fledged gay sex club in the middle of San Francisco, Blow Buddies is technically a private club, which means it charges patrons a membership in addition to entry fees of $17. It’s open until 6 a.m. most days, though the doors close to new patrons between 2:30–4 a.m.
Inside Blow Buddies is 6,000 square feet of glory holes, play rooms, mirrors, dark rooms and a heated backyard area. The club’s dress code encourages leather, rubber, jockstraps and underwear — or nakedness, naturally — and different days of the week have themes, like naked nights (Wednesdays) and watersports nights (second Wednesdays of each month).
Let’s hope Blow Buddies stays where it is, if for no other reason than to keep John Waters — the “Pope of Trash” and the “Prince of Puke” — pleasantly surprised by San Francisco’s seedy gay underbelly.
