San Francisco Gay Latino Club Vandalized With Swastikas

Last Friday, swastikas were spray painted on the Gay Latino night club, Esta Noche, in San Francisco’s Mission District. Manager Edgar Lopez came to work, saw the swastikas, but then quickly painted over them.

Lopez said the club is often a graffiti target, but this is the first time the area’s only Latino-owned and operated gay bar has been tagged with swastikas.

“A swastika on a building is looked at as a hate crime,” said SF Police spokesperson Albie Esparza. “It is unacceptable and people should report it to police.”

The co-owner of Esta Noche, Manuel Quijano, says, “It is possible because the place is gay,” said Quijano.

Obviously, with the evidence painted over, it’s impossible to investigate now, but the president of the Mission District Merchant’s Association, Erick Arguello, says he plans to spread news of the incident to other business owners.

“That it happened in a place that attracts Latino immigrants, gay identified individuals, transgender individuals should be a big concern,” said Armando Hernandez of the Instituto Familiar de la Raza.