The Academy San Francisco: An Inclusive LGBTQ+ Social Club
Nizie Lokman
Before the read
Q: What is The Academy San Francisco known for?
It is an LGBTQ+ social club that brings people together through inclusion and authentic connections.
Q: Why are LGBTQ+ social clubs important in San Francisco today?
They create safe, welcoming spaces where community and diversity can thrive.
Q: How does The Academy San Francisco stand out from traditional nightlife?
By offering a stylish, relaxed environment focused on conversation, culture, and belonging.
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The pandemic has taken a toll on our mental health. For too long, we have been asked to practice social distancing and isolate ourselves. Staying at home and confining ourselves within our four walls rattled our cages and reminded us how important human connection is.
The Academy San Francisco (academy-sf.com) is an LGBTQ+ social club that opens doors for community members searching for authentic human connections. The Academy creates a happy place where everyone feels included, regardless of race, ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, or any other way that we exist as humans. It is a true landmark for inclusion and diversity in the Bay Area.
A New Beginning
Nate Bourg, co-founder of The Academy, shared his insights and defined the place’s vision and mission. He comes from a musical background and met his business partner, Paul Miller, while working at the San Francisco Symphony. One day at lunch, Paul mentioned he saw potential in a property that had a fascinating history and was looking to lease it. Once they visited the space their ideas began to form, and about seven months later, the two founders opened The Academy.
Nate realized that some people looked at The Academy as elitist or exclusive rather than as a welcoming community space. This might be a universal challenge for any membership-based club, but it is one that the Academy has faced head-on from the start. Through many heartfelt discussions, they found their mission with clarity—Inclusion.
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I think this beautiful quote by Maya Angelou is really consistent with our mission and purpose as a club — Nate Bourg, co-founder of The Academy-SF
Chosen Family and Human Connection
As Nate says, “The Academy, to me, is a place to belong and feel part of a close-knit community. It represents something that we felt was missing in San Francisco, particularly [for] the LGBTQ+ community.” The Academy’s mission is to promote genuine social interaction, contributing to our society by uniting diverse people through shared experiences.
In a traditional nightclub, the lights are low, the music is blasting, and everyone’s dancing. Instead, the Academy is a calmer space where people can talk and interact with each other. It allows its members to meet people from various communities and cultures in a relaxed environment.
Blue flame fireplace at Academy
The Academy values inclusion and diversity, both of which are embedded in its mission along with hospitality and friendliness. When choosing their members, they actively seek out people from a broad range of backgrounds so they can bring their experiences to this vibrant social environment.
My experience in the months following The Academy’s opening was both exciting and challenging. Because we were building the business from nothing and had very little budget to work with, our efforts to promote and shape the narrative of who we are were largely done by word of mouth. This can be an amazing way to amplify, but it also can be difficult when people [each] have their own slightly different interpretations [of our mission]
Home Away From Home
Since 2017, 2166 Market Street has been a sophisticated three-story club with beautiful design-forward interiors. Visitors feel the artistry as they enter the premises. The originality and authenticity of its history enriches its members’ experience.
Capitalizing on the history of the Castro building— once a clock shop, a leather bar, a sex club, and a restaurant, among other things—The Academy branded the premises as a happy place to be, a home away from home. And it’s a place where a lot of their members have made life-long friends.
Academy Daylight
With the birth of their new daytime program, Academy Daylight, more memories and friendships will be created. The social club stands by its mission to deliver inclusion and diversity day and night. The daytime program is currently only a soft launch for now.
“It is definitely going to be exciting and cool to see how people use the space during the day. They might come in for a coffee or glass of wine, do a little bit of laptop work, or meet a friend to catch up. It’s a nice, quiet, comfortable space to get away from home, the office; or home office, as the case may be these days,” said Nate.
