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During the 1980s, at the height of the AIDS crisis, patrons raised money, many writing personal checks to help those who couldn’t afford medical care. It opened in 1960, seven years after President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450, banning homosexuals from employment by the federal government.
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More than that, the Caliph, for nearly six decades, bore witness to the evolution of the gay rights movement - its highs and its lows. “It was,” she added, “the safest little haven on Fifth Avenue.” And that was the Caliph - it’s inclusive. “Bars like the Caliph have been a place where people in the gay community could be themselves - a place where you wouldn’t even be looked at twice. “As a straight woman who’s been able to perform there all these years, it’s always been a special place for me,” said Carey, who has clocked 12 years singing on Friday nights with pianist Kevin McCully. That, entertainer Ria Carey said, has been a big part of the Caliph’s appeal. “It’s the kind of place,” he said, “where people really know your name.” Troy Davis, 57, of El Cajon has been a longtime patron - since the late 1970s. “When I bought the place,” he said, “I always wanted it to be all-inclusive - gay, straight, transgender, young, old, men, women. Owning the bar, Mendoza said, wasn’t always easy, but there was one thing that’s kept him going all these years: the people. Some nights, there are just three of us here, and on other nights, you can barely move around.” It’s like a show, and we’re the characters. And you never know what you’re going to get from one night to the next. His 15-year lease isn’t going to be renewed, Mendoza said, and the building’s owners have decided to sell.įor Bankers Hill resident and Wednesday regular James Stephens, 60, the Caliph is special - a bar like no other: “It’s like a 1960s bar without the smoke. Even during the hardest times, when the economy wasn’t doing so well, we remained open and persevered.” “At the same time, I realize that it did have a long run - 58 years. “There’s no doubt that it saddens me,” said Mendoza, who bought the intimate Bankers Hill bar in 2003. The Caliph, with its Moorish motif mixed with disco lights, is known for its live piano entertainment, karaoke, fresh popcorn and, perhaps most importantly, its old-school neighborhood bar vibe.
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After last call, it will close permanently - ending a nearly 60-year run as one of San Diego’s most iconic gay bars. 31, as the calendar ushers in a new year, it will usher in a new chapter for Mendoza but the last chapter for the Caliph. Just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, as the clock’s about to strike 12, Sherman Mendoza will steel himself to do something one last time: toast the new year with friends at the Caliph, the piano lounge and bar he’s owned for 15 years.