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| Infamous Barbary Coast bars in San Francisco |
1849: The
California Gold Rush propels the small pueblo village of San Francisco,
population of about 500 to over 20,000 inhabitants the first year. One source
cites a 50-1 male-to-female ratio. Men will continue to outnumber women for the
next 100 years.
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| Oscar Wilde on tour |
1882: Oscar Wilde
visits San Francisco and speaks publicly about the aesthetics movement. In his
novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
(1891), Wilde writes, "It's an odd thing, but everyone who disappears is
said to be seen in San Francisco. It must be a delightful city, and possess all
the attractions of the next world."
Late 1800's: The
first gay neighborhood in San Francisco is located in the infamous Barbary
Coast that now overlaps North Beach and the Financial District.
1908: City
officials close the “Dash,” the city's earliest known gay bar located at 574
Pacific Street in the red-light district of the Barbary Coast.
1929: “Finocchio's”
opens in North Beach as a speakeasy at 406 Stockton St. In 1936 the police
raided the club and arrested five female impersonators, including the owners
because the Police Chief ‘declared
war’ on lewd entertainers. It soon moves to 506 Broadway and become less a gay
bar and more the premier female impersonation cabaret and a destination point
for tourists from all around the world. It closes in 1999.
1930's: The gay
neighborhoods in the city are now found along the waterfront, lower Market
Street, and the long-gone boarding house district South of Market where the
Moscone Convention Center and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts now stand.
1931: Magnus
Hirschfeld, the German Jewish leader of the Scientific Humanitarian
Committee for the legal rights of German homosexuals, visits the city. He
denounces both the Comstock Law, which "gave the Post Office the power to
decide what was obscene," and Prohibition.
1933: When
Prohibition is lifted, a number of gay bars quickly open in the Tenderloin,
which remains the epicenter of gay bar culture into the 1960s.
1933: The first
two explicitly gay male bathhouses open on SF: “Jack's Turkish Baths” and “Third
Street Baths.” The last gay bathhouse in SF, “21st Street Baths,” closes in
1987.
1940's: During
WWII, San Francisco becomes something of a dumping ground for homosexuals
dishonorably discharged from military service. In addition, many gay World War
II veterans opt to stay in SF rather then return home. In the late 1940s, a
tabloid paper in San Francisco describes this demographic trend with the
shocking headline, "Homos Invade S.
F.!"
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| Black Cat Cafe, gay bar in SF |
1949: The “Black
Cat Café” at 710 Montgomery St. is raided as part of a police and Alcohol
Beverage Control Commission (ABC) crackdown on nightspots 'featuring lascivious
entertainment and catering to lewd persons.' Police arrest ten people, hold seven for vagrancy, and
prosecute three. Gay Beat poet Allen
Ginsberg describes the Black Cat as "the best gay bar in America. It
was totally open, bohemian, San Francisco...and everybody went there,
heterosexual and homosexual.... All the gay screaming queens would come, the
heterosexual gray flannel suit types, longshoremen. All the poets went
there."
1947: California
became the first state in the US to have a sex offender registration program.
It required all persons convicted under California law for sexual crimes,
including sodomy and oral copulation, since 1944 to register as sex offenders.
1949: California
State Penal Code proscribes sodomy (anal and male-male sex of any kind) as a
felony. The maximum prison sentence for sodomy is doubled from 10 to 20 years. Another
code for oral copulation insures a sentence of up to one year in jail for
consensual oral sex.
1950's: San
Francisco police raids on bars and public meeting places intensifies.
1951: The State
Board of Equalization suspends the Black Cat bar's liquor license indefinitely.
In response and on principle, owner Sol Stoumen
takes the state to court. The California Supreme Court in Stoumen v. Reilly rules that "in order to establish 'good
cause' for suspension of plaintiff's license, something more must be shown than
that many of his patrons were homosexuals and that they used his restaurant and
bar as a meeting place." This is one of the earliest legal affirmations of
the rights of gay people in the United States. The court qualifies its opinion,
however, by stating that ABC might still close gay bars with "proof of the
commission of illegal or immoral acts on the premises." Even after that
ruling gay bars are regularly busted for flimsy excuses. Gay bathhouses are perilous
as well because they could be raided and the patrons brought up on sexual
deviancy charges and be required to register as a sex offender.
1954: The San
Francisco Examiner editorializes: "There must be sustained action by the
police and the district attorney to stop the influx of homosexuals. Too many
taverns cater to them openly. Only police action can drive them out of the
city...before the situation so deteriorates that San Francisco finds itself as
the complete haven for undesirables."
1954: Douglass Cross
and his lover, George Cory, write
"I Left My Heart in San Francisco.''
Tony Bennett first sings it in 1961
at the Fairmont's Venetian Room.
