Before SoMa became a legend, it was leather, neon, and sweat — and Ramrod stood right at the center of it. Opening in the 1968, the San Francisco Ramrod was one of the city’s most infamous gay leather bars: dimly lit, densely packed, and pulsing with freedom.
Located near Folsom Street, it embodied the raw, masculine energy of the era — where men found brotherhood, adventure, and identity in equal measure. Alongside venues like the Ambush and the Brig, Ramrod helped define San Francisco’s leather scene before the AIDS crisis changed everything.
