Girl Bar at Studio One

Girl Bar was a long-running lesbian nightlife event founded in November 1990 by Robin Gans and Sandy Sachs, a couple who had relocated from New York to Los Angeles the previous year. Scott Forbes, owner of Studio One and its Backlot showroom, approached Gans and Sachs in 1990 and invited them to launch a weekly women's night. Girl Bar featured valet parking, go-go dancers, a billiards room, and a dance floor that was usually packed with a racially diverse group of women. The event’s glamorous and feminine attendees epitomized the new aesthetic of “lesbian chic” as lesbian representation in the mainstream media increased throughout the 1990s. Celebrities such as Nona Hendryx and Sabrina Johnston were regulars. After Studio One closed, Girl Bar continued in different forms at the Factory building. By 2013 the event had been running for over twenty years. The Factory building was demolished for redevelopment in 2020.