A chilly weekend afternoon doesn’t deter a large, lively group from getting together in a Mission neighborhood beer garden. They’re there for the food, drinks and camaraderie—and to nerd out within San Francisco’s trans community. 

Trans Nerd Meetup is a recurring gathering offering transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming individuals a space to connect over niche passions and hobbies.  

The free event on the first Saturday of each month at Zeitgeist, a 21-and-over bar and beer garden, starts at 12:30 p.m. and ends sometime before closing at 1 a.m.  
 
“It’s a very inclusive, welcoming event,” says Charlie Jane Anders, Trans Nerd Meetup’s organizer and host. “Nobody has to prove that they’re trans enough or nerdy enough to attend.” 

Anders, a trans woman, is a speculative fiction writer whose latest novel “Lessons in Magic and Disaster” was released in August 2025. She also cohosts the science fiction-themed podcast “Our Opinions Are Correct” and co-created the Marvel Comics character Shela Sexton, aka Escapade, a transgender mutant superhero.  

In May 2019, Anders and a friend came up with the idea for a social gathering for locals in the transgender community seeking connection. 

“We wanted to organize a meetup for all the lonely trans nerds we know,” she explains. 

In its inaugural year, Trans Nerd Meetup was at Wicked Grounds, a former South of Market coffee shop. After a pandemic-related hiatus, it relocated to The Willows, a nearby gastropub with a large outdoor parklet. It moved to the Biergarten in Hayes Valley and the Game Parlour, a board game cafe in the Sunset, before settling into its current home at Zeitgeist. 

The meetup has grown significantly, particularly over the past year, now drawing 60 to 70 people on average. 

Board games, knitting, comics, stamp collections, shows like “Stranger Things” and “Pluribus” or topics such as fan fiction and ornithology — members can play, work on, share or discuss just about anything. 

“I’ve seen people bringing their random, weird hobbies, but also just people showing up excited to talk about whatever they’re doing,” says Anders. “It’s whatever you’re into.” 

Since September 2024, the meetings have been at Zeitgeist on the first Saturday of the month. Anders credits the growing attendance to the bar’s friendly staff, welcoming atmosphere and accessibility. The secluded patio also provides enough room for the group to claim a few long picnic tables. 

When it rained on the day of a few consecutive scheduled meetups, Anders considered canceling to keep everyone dry, but members protested, even though the Zeitgeist patio awning wouldn’t cover the whole group. 

“They were like, ‘No, we’ll sit in the rain to hang out with our trans friends,’” she recalls. “That’s when I kind of realized how important this was to people.” 

The meetup has also become a source of mutual aid, with members stepping in to support each other during times of need.  

For Anders, the steady turnout has underscored the importance of community. 

“This has been a really powerful experience for me,” she says. “It’s shown me that we really need community more than ever now, which I already kind of knew, but now I really know it in my bones.” 

Trans Nerd Meetup starts at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 3 at Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia St., San Francisco.