These voices aired as part of an homage to OASIS in the December 16, 2025 episode of Crosscurrents.
When San Francisco’s OASIS drag club on 11th and Folsom announced it was closing its doors forever this January 1st, the news was met with a chorus of broken hearts and a lot of tears.
OASIS has a LOT of fans. People that have found a little piece of sanctuary within the loudness of their parties and performances.
Here, members of the OASIS community share their favorite memories, what the space means to them, and what they think about the future without this home away from home.
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Pablo Escobar (exotic dancer; producer)
"Oh, my! I have a lot of favorite memories about Oasis. I would say my favorite memory was my first go-go gig for Bologna where I was introduced to this whole entire world. There's something very both counterculture and subversive, campy and glamorous that really only Oasis can foster. And so it's hard with it closing. There's...there's gonna be a huge gap."
James Lange (patron)
"The first time I ever came to Oasis was to see the Buffy, the Vampire Slayer musical episode, live drag version, and was so blown away by the talent and the level of dedication to the bit. Of doing this drag musical Buffy performance. And I didn't even ever, never even watched Buffy before, but like it was so hilarious and so impactful and I now live literally a block away from this place. There's such unique, specific queer theater performance that happens at Oasis that doesn't happen anywhere else in the city and doesn't happen to a lot of other cities around the country like. That dedication to weirdness, in a lot of ways. To like, have, you know, original musicals written by queer people, performed by queer people. For the people here. I hope that that's able to continue somewhere, but there really is no environment like Oasis to be able to host something like that and foster something like that."
Meesha Jones (bartender)
"I have worked here since late 2016. And I've put so much of my, my life into this place. Um, you know, I've seen this place grow into what it is today. This place is like no other. We do so much as far as like production and inclusivity. I can't imagine San Francisco without this place. The fact that this place is not gonna be around anymore is shattering It...it's my life, it's my family, and not having my family anymore hurts. So much, deep in my soul. The last night of Rocky Horror Picture Show was definitely a sobering moment for me because I was never gonna see it again."
Jax (drag performer)
"So, um, hi, my name is Jax. I've been blessed that I've been able to perform at many spaces across the country, and this has always been the space where I'm just like, I wanna come back. In a lot of ways, Oasis was, it was like, it was our concert venue. Um, it made all these performers feel like rock stars. The space might be closing. The energy that was created here is definitely going nowhere."
