LGBTQ Artists Sue Over Whitewashed Murals at Bay Area Gay Bar

Artists who created murals at the former location of The Stud—San Francisco’s “oldest continuously operating queer bar"—sued the building’s owner in San Francisco federal court for whitewashing their works from its walls.

The six artists told the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Nov. 13 that City Commercial Investments LLC “inexplicably” destroyed “a number of iconic murals that graced the building, causing great anguish in the community.”

They sued under the Visual Artists Rights Act, which protects artists’ visual works from being mutilated or destroyed in some circumstances.

The complaint says the artists each painted a ...