Whether employees will receive unemployment benefits is uncertain, as is the possibility of reclaiming their jobs when Pendulum re-opens. Natali has said that he wants to work with the African-American community,” said Mooney, “but we look at his actions more than his words, and his actions say that he’s not interested in the concerns of African-Americans in the Castro.”Īccording to representatives from And Castro for All, Natali announced to Pendulum staff Wednesday night that the bar would be closed several months for renovations, and subsequently laid off all staff. On Thursday, AC4A called a press conference in front of Pendulum, followed by a picket in front of SF Badlands, to protest the closure and demand government follow-up on the charges levied against Natali. “There’s now no place in the city of San Francisco that gay African-Americans can call their own,” lamented Paul Mooney of And Castro for All (AC4A), a project of the LGBT Center. Club owner Les Natali, under fire for alleged racial discrimination at the Castro’s SF Badlands club, has closed the Pendulum, Castro’s only African-American gay bar, to the outrage of patrons, staff and community activists.