1955: State legislature
passes Section 24200(e) of the Business
and Professional Code in an attempt to skirt the 1951 state Supreme Court
decision in Stoumen v Reilly. The
code addition provides that a license might be suspended or revoked if the
premises "are a resort for illegal possessors or users of narcotics,
prostitutes, pimps, panderers, or sexual perverts."
1956: The Mattachine
Society, founded by Harry Hay in Los
Angeles a couple years before, moves its national headquarters to San Francisco
under the new leadership of Hal Call.
The society is the earliest, sustaining, gay liberation organization in the US.
Its charter calls for creating a service and welfare organization devoted to
challenging anti-gay discrimination and building a gay community.
1956: The Daughters
of Bilitis, the first lesbian rights organization in the United States, is
founded by the couple Del Martin and
Phyllis Lyon.
1957: Police
confiscate copies of "Howl and Other
Poems'' by Allen Ginsberg and
arrest City Lights bookstore owner Lawrence
Ferlinghetti on obscenity charges. The charges are overturned in a landmark
free expression case.
1958: The first
leather bar, "Why Not?", opens in the Tenderloin. Others soon follow
in the South of Market area.
1959: Park
Merced, one of the largest planned neighborhoods of high-rise apartments towers
and low-rise garden apartments in SF, refuses to rent to single men
(homosexuals) or African Americans.
1960's: It is
still illegal for homosexuals to congregate in a bar or other public space. It
is routine for beat cops and the vice squad to entrap, beat and blackmail gay
men and gay businesses.
1960: A "gayola"
scandal erupts when it is discovered that a state alcohol-board officials and
some local cops had taken bribes from gay bars. The scandal results in
increased police harassment of gay bars but also sparks pleas for tolerance
from religious and city officials. The "gayola" trial ends in the
acquittal of the officers.
1961: Police raid
the “Tay-Bush Inn” at Taylor and Bush. It is the largest gay bar raid in San
Francisco history. 103 patrons are sent in seven patrol wagons to city jail and
arrested on 'lewd behavior' charges. San Francisco Examiner publishes the
names, addresses, occupations and employers of all arrested. One municipal
judge calls the city a "Parisian pansy's paradise" and threatens
stiff penalties for any homosexuals brought before him.
1961: KQED in San
Francisco broadcasts The Rejected,
the first made-for-television documentary about homosexuality on American TV. Mattachine
Society president Hal Call is one of
three gay spokesmen. The program is critically and popularly well received. This
is in contrast to nearly all mainstream local and national media coverage of
gays and lesbians. Well into 1990’s, the media links LGBT people to deviant,
immoral, mentally ill, or criminal behavior. Demeaning stereotypes are reinforced
and gays and lesbians are assumed to be inherently inferior.
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| José Sarria |
1961: José Sarria,
a Mexican-American drag entertainer who also waited tables at the “Black Cat Café,”
runs as an openly gay candidate for San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in
order to call attention to police harassment of gay-friendly establishments. He
does not win, but he receives 5,600 votes, comes in 9th out of a field of 32
candidates, and demonstrates that a gay vote could be a significant voting
block.
1962: The Tavern
Guild (co-foundered by José Sarria),
an association of gay bar owners and liquor wholesalers, forms in response to
police harassment of gay bars and gay people. The Guild retains a lawyer and
bail bondsman for anyone arrested in or near a gay bar, and it publishes a
brochure on how to deal with being arrested or harassed by police. It eventually becomes a political force
in local politics. It is the first gay business association in the US and lasts
until 1995. Its first leaders include Phil
Doganiero, Bill Plath and Darryl
Glied.
1963: The first
gay bar, "Missouri Mule," opens in the Castro at 2348 Market St.
Recent gay bars that have operated in this space include “Detour”, “Jet” and
now “Trigger.”
1963 The “Black Cat
Café” finally closes. The bar’s legacy is that it broke the barriers that
prevented overtly gay bars from existing freely and affirmed the right of
homosexuals to assemble.
1964: Life magazine publishes a malicious story
identifying San Francisco as the "Gay Capital" of the US. The
article’s tone is accusatory and leads to an outcry against the homosexuals
infesting California. The unintentional effect is that thousands of gay people
pour into California now that they know where to go.
1964: The Society
for Individual Rights (SIR) is founded by William
Beardemphl (José Sarria also one
of the co-founders) in response to police raids and harassment focused on
building a visible gay community. It sponsors drag shows, dinners, bridge
clubs, bowling leagues, softball games, field trips, art classes, and
meditation groups.
