how did s.f. become known as "the place for gays"?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : San Francisco History : One Thread

how did this area become know nationwide as the place for gay people? I heard that it had something to do with the navy and something to do with a city council member. thanks.

-- curt kimball (curtkimball@hotmail.com), June 17, 2001

Answers

San Francisco has always been known as a wide open town. You have to remember that homosexuality was ILLEGAL until the 70s. I remember that in about 1964, LIFE magazine ran a spread about the gay scene in San Francisco!

-- ziggy (maugo99@hotmail.com), June 18, 2001.

There are a couple of rip-snorting histories of San Francisco's gay history in Mike Weiss' "Double Play" and Randy Shilt's "The Mayor of Castro Street." The Shilts book is a biography of Harvey Milk; the Weiss book is about the Milk and Moscone assassinations and has really good biographies of both men and of the community as a whole.

Shilt's "And The Band Played On" is more global than local.

Rosa

-- Rosa Debonneheure (rosadebon@yahoo.com), June 27, 2001.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