The Stud

The Stud is located on Folsom Street in San Francisco and has space for about 250 people. Its history includes a move to 399 Ninth Street in 1987. In 2016, rising rent threatened the venue’s long-term site, and the Stud Collective bought the bar from Michael McElheney, operating it as a worker-owned cooperative. The venue joined San Francisco’s Legacy Business Registry that year.

The Ninth Street bar closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the closure, the Collective maintained the venue’s name through online drag events, merchandise and a history podcast called Stud Stories. The Stud returned on April 20, 2024, at 1123–1125 Folsom Street in the South of Market district. The new space is twice the size of the former location, with two bars, a side room, a courtyard patio and a dance floor. Its furnishings include Victorian bar fittings and vintage signage from earlier venues.

Programming has ranged from drag performances, karaoke and DJ sets to cabaret, oldies and disco-punk. Long-running nights have included Girl Spot, Klubstitute and Trannyshack, which was renamed Mother in 2015. Promoters 140 and theageofsin have presented events at the venue. Performers have included Sylvester, Etta James, Björk and RuPaul, while resident DJs and performers have included Steve Fabus, Beverly Chills and Adam Kraft.