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| Police raid gay benefit dance |
1964: Ted McIlvenna,
a social worker at Glide Memorial Church, organizes the Council on Religion and
the Homosexual (CRH) to fight homophobia within mainline churches. The police
raid a benefit for CRH sponsored by several homophile groups including SIR, Tavern
Guild, Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis. The New Year’s Day Mardi Gras
benefit ball is held at California Hall at 625 Polk Street. Police snap
pictures as the 600 attendees, including a number of clergymen and their wives,
arrive or leave in a blatant attempt to intimidate. Police are still in the
habit of making arrests for same-sex touching in bars and urge cancellation of
the dance. When police demand
entry into the hall, three CRH-attorneys explain that under California law, the
event is a private party and they cannot enter unless they have bought tickets.
The lawyers are then arrested, as is a ticket-taker, on charges of obstructing
an officer. The cases go to trial with support from the ACLU. All are
acquitted.
1964: José Sarria
declares himself "Empress José I,
The Widow Norton" and founds the Imperial Court System, which grows to
become an international association and one of the largest LGBT charity
organizations.
Mid-60's: Three
distinct gay enclaves reside in SF. The gay commercial center is on Polk Street
with bars and restaurants catering to the white-collar, professional gays. The
Tenderloin is a mix of bars, restaurants, and residential hotels that catered
to the gay poor and sexually marginal, such as transvestites and male hustlers.
The South of Market is home to bathhouses, sex clubs and the leather
subculture.
1965: Thirty
people picket Grace Cathedral to protest punitive actions taken against Rev. Canon Robert Cromey for his
involvement in the Council on Religion and the Homosexual.
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| Compton's Cafeteria Riot |
1966 (August):
The Compton's Cafeteria Riot occurs in the Tenderloin at 101 Taylor Street at
Turk. This incident is one of the first recorded transgender riots in US
history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall Riots in NYC. Transgender
patrons riot against police oppression at the popular all-night restaurant. It
marks a turning point in the local LGBT movement.
1966: SIR opens
the first gay community center in the US. It is located in the South of Market
area on 6th St.
1966: The North
American Conference of Homophile Organizations holds its first national
convention of gay and lesbian groups in San Francisco.
1969: Tower
Records fires Frank Denaro, believing
him to be gay. The newly formed Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF) pickets
the store for several weeks until Denaro
is reinstated. CHF, a splinter group of SIR and founded by Leo Laurence and Dale
Whittington, runs similar pickets of Safeway stores, Macy's, States
Steamship Company, San Francisco Examiner, and the Federal Building.
1969 (Dec 31):
The Cockettes, a psychedelic drag queen troupe, performed for the first time at
the Palace Theatre on Union and Columbus in the North Beach. The collective is
conceived by Hibiscus, whose full
beard, vintage dresses, make-up, and costume jewelry, created a defiant look.
1970: A small
"gay-in" is held in Golden Gate Park. This is the first event
resembling the modern San Francisco Pride celebration.
1971 (Apr 1): Bob Ross and Paul Bentley co-found the Bay Area Reporter -- a free weekly gay
newspaper. It is the oldest-continuously published, and one of the largest LGBT
newspapers in the US.
1971: San
Francisco police arrest more than 2800 men on public sex charges while NYC only
arrests 63 during the same time. The old Irish/Italian Catholic politicians and
police continue fighting the perceived moral erosion of the city. SF Public
Health Department estimates the gay population in 1971 to be 90,000. In 1977,
the gay population grows to 120,000; and in 1978, to 150,000 or 20% of the
city. By the mid-70's, San Francisco and the Castro neighborhood, the
city-within-a-city, surpasses New York City and Amsterdam as the gay urban
center.
1971: Activists
couple Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon found Alice B. Toklas LGBT
Democratic Club. This political action committee is the first organization for
gay Democrats in the US. The club will consistently take more conservative
political stances than its chief rival, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
that starts in five years.
1972: The San
Francisco Gay Pride Parade is first held. It becomes the largest gathering of
LGBT people and allies in the nation with over a million people attending.
1972: San
Francisco becomes one of the first cities in United States to pass a homosexual
rights ordinance. The law prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual
orientation in the public sector and prohibits companies that have contracts
with the city from discriminating based on sexual orientation.
1972: Harvey Milk
moves from NYC to the Castro and opens his camera store at 575 Castro Street.
1973: The Castro
bar, "Twin Peaks Tavern," is opened by two lesbians. It is the first
gay bar with all plate-glass windows facing the street.
1973 (Dec 15): The
American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its diagnostic list
of mental disorders. The passage of the resolution “cures” millions of gays and
lesbians across America.
1974: Castro
Street Fair begins and becomes the city's longest-running street fair. Harvey Milk, and the group he leads,
the Castro Valley Association, found it.
1974 (Labor Day):
Tensions between the gay community and the police come to a head when a man is
beaten and arrested while walking down Castro Street. Police reinforcements
suddenly appear, their badge numbers hidden, and beat dozens of gay men.
