SAN FRANCISCO
Times are a- changing in The City by the Bay
It’s a cool autumn evening in San Francisco and I’m following a drag queen around the Union Square district, listening to notorious tales of the infamous Zodiac Killer and Jim Jones’s Peoples Temple cult.
Mary Vice is leading an evening ghost- walk tour for Wild SF Walking Tours. Standing in the lobby of the imposing Westin St Francis Hotel, the suitably goth- looking Mary tells our small group about an aspiring actress who died under suspicious circumstances attending a party with silent- film legend Fatty Arbuckle in 1921, and about the ghosts rumoured to haunt this grand old establishment.
That San Francisco has more than its fair share of murder stories is not surprising. The city has acted as a magnet for drifters, the displaced, and those who simply felt different, for decades. This has famously included millions of LGBTQ people.
“I found a community here really quickly,” Mary replies when I ask what brought her here from Philadelphia four years ago. “At the time, I didn’t know where I was going to end up. I was checking out different places on the West Coast but I fell in love with the scene here. It was interesting and inviting. I felt you could get away with everything.”
Her story is not uncommon. Frisco earned a reputation as somewhere you could “get away with everything” in the 1960s and 1970s, although its image as a gay nirvana took a blow in the Eighties with the arrival of the Aids epidemic. At the same time, other cities began to develop gaybourhoods of their own.
I’m visiting San Fran for a glimpse of what it offers international visitors, but also with one question at the forefront of my mind: is it still the mythical gay mecca of years past?
Like any metropolis, San Francisco — the city by the bay — boasts distinct neighbourhoods. For gay people, the obvious one is the Castro.
The most concentrated gay village in the whole of the US, rainbow flags hang on the lampposts and a giant one flutters over the subway station.
The Castro covers a four- block district around the rainbow cross- walks at 18th and Castro Streets. There are plenty of LGBTQ- run businesses. It was, and remains for some, a glimpse of a queer utopia: where LGBTQ life, for once, is not in the minority.
For a true sense of the area’s history, visit the GLBT Historical Society Museum. Staff are happy to talk to tourists.
One of the city’s most famous residents was Harvey Milk, who was shot by a fellow politician. Milk ran a camera shop at 575
Castro Street, and the store has since been taken over by the LGBTQ organisation Human Rights Campaign, which sells t- shirts and other merchandise to raise funds.
The vintage Castro Theatre still screens movies, while popular local bars include Twin Peaks which, when it turned gay in 1972, was the first such venue to boast big windows looking out on to the street: a bold move at a time when most queer spaces were hidden away.
Patrick Batt moved to San Francisco 39 years ago and has been running his vintage porn store, Auto Erotica, in The Castro for the past 23 years.
“Thanks to the tech industry there are many more people,” he says when I ask him what changes he’s witnessed. “And those people, at least from my perspective, have little interest in San Francisco or its history.
“They want to live in the Castro because it’s centrally located to get to and from work, but they’re not interested in, and do not support, the neighbourhood.”
Patrick believes the Castro will remain the heart of gay life in the city, but in the same way that Soho in New York and Boystown in Chicago have changed, the neighbourhood is evolving. With the advance of gay rights, gay culture no longer has to be under ground.
He adds: “With gay marriage, people can live and be wherever they want, so they don’t necessarily need gay ghettos any more.”
The impact of the tech industry is something many people talk about in San Francisco. Apple, Uber, Lyft, and Salesforce are just four of many companies that have their headquarters in or near the city. Although this has brought an economic boost, it’s changing the landscape immeasurably.
A 10- minute walk from the Castro brings you to the Mission. This area reminds me slightly of Shoreditch in London: formerly economically disadvantaged but now becoming gentrified. Preppy tech types with money are moving in and those without are being forced out of this traditionally Latinx area. The district is a hot spot for street art, and many of the murals along Clarion Alley have a political edge, directly commentating on how the area is changing.
The Mission itself remains a mixture of cheap eats and grunge. Homelessness is apparent in San Francisco, and this is particularly true around Dolores Mission
Park. By contrast, head three blocks east of Mission Street to Valencia Street and the vibe notably shifts upmarket. Among the small art galleries, check out the bizarre Paxton Gate, a store crammed with stuffed animals and other oddities inspired “by the garden and natural sciences”.
For a different neighbourhood experience, head to Japantown. Japanese people have been settling here since after the 1906 earthquake. The district covered some 36 blocks before WWII and was expanding but the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 changed all that. The US government interned Japanese people during the war and turned many of their homes and businesses into social housing, but Japantown survived — albeit in a smaller form — after the conflict ended in 1945.
You’ll still find dozens of Japanese