Juana María Rodríguez,

El Rio is so iconic, so familiar, and it’s the same, but everything’s changed. That was my initial reaction walking into a place that always felt like home. It’s still there and I’m grateful for the way it’s endured. I’m lucky to remember having Malcolm Thornley (the late original owner who retired in 1997 and passed away in 2008) feed me oysters on Fridays.

My friends and I reserved a table outside recently, and you couldn’t stand at your table, but you could sit and dance. Everyone was trying to follow the rules. The servers were fantastic, trying to make everyone feel welcome. But there couldn’t be any intermingling between tables. Flirting and play culture are part of club life. That seemed different, tempered down. It’s going to be harder to go to a club and go home with someone you didn’t know.

So many of these spaces are gone already. Esta Noche. The Lexington Club. Gentrification changed what nightlife is, what made San Francisco a vibrant place to live, to play in.

I’m not excited about going to any particular place, just about getting back to things: going to museums, to film openings. Being social is a skill and we’re all out of practice. I’ve been dancing alone in a living room. Our ears will have to get accustomed to the loudness of a live DJ. And we’ll have to get used to being in a space with proximity to other physical bodies.

As a queer person, I remember AIDS. I wondered then if it was going to be the end of hookup culture, but people figured out other things. How do you manage risk? You have to talk about vulnerabilities and disability. If you’re immunocompromised, going out is a different risk. The pandemic surfaces preexisting vulnerabilities. One thing that has brought people out during the pandemic is public protest, given the political moment. People have already had that conversation about risk and vulnerability.

In April, I sensed that El Rio had thought about the community, about care. It was $15 for 1½ hours, but going out now is more of a luxury. It should be. What does it mean to bring the idea of community consciousness and mutual aid into nightlife? The rebirth excludes people if spaces don’t show care.