User:StarKrish/Esta Noche

Image Links:

 * 1) https://foursquare.com/v/esta-noche/49f8a48bf964a5200f6d1fe3?openPhotoId=5312710511d22aa076c9aebe
 * 2) * Image that shows the entire front side of the building.

Culture Section Addition:
Esta Noche participated in the Pride Events by hosting a Mr/Ms. Gay Latino Contest on Friday June 28th, 1996 at 10 pm. The nightclub also hosted contests. The "Putting on the Lips" contest was a lip-sync contest where participants were either dressed or not dressed in drag. A lot of talented latino people join the contest to try to get the $150 prizes.

The bar also helped facilitate connections, pride, and identity within each visitor. The bar and its visitors shaped each other to develop the concept of sexuality and redefined the term "Latino/a". The bar served as a site that encouraged the mixing of gender, age, and class favoring discussions about similarities and differences for these topics among the visitors. Videos about the various celebrations and events hosted at Esta Noche can be found on youtube by searching "Esta Noche Nightclub" in the search bar.

AIDs Section Addition:
The club hosted "We Will Survive: The 10th Anniversary Safe Sex Show". The show starred Alexis Miranda, Empress XXXIII and friends. The event was part of the 6th Latino/a AIDS Theater Festival event hosted by LLEGO California. The nightclub also distributed distributed condoms by the initiative started by the SAP (Stop AIDS Project) foundation. In total, the nightclub distributed more than 17,700 condoms which helped spread the practice of safe sex and limited the spread of AIDS. The nightclub hosted a fundraiser for the Salvadoran AIDS/gay rights organization to raise funds for the Oscar Romero Project which aimed to establish a cultural center for the LBGTQ+ community in San Salvador. The fundraiser featured performances by Metamorphosis and a raffle prize. Esta Noche hosted the A Gift For Christmas featuring Sonny Padilla Jr. The goal of the event was to raise funds to help the patients at Ward 5B at the San Francisco General Hospital.

Closing Section Addition:
The bar was unable to raise the $9,000 it needed to keep going causing the bar to close. The building that used to the be the site of Esta Noche now is the site of the bar, Bond. When the new owners of the space bought the property they ran the space as a Limbo Bar for 2 months. The purpose of was this was to allow visitors to Esta Noche to officially say good bye to the bar.

Celebrations
The nightclub celebrated their annual annivarsary every year until their closing in 2014. The club hosted anniversary Fiestas with drinks and prizes to celebrate the success of Esta Noche. The club also hosted 4th of July celebrations. In 1982 the club hosted a Star-Spangled Variety Show which featured multiple gay latino artists such as Daniel Genera. Esta Noche hosted New Years Eve parties where they offered free champagne from 8pm to 2am for the visitors.

Criticism
The bar faced criticism for its atmosphere inside the building. The bar was deemed disreputable, sleazy, and shady by some patrons because of its small dark space that was badly ventilated. Others described the place as having bad smells such as the smell of pee. Visitors to the nightclub have been very vocal about their concerns with the club on the nightclub's yelp page. The nightclub had issues of crimes that occurred outside the property. On October 6th, 1995 an attack occurred across the street from Esta Noche. The assailant attacked an 18 year-old gay man causing one of his eyes to be permanently blind. Authorities believed it was an anti-gay attack. The club was often the target for anti-gay attacks because of its status as a gay bar. Closer to the opening of the club, a visitor named George Jalbeert expressed their distaste for losing their jacket that they checked in before entering the building. Jalbeert expressed their desire to take the nightclub to court for not getting reimbursed and their sadness for getting ripped off by the gay nightclub. The female bartenders and lesbian visitors faced harassment at the club causing them to be further excluded from GALA meetings held at Esta Noche. This lead Diana Flores to create Colors, a club that aimed to create a safe space for lesbian Latinas.