San Fran drag club Oasis gets a new life, thanks to multimillion-dollar gift
It's a Christmas miracle!
Mark
Call it a Christmas miracle! After a generous multimillion-dollar gift, San Francisco‘s beloved drag club Oasis is safe to slay another day.
On Sunday (December 28), club owner D’Arcy Drollinger (and the city’s inaugural Drag Laureate) broke the news to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Considering preparations were underway to shutter on January 1, 2026, it was a present that couldn’t have arrived at a better time. “I am humbled that this is happening at this late stage,” Drollinger said. “It’s a Christmas miracle moment that I only dreamed could happen.”
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Back in August, Drollinger had announced that the LGBTQ+ hot-spot, which opened up in 2014, would be forced to close its doors at the end of 2025 due to “economic unsustainability.”
But that’s all changed, thanks to an undisclosed amount of funds gifted by Bay Area philanthropists Mary and Mark Stevens, whose son Sky is a frequent customer.
Now, Drollinger’s nonprofit organization, Oasis Arts, will be able to purchase the property, eliminating rent and helping ensure the space is “financially sustainable over the long term.”
In this new chapter, Oasis will shift from its primary operations as a nightclub and focus on being a queer arts venue. (For those familiar with Oasis’ well-known Golden Girls Live and Rocky Horror Show cabaret performances, it’s a shift that feels especially appropriate.)
“It is a cultural institution that has provided me, and countless others, immense joy,” Sky Stevens wrote in a statement on behalf of his family. “My family and I are excited to see what this next era of Oasis brings to San Francisco.”
That said, Oasis will still temporarily close after its blowout New Year’s Eve party for a massive renovation, including repairs to the roof and time for organization restructuring. According to Drollinger, the process will take “at least six months.”
Still, the fact that this San Francisco safe space is not permanently lost and will continue as a sanctuary for the LGBTQ+ community is massive, especially for local performers like Peaches Christ.
“When its closure loomed, it felt like San Francisco was losing a piece of its heart,” she told the Chronicle. “In a moment when so much national news feels bleak, saving Oasis is a rare bit of light as we head into the new year.”
For Drollinger, this feels like a third life of sorts for Oasis, and a beautiful Hollywood ending for a space that’s continued on the theatrical traditions of queer performance venues like Josie’s Cabaret and Juice Joint.
“I had grieved, there were many tears,” Drollinger told the Chronicle. “Now, we’re rising from the dead. It feels perfect that it’s happening at this when 11 years ago we were struggling to open the club. It’s somehow fitting.”
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