Speaking of San Francisco Pride and newfound marriage legality, the city (in)famous for being gay rights ground zero also has some of the greatest LGBT bars in the world. Yes, the world. Here are our favorites. (We're sure you'll let us know yours.)

AUNT CHARLIE'S LOUNGE
This down and dingy Tenderloin dive is one of the last vestiges of gaydom in a neighborhood that was once full of gay bars, especially over toward Polk Street — which was the original gay ghetto back in the 60s and 70s, before the Castro gained its bars and gay reputation. These days, Aunt Charlie's plays host to several weeknight parties for fashionable alterna-homos, including the long-running Tubesteak Connexxxion on Thursdays, and the newer, karaoke-friendly High Fantasy on Tuesdays. It's also home to the famed Hot Boxxx Girls, a rotating cast of totally unironic drag queens who perform a host of classic pop numbers on Fridays and Saturdays for tips. And they mean it about the tipping, working the aisle multiple times, and you damn well better tip, or get out. Added bonus: the drinks are cheap, and the lighting is very flattering.
133 Turk Street (at Taylor)

BLACKBIRD
Nestled at the intersection of the Lower Haight and the Castro, Blackbird is a laid back alternative to the usual thumping of the Castro scene. The dim lights, reclaimed wood and carefully crafted cocktails scream "trendy spot," but the cheap drafts, pool table and photo booth in the back are the trademarks of a great neighborhood dive. Rarely marketed as a gay bar, per se, the crowd tends to be of the younger m4m persuasion and never unwelcoming.
2124 Market Street (at Church)

THE EAGLE
This SoMa leather bar, which opened in the early 1980s, has one of the biggest bar patios in the City. The main draw? Sundays beer busts which benefit various gay organizations around the city. On sunny days, men of different ages and stripes pack the outdoor part. One of the best places to find any type of guy.
398 12th Street (at Harrison)

THE EDGE
Up at 18th and Collingwood, at the edge of the Castro district, lies one of its more unsung bars: The Edge. From its Musical Mondays events, featuring videos of new and classic musical theater as well as occasional live performances from Broadway touring casts in town, to its crowded weekend parties with go-go boys and dirty videos, it's a welcome reprieve from the blaring pop music and lines of tourist at nearby dance bars Toad Hall and Badlands. Also, they pour some of the stiffest drinks in the neighborhood, and the bar caters to a truly eclectic and age-diverse crowd.
4149 18th Street (at Collingwood)

HI TOPS
The Castro's eight-month-old neighborhood sports bar is, unarguably, the most popular place to be these days, no matter what your feelings about basketball, hockey, or baseball. Good drinks, good music, and a generally mellow vibe bring people back, as do special theme nights like trivia on Tuesdays, bingo on Wednesdays, and Gym Class on Thursdays, which mostly just involves boys in jockstraps handing out whiskey shots, and slightly racier material on the bar's TV screens. The design, using salvaged wood and lockers from a local high school gym, was a welcome shift from the cookie-cutter mod aesthetic of Lime, and unlike Lime we feel confident that Hi Tops is going to be around a good long while.
2247 Market St (between 15th and 16th)

LAST CALL
What? No, it's not the greatest bar in the Castro, one that's charming and intimate yet filled with the friendliest people in the Castro! FINE. It is. Go. Just, please, don't ruin it. This small place is one of the gay hidden gems in the City. Great place to find a trick and/or catch a Giants hame. Just be sure to save us a seat!
3988 18th Street (at Noe)

THE LEXINGTON
Referred to as "The Lex," this Mission watering hole remains one of the only queer bars left in the increasingly homogenous Mission District. It's also one of the few remaining dyke bars in town. Which is depressing. But what a bar it is. Ripe with tough young ladies and hard butch bad asses, The Lex is a sparkling gem in an area polluted with Edison bulbs and pricey artisan overload. Don't ever change, Lex. We mean it. Don't.
3464 19th Street (at Lexington)

MARTUNI'S
The last of the grand piano bars. The showqueens' belting is as powerful as the bartenders' vodka martinis. The place is an institution, folks. Respect. (Oh, and if you and your bachelorette party monsters even think about singing "Dancing Queen" at the piano, expect to get run out of town.)
4 Valencia (at Market)

MOBY DICK
Maybe the most easy-going of all the Castro bars is this airy spot on 18th Street. With its upstairs pool table and pinball, it's huge fish tank, and well curated selection of videos, it's a nice place to meet friends, talk, and unwind without being jostled or aurally accosted by the latest Mariah Carey song. It gets busiest around weekend happy hours, and lately they've been hosting their first weekly party, on Wednesdays, called Dick at Night, which features free shots and people playing pool in their undies.
4049 18th Street (at Hartford)

TRUCK
It's off on its own at the edge of the Mission, near SoMa, and so it makes sense that Truck has forged its own path over its six years in business. With its antique back bar (that belonged to the long gone Oscar Wilde's) and trucking theme, it's a unique spot that draws an alternative crowd of locals. Though they still throw occasional theme parties and are known for a dark and cruisey vibe some nights, the bar is trying to reinvent itself lately as both a venue for food pop-ups and more of a cocktail bar, too, with occasional tasting events and the like.
1900 Folsom Street (at 15th)

TWIN PEAKS TAVERN
Quite literally a landmark gay bar, Twin Peaks is still the best place to sit in the window, sip an Irish Coffee and watch the Castro's colors stroll by. There might be less nudity outside the bar doors on Jane Warner Plaza these days, but the cocktails inside the Glass Coffin, as it is affectionately known, are still as stiff as ever.
401 Castro (at Market/17th)

WILD SIDE WEST
Perched atop Bernal Heights, Wild Side West (already featured in our Best S.F. Bars With An Outdoor Oasis guide) has been around since 1962. The rustic bar boasts a magical outdoor patio with sculptures peeking out of shrubbery. An excellent place for a round of pool in between lady cruising.
424 Cortland (at Andover)

Jay Barmann, Andrew Dalton, and Brock Keeling all contributed to this article.

Beauty abounds at Blackbird. (Photo: Blackbird/Facebook)