"When Wild Side West first opened, it was illegal to employ women bartenders; female bar owners either had to serve drinks themselves, or hire a man to pour. The state law wouldn't be overturned until 1971. At the time, being openly lesbian was regarded by many as an invitation for violence. Among the lush plant life in the current location's back patio are sculptures made from toilets that angry residents threw through the bar's windows long ago."
"Hayes didn't believe it at first when several of her longtime bartenders reported seeing glasses spontaneously fly off the bar where she keeps a makeshift altar in honor of Ramseyer. 'I'd laugh, but then I was down here one day, and all of a sudden this glass went flying,' Hayes said. 'She's checking up on us.' She told the bartenders not to worry. 'She won't hurt you unless you're doing something wrong!'"
"Despite the hostility from outsiders, when Hayes first set foot in the bar in the late 1980s, the overwhelming feeling was one of safety. 'We walk in, it's all dark, and I'm just thinking to myself, oh, wow,' she said."
Wild Side West, a lesbian bar in San Francisco's Bernal Heights, was founded in Oakland in 1962 by Patricia Ramseyer and Nancy White during an era when employing female bartenders was illegal. The bar relocated to its current Cortland Avenue location in 1977, where it faced violence from hostile residents—evidenced by toilet sculptures made from fixtures thrown through windows. Billie Hayes, a soft-spoken Southerner with military background, has managed the bar since 2010, maintaining its intimate atmosphere filled with artwork and memorabilia. Hayes believes the spirit of former owner Ramseyer remains present, with staff reporting unexplained phenomena. Despite historical discrimination and community hostility, the bar established itself as a sanctuary for the lesbian community.
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