The White Horse Inn is a gay bar located at 6551 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland's Bushrod Park neighborhood.

Early history of the White Horse Inn is unclear; it officially states that it opened in 1933 following the passage of the 21st Amendment,[3] although it is rumored to have operated as a speakeasy during the Prohibition period.

[4] Records show that local businessman Abraham C. Karski, founder of the Grand Lake Theater, ordered the construction of the building and founded the bar.

"[6] It was likely frequented by factory and port workers from nearby industrial centers as well as soldiers and sailors, especially during the Great Depression and World War II.

"[8] Police raids began targeting gay and lesbian bars in the San Francisco Bay Area intensely from the 1950s onward.

[9] This occurred in the midst of post-war politics and anti-gay attitudes which "associated gay men with poor morals and weak wills," placing homosexual perspectives in opposition to national policies.

For example, the Free Speech Movement led marches down Telegraph Avenue and the Berkeley chapter of the Gay Liberation Front were founded during this time.

[12] Berkeley GLF founder Nicholas F. Benton instead hosted "People's Alternative" dance parties as a response to what radical activists saw as the "cynical and apolitical" atmosphere of the White Horse Inn.

"[9] Resolution to the September protests came when the bar met some of the protestors' concessions including permitting slow dancing, reversing bans on over one hundred GLF members, and allowing distribution of Gay Sunshine.