Gay castro

Vibrant and eclectic, the Castro/Upper Market neighborhood is an internationally known symbol of gay freedom, a uppermost tourist destination full of stylish shops and widespread entertainment spots, and a thriving residential area that thousands of San Franciscans call home.

Its streets are filled with lovingly restored Victorian homes, rainbow identity flags, shops offering one-of-a-kind merchandise, heritage streetcars, lively bars and restaurants, and numerous gay-borhood landmarks including Harvey Milk Plaza, the Castro Theatre, Pink Triangle Park and Memorial, and the large SF Queer woman Gay Bisexual Transgender People Center.

The Castro District, superior known as The Castro, is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, which is also known as Eureka Valley.

San Francisco’s male lover village is most concentrated in the business district that is located on Castro Street from Market Street to 19th Lane. It extends down Market Street toward Church and on both sides of the Castro neighborhood from Church Street to Eureka Street. Although the greater gay community was, and is, concentrated in the Castro many gay people live in the surrounding residential areas bordered by the

Historical Essay

by Chris Carlsson, 1995

Castro Street Fair, 1978

Castro Avenue Scene 1970s

Photos: Crawford Barton, Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California

Many across the Merged States consider San Francisco to be a “Gay Mecca” due to its large gay community located primarily in the Castro District as well as the city’s relatively liberal attitude towards sex. Until the 1960’s, though, the Castro was largely a white working class Irish neighborhood known as “Eureka Valley.” A shift came during World War II, when many soldiers came to San Francisco and formed gay relationships. These soldiers then stayed in the city after existence discharged for homosexuality. In the 1950s, Beat Society erupted in San Francisco and notoriously rebelled against middle class values, thus aligning itself with homosexuality and helped bring same-sex attracted culture to mainstream attention. In the mid to late 1950s, groups such as the Daughters of Bilitis and the Mattachine Society were born, as well as the Tavern Guild, which was the first openly gay business association. By 1969, there were 50 gay organizations in San Francisco, and by 1973 there were 800. Unfortunately, The Castro neighborhood is famous internationally as the identify where in the initial 1970s gay life burst out of the closet, hoisted a rainbow flag, and has been celebrating ever since. Thousands of gays and lesbians dial it home, and thousands more visit every year to party at its bars and restaurants, shop at unique boutiques and stores, stroll hand-in-hand, and enjoy the gay-friendly atmosphere. The Best of the Castro/Upper Market: 10 Unique Diversions Tour the GLBT History Museum – (4127 18th St. near Castro / 415.621.1107 / www.glbthistory.com) Opened in January 2011, it is the only museum in the U.S. dedicated solely to gay history. It exhibits a variety of interesting LGBT objects, photographs and documents including items and clothing that belonged to activist Harvey Milk. See a Movie at the Castro Theatre – (429 Castro St. / 415-621-3120 / www.castrotheatre.com) One of the U.S.’s few remaining 1920’s movie palaces in daily operation, the ornate Spanish revival style theatre is the perfect fantasy setting for movies antique and new. It’s large neon sign is the neighborhood’s symbol. The interior boasts colorful Italianate murals, a huge chandelier, Peter L. Stein Producer Peter L. Stein on the Making of The Castro It's hard to pinpoint exactly how and when this program got its initiate. Was it in June of 1996, when KQED's cameras first started to roll tape (it was an AIDS benefit at Josie's Cabaret and Juice Joint)? Or perhaps it was in May 1992? That's when I first discussed the idea of a series of programs telling the story of San Francisco through its neighborhoods, and it adv became clear to all of us that the Castro would make a powerful and entertaining episode. Or was it in 1973, when a 13-year-old kid from the Sunset District had to consume a lot of after-school hours riding the streetcar home, and got his first look at the neighborhood that was soon to become the "gay mecca"? Truth to explain , I didn't notice too much about the Castro then -- it was just a place to catch the streetcar; but by the time I moved back to San Francisco as an elder in 1983, six blocks from Castro Street, the neighborhood had become, it seems irrevocably, a cornerstone of gay history. That trans .