Gay (And Not So Gay) Moments in San Francisco History
By Michelle Tea
José Castro Assassinated
Back when California was Mexico, José Castro was acting governor, as well as commandante general of the Mexican army during the Mexican-American War. He was shot by a bandit at the age of 52, but his legacy lives on in the Castro neighborhood, which was named for him.
The U.S. Military Creates the “Blue Discharge”
A neutral discharge from the Armed Services — neither honorable nor dishonorable — the blue discharge was employed to boot queers from the military and was used against black soldiers as well. Though supposedly not dishonorable, blue discharges faced discrimination upon return to their homes, and many stayed in the port cities they were dumped in — New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco — helping create the thriving queer communities that still exist in these places today.
SF MOMA Opens
The best coast got its first museum focusing on twentieth-century work when the Museum of Modern Art opened in the War Memorial Building on Van Ness. Diego Rivera’s The Flower Carrier was one of its first acquisitions, and it gave Jackson Pollock his very first museum show.
Finocchio’s Opens
After seeing a really great drag number at his dad’s speakeasy, Joe Finocchio opened what would become the legendary Finocchio’s — home of the “World’s Most Famous and Talented Female Impersonators.” The club thrived into the ’90s, when drag became more common and audiences more sparse. After a rent increase, the North Beach landmark closed its door in 1999.
The Castro Theatre Gets a Chandelier
The Castro Theatre lost its original parchment chandelier in a fire and replaced it with the gorgeous art deco piece that hangs above moviegoers’ heads today. It remains one of few operating theaters from the 1920s era of “movie palaces.”
Jack Kerouac Rents a Room
During his short-lived stint as a brakeman on the Southern Pacific, the infamous Beat lived in a residential hotel by the railroad station (now AT&T Park). Though he didn’t stick around long, Jack still wound up with an alley named for him alongside City Lights bookstore in North Beach.
Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio Get Married at City Hall
The couple took some famous wedding photos over at Saints Peter and Paul Church in North Beach, but the uptight Catholic establishment refused to marry Marilyn and Joe, due to Joe already having been married, right in that there church. The celebrity couple tied the knot at City Hall.
First Openly Gay Political Candidate on the Ballot
In 1961, drag queen and community activist José Julio Sarria became the first openly gay political candidate when he ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on the November 7 election. He founded the Imperial Court System, a drag and trans organization that holds pageants and raises money for charity.
The Church of Satan Is Born
Anton Szandor LaVey, author of The Satanic Bible, kicks off his new religion at the Black House, his residence at 6114 California Street. He lived there as High Priest until his death from a heart attack in 1997. The Black House was demolished in 2001.
The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria
Three full years before the queens at Stonewall bashed back, transwomen who frequented the Tenderloin’s Compton’s Cafeteria rose up. A cop attempting to arrest a transwoman (for what we’re not sure) got coffee flung in his face, and then all hell broke loose as this community — a regular target for police brutality and all-around uncivil behavior — fought back, smashing windows and burning down a newsstand. Check out Susan Stryker’s Emmy Award–winning documentary, Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria.
The Mission Armory Closes
Built on the site of the old Woodward’s Gardens amusement park, the Armory did double duty as an arsenal and boxing ring until the National Guard split for Fort Funston in 1976. The castle-like building fell into disrepair and was bought by porn company Kink.com for over 14 million dollars in 2006.
“Tales of the City” Debuts in the San Francisco Chronicle
AP stringer Armistead Maupin began writing a serialized story, which was published in the San Francisco Chronicle as “Tales of the City,” introducing readers to the exploits of Mary Ann Singleton, Anna Madrigal, and others. The column spawned a book, another book, more books, a film, and a Broadway musical.
Sex Pistols Play Winterland Ballroom
Taking the stage at the ice-skating-rink-slash-music-venue Bill Graham bought, Johnny Rotten shouted, “Welcome to London” and invited the audience to throw shit at him. He left with some umbrellas. It must have been raining.
Esta Noche Opens in the Mission
Esta Noche, San Francisco’s only Latino Gay bar, opened on 16th Street. Thirty-three years later almost 800 people RSVP’d to a benefit performance to help the bar raise money for taxes. Said legendary drag queen Heklina, “We don’t need more overpriced Tex-Mex shit in the Mission. We need Esta Noche.”
The First Folsom Street Fair
Started by a couple of community organizers to show off the vitality of a SoMA neighborhood being labeled “blighted” by city officials, the first Folsom Street Fair was called “Megahood” and occupied the same area between 12th and 7th Streets and Howard and Harrison as today’s perv-fest.
On Our Backs Begins Publishing
Subtitled “Entertainment for the Adventurous Lesbian,” On Our Backs was the first female-run porn mag, as well as the first featuring lezzie porn by and for actual lezzies. It ran off and on through the mid-’00s, featuring writing from Dorothy Allison, Susie Bright, Jewelle Gomez, Patrick Califia, and others from the queer literary canon.
Gay Asian Pacific Alliance Comes Together
Growing out of a gathering of the Asian Gay Men’s Support Group at the Berkeley Pacific Center, activists created this organization in response to the growing Asian and Pacific Islander gay community, with the aim of creating space for people through sexual identity, racial and cultural bonds, and shared family experiences and values.
Epicenter Zone Opens on Valencia
Punk record store, performance space, and community center opened above Clothes Contact on Valencia at 16th. Started by Maximum RocknRoll’s Tim Yohannon, it is staffed by volunteers including Cheesemonger author Gordon Edgar; founder Matt Wobensmith of the music labels Outpunk and A.C.R.O.N.Y.M; and zinester Larry-bob Roberts, who organized Q-TIP (Queers Together in Punkness) shows at the space.
Pomo Afro Homos, a Queer Black Performance Troupe, Forms
Made up of writer Brian Freeman, poet Djola Branner, and actor Eric Gupton, Pomo Afro Homos — postmodern African-American Homosexuals — was a groundbreaking performance ensemble that explored contemporary gay black life using hip-hop, drama and comedy. Their first performance, Fierce Love, premiered at Josie’s Cabaret and Juice Joint (now Starbelly) in the Castro, and was recently revived for the AfroSolo Arts Festival.
The First Dyke March Marches
Twelve years after the first all-lez march in Vancouver, B.C., the San Francisco Dyke March took to the streets, organized by the lesbian direct-action group the Lesbian Avengers. The Dyke March continues to happen the Saturday before Pride, and staying true to its outlaw origins, does not ask the city for a permit.
The Lexington Club Opens
San Francisco finally gets a full-time lesbo bar, located in the Mission on the site of an old Mexican bar, The Sunset. A grand opening so packed that many attendees never get inside foretells the future of this popular bar, where queers cram themselves in for art openings, bingo games, pool, and the pleasure of one another’s company.
The Lusty Lady Unionizes
After dancer and sociologist Siobhan Brooks complained about the way African-American dancers were being treated at the North Beach peep show, employees moved to unionize. The grueling and successful struggle was documented in the film Live! Nude! Girls! Unite! By Julia Query and Vicky Funari.
San Francisco Experiences Gay Shame
An art-centric direct-action group protesting the assimilationist direction of mainstream GLBT politics, Gay Shame was brought from New York to San Francisco by writer and activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, where it caught on like “a virus in the system.” The group stages alternatives and protests to Pride, “award” ceremonies shaming sellout queers, movements against gay marriage, and presents in general a more radical politic.
Milk Opens
After a casting call that lured boys into the Castro and turned the neighborhood into a facsimile of its 1970s self, the Gus Van Sant film Milk about local hero Harvey Milk, with Sean Penn as Harvey and a cameo by his old employee, photographer Dan Nicoletta, opened nationally. And for maximum authenticity, the crew borrowed Milk’s kitchen table from the archive at the GLBT Historical Society.
Tenderloin National Forest Opens
An oasis of greenery and art in a stressed neighborhood (and an especially gnarly spot), the Tenderloin National Forest (formerly Cohen Alley) was the brainchild of the Luggage Store Gallery owners Darryl Smith and Laurie Lazer. In addition to work by Rigo and other Mission School artists, it sports a fishpond, a working clay oven, and is host to regular community events.
Pride Grand Marshal Scandal
Soon after the Pride Committee’s electoral college selected gay soldier Bradley Manning as grand marshal (wanted for passing information about U.S. military crimes to WikiLeaks), its president and board of directors revoked the nomination, causing community outrage and cynicism about the organization’s increasingly conservative agenda.
Design and Illustration: Nic Buron
Editor’s Note: On Wednesday, June 26, 2013 the Supreme Court monumentally paved the way for same-sex marriages to return in California by ruling Prop 8 supporters lacked standing in the court.
