Black Cat Bar

37°47′45″N 122°24′12″W / 37.795818°N 122.403257°W / 37.795818; -122.403257

Black Cat Bar
The exterior of the Black Cat. Image courtesy of the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
Restaurant information
Established	1906, 1933
Street address	710 Montgomery St
City	San Francisco
State	California
Country	United States

The Black Cat Bar or Black Cat Café was a bar in San Francisco, California. It originally opened in 1906 and closed in 1921. The Black Cat re-opened in 1933 and operated for another 30 years. During its second run of operation, it was a hangout for Beats and bohemians but over time began attracting more and more of a gay clientele, and becoming a flashpoint for what was then known as the homophile movement, a precursor to the gay liberation movement that gained momentum in the 1960s.

The Black Cat was at the center of a legal fight that was one of the earliest court cases to establish legal protections for gay people in the United States. Despite this victory, continued pressure from law enforcement agencies eventually forced the bar's closure in 1964.