Mary's First and Last Chance

Mary’s First and Last Chance (c. 1948 – 1956) was a lesbian and gay bar located at 2278 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, California, U.S..^[1] It was once the focus of the 1950s California Supreme Court lawsuit Vallerga v. Dept. Alcoholic Bev. Control, when the bar challenged a state law for the right to serve gay patrons and won in 1959.^[2][3]

Mary’s First and Last Chance
Restaurant information
Street address	2278 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, California, U.S.
Coordinates	37.812459°N 122.268600°W / 37.812459; -122.268600

The bar was opened in c. 1948 by Mary Azar, and her brother-in-law, Albert L. Vallerga.^[4] Mary’s First and Last Chance liquor license suspended several times and ultimately revoked in 1956 based on a discriminatory 1955 California state law, and after undercover officers posed as patrons.^[3][4] In December 1959, the court sided with Azar and Vallerga and reversed the revocation, and in a historic decision, the 1955 law was declared unconstitutional.^[2]

See also

• LGBTQ portal

• List of lesbian bars

References

1. Flanagan, Michael (March 15, 2015). "Once Upon a Time in Oaktown". Bay Area Reporter.
2. "Vallerga v. Dept. Alcoholic Bev. Control - 53 Cal. 2d 313, 347 P.2d 909, 1 Cal. Rptr. 494 - Wed, 12/23/1959". California Supreme Court Resources, Stanford Law School. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
3. Boyd, Nan Alamilla (2003-05-23). Wide-Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965. University of California Press. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-0-520-20415-7.
4. Agee, Christopher Lowen (2014-03-31). The Streets of San Francisco: Policing and the Creation of a Cosmopolitan Liberal Politics, 1950-1972. University of Chicago Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-226-12231-1.