“And losing Pride to anyone in this neighborhood business-wise is huge. “That to me was like the harder blow- not just COVID, it was losing Pride,” she said.

Santillan’s low point came when 2020’s Pride was cancelled. Things weren’t much better for Gayle Santillan, who owns The Rail, San Diego’s oldest gay bar, which is also on Fifth Avenue. But the SRO Lounge also suffered through a severe gas leak and a car crash into the building during what was one of the darkest years of its existence.

The pandemic dealt a crippling blow to all gay bars.