Meta Suspends Another San Francisco Queer Bar’s Instagram

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, suspended another San Francisco gay bar‘s Instagram account Monday. LGBTQ+ bar owners and media advocates say it’s censorship.

Beaux, which is located in the Castro, is the latest target, according to its owner, Joshua Cook.

“Last night, Instagram suspended Beaux’ THIRD account @beauxnightclub without any warning or violations of community guidelines,” Cook posted. “Our previous account @beauxincastro was deleted in April 2026, following the loss of our original account @beauxinthecastro in 2025. Across three accounts, more than 25,000 followers, irreplaceable photos and videos of LGBTQ history — and years of community connection — have been erased.”

Cook also mentions that Beaux isn’t the only LGBTQ+ bar or nightclub that’s been suspended recently.

“LGBTQ+ bars, nightclubs, performers and creators in San Francisco, across the country, and the world have reported accounts being suspended, restricted or removed without warning or violation of community guidelines. It is time to sound the alarm. If this has happened to you or your organization, tell your story in the comments. Tag journalists, elected officials, LGBTQ+ organizations and community leaders. Help us make this impossible to ignore,” Cook’s post reads.

GO has reached out to Meta for comment.

It comes only days before San Francisco’s legendary Folsom Street Fair, which sees hundreds of thousands visit for the leather festival.

In response to the latest suspension, a GLAAD spokesperson told GO, “Meta’s systems are errantly suspending LGBTQ accounts at an extremely high rate and with enormous negative impacts on business owners and on the community. It is abundantly clear that the company must prioritize implementing genuine solutions to this systemic failure across its platforms.”

Last month, Instagram briefly suspended the San Francisco leather bar Powerhouse. Weeks earlier, Meta had suspended the account of the queer bar Stud, also in San Francisco.

Other recent cases include a drag performer and business owner banned in North Carolina, and a wave of suspensions hitting LGBTQ+ accounts across Australia and New Zealand, GLAAD notes. 

GLAAD previously told GO that since the beginning of 2025, the company has made several changes to its policies that are anti-LGBTQ+ — including explicitly stating that LGBTQ+ people are not protected from hateful rhetoric labeling them “mentally ill” and “abnormal.” The organization’s 2026 Social Media Safety Index found these policies continue to cause ongoing harm to LGBTQ+ people across Meta’s platforms.