Skylark/The Lark (San Bernardino Gay Bar/1968-2012)

The Skylark ("The Lark") — San Bernardino, CA (1968–2012)

For more than four decades, the Skylark—known affectionately to generations of regulars simply as "The Lark"—stood as one of Southern California's longest-running gay bars and the cornerstone of LGBTQ+ life in the Inland Empire.

Opening in 1968, the Skylark provided a welcoming refuge at a time when openly gay gathering places were still rare outside major cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. For many people living in San Bernardino, Riverside, Redlands, and the surrounding communities, The Lark was where they first discovered a larger LGBTQ+ community.

Over its remarkable 44-year history, the Skylark evolved with the times while remaining true to its neighborhood roots. It welcomed everyone—from longtime regulars and first-time visitors to military personnel, college students, drag performers, leather enthusiasts, and generations of Inland Empire locals looking for a place where they could simply be themselves.

Like so many great neighborhood bars, The Lark was never just about nightlife. It hosted drag shows, holiday parties, fundraisers, Pride celebrations, memorial gatherings, and countless ordinary evenings that became lifelong memories. During the darkest years of the AIDS epidemic, it remained a place where people found support, friendship, and community when they needed it most.

While Los Angeles often dominates the story of Southern California's LGBTQ+ history, bars like the Skylark remind us that vibrant queer communities flourished far beyond Hollywood and West Hollywood. The Inland Empire built its own traditions, its own chosen families, and its own institutions—and The Lark stood at the center of that history for more than four decades.

When the Skylark closed in 2012, it marked the end of one of California's longest-running LGBTQ+ establishments. Its legacy lives on through the generations of patrons who simply knew it as The Lark.