San Francisco’s Castro: Still an LGBT Mecca After All These Years

For more than four decades, San Francisco has been LGBT mecca. The city was home to Jose Sarria (1923–2013) who, in 1961, became the first openly gay candidate to run for the Board of Supervisors. Though Sarria didn’t win, he garnered more votes than anyone expected. It was Harvey Milk (1930–1978) who won a seat on the Board in 1978 —the first out gay man to hold elective office in US history.

But before Sarria and Milk, there were The Daughters of Bilitis. Founded in San Francisco way back in 1955, DoB was the country’s first lesbian political action organization. In 2004, co-founders Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon became the first same-sex couple to be married at San Francisco City Hall.

LGBT history abounds in San Francisco, and the city’s Castro District stands as a testament to past generations.

Stop off at 575 Castro, where Harvey Milk operated his camera store, and his political campaigns. Today a portrait of Harvey graces the front of the building’s upper floor.

A number of LGBT-owned businesses line both sides of the street, such as Whatever Comics at 548 Castro. Owned by Rich and Cougar, a gay couple who love to “geek out” on comic book fandom, Whatever is a well-stocked shop filled with new releases, merchandise, and independently published LGBT comic books — the guys often devote shelf space to local queer comic book creators.

A visit to the Castro Theater (429 Castro) is essential. This beautiful movie palace first opened in 1922 and remains a single-screen theater today. The eclectic programming includes new LGBT cinema, classic Hollywood screenings, film festivals (including the Frameline LGBT Film Fest), and live shows. The Castro is a throwback to those bygone days when going to the movies meant visiting an elegantly appointed showplace — the Castro decor is indeed akin to that of a 19th-century mansion.

As you walk up and down Castro Street, you can’t help but notice The Rainbow Honor Walk. These are bronze plaques built into the sidewalk that honor the lives of LGBT legends. Ever hear of Christine Jorgensen, (1926–1989), the first American to undergo sex reassignment surgery? How about writers Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) and Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)? They, and many others, are memorialized in the Rainbow Honor Walk.

You might even bump into Cleve Jones as you peruse the neighborhood. Founder of the Names Project (The AIDS Memorial Quilt) and a close friend of Harvey Milk, Jones calls the Castro Home and can often be seen strolling around the neighborhood. Jones is a longtime HIV survivor, which serves as a reminder that Coming Home Hospice, the first hospice to serve terminally ill AIDS patients, is also in the Castro. The area was ground zero for the battle against AIDS during the plague’s peak years — Coming Home Hospice continues to give the dying a place where they can transition with dignity.

There’s so much to see all over San Francisco — you don’t want to visit the city without stopping off in the Haight, the former hippie enclave where the 1967 “Summer of Love” spawned a social revolution. There’s also The Tenderloin, a somewhat run-down area where many transgender people have been able to find community since the 1960s.

But for the LGBT traveler — and our history — San Francisco begins and ends in the Castro.