Fourteen are arrested and charged with obstructing a sidewalk. Harvey Milk dubs them the "Castro
14", and a $1.375 million lawsuit is filed against the police.
1975 (Sept. 22): Oliver Sipple, a decorated US Marine
and Vietnam War veteran, foils an assassination attempt on President Gerald Ford by Sara
Jane Moore outside the St. Francis Hotel. The subsequent public revelation that
Sipple is gay turns the news story into a cause célèbre for gay activists.
1975: California
becomes the 12th state to decriminalize consensual sodomy in a bill sponsored
by Willie Brown and George Mascone and signed by Governor Jerry Brown. Besides repealing
the law against consensual sodomy, it also repeals laws against oral copulation
by homosexual, unmarried, and married heterosexual couples.
1976: Believing
that the existing “Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club” will never support him
in his political aspirations, Harvey
Milk co-founded the "San Francisco Gay Democratic Club" in the
wake of his unsuccessful 1976 campaign for the California State Assembly.
Joining Milk in forming the club are a number of the city's activists,
including Harry Britt, Dick Pabich, Jim
Rivaldo and first club president Chris
Perry.
1976: Armistead
Maupin's "Tales of the City''
begins its serialized run in the San Francisco Chronicle.
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| Supervisor Milk and Mayor Mascone |
1977: Harvey Milk
elected city supervisor, becoming the third openly gay American elected to
public office and the first in California. Milk
serves almost 11 months in office and is responsible for passing a stringent
gay rights ordinance for the city. Article
33 of the SF Police Code prohibits discrimination in employment, housing,
and public accommodations based on sexual orientation in the private sector.
1977: Theatre
Rhinoceros, founded by Lanny Baugniet
and his partner Allan B. Estes, Jr.,
is the first gay theater company to employ actors under a professional seasonal
agreement.
1977: The San
Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (now known as Frameline
Film Festival) begins. It is the oldest continuing lesbian and gay film
festival in the world. Founding members include Daniel Nicoletta, David Waggoner, and Marc Huestis.
1978: Artist Gilbert Baker designs the Rainbow or
Gay Pride Flag. It first flies at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade in June 1978.
1978 (Nov. 27): Former
Supervisor Dan White assassinates
Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Despite his short career in politics, Milk becomes an icon in San Francisco
and a martyr in the gay community.
1978: Gay music
pioneer Jon Reed Sims starts the San
Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band and the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus in
1978. He creates the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco in 1980. The San
Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, the world's first openly gay chorus, sings its
first public performance at an impromptu memorial for slain Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Milk.
1979: The Sisters
of Perpetual Indulgence is founded as a charity, protest, and street
performance organization that uses drag and Catholic imagery to call attention
to sexual intolerance and satirize issues of gender and morality.
1979 (May 21):
The White Night Riots follow Dan White's
acquittal of first-degree murder charges and conviction on lesser charges of
voluntary manslaughter. Hundreds of people march to city hall to vent the
injustice. A riot ensues with broken windows and torched police cars. The
spontaneous actions leads to a retaliatory police raid on a Castro gay bar, the
“Elephant Walk” (now “Harvey's Restaurant and Bar”), two miles away and hours
after the City Hall disturbance. Police in riot gear beat many patrons.
Two-dozen arrests are made during the raid, and several people later sue the
police. In the following days, gay leaders refuse to apologize for the events
of that night. This leads to increased political power in the gay community. In
response to a campaign promise, Mayor Dianne Feinstein appoints a pro-gay Chief
of Police, who increases recruitment of gays in the police force and eases
tensions.
Much of the 1980’s and 1990’s focuses on grim and relentless
imprint of AIDS as it marches across the city and the nation. As thousands die,
AIDS becomes the focus of LGBT people who participate in organizations, marches,
and vigils to stop the spread of the disease and increase the availability of
treatments for people living with AIDS.
The late 1990’s and 2000’s sees the incremental expansion of
civil rights for LGBT individuals, but same-sex couples' rights become an
increasingly controversial topic, with referenda and judicial cases on same-sex
marriage jousting for constitutional finality.
References:
Out in the Castro, edited by Winston Leyland
Queer Sites: Gay Urban Histories Since 1600, by David Higgs
Wide Open Town - A history of Queer San Francisco to 1965, by
Nan Alamilla Boyd
http://glbtq.com (glbtq
encyclopedia)
http://gayinsacramento.com/Chron1-Calif-page.htm
(Gay Chronicles)
http://outhistory.org/ (OutHistory)
http://foundsf.org/index.php?title=Category:Gay_and_Lesbian (FoundSF)
http://foundsf.org/index.php?title=Category:Gay_and_Lesbian (FoundSF)
retracing San Francisco Supervisor Milk's life.
