InsideBayArea.com – By Angela Woodall – Oakland Tribune
Did you hear the one about the two straight guys who walk into a gay bar “… ?
Actually, the evening I visited Velvet – a hip bar in the Laurel district – the only customers shortly after the 6 p.m. opening were three straight men. All gray-haired, they looked like they might spend more time lifting pints instead of weights. Not what you’d expect to find at one of the few bars catering to Oakland’s lesbian community, one of the largest among U.S. cities, according to co-owner Bob Huff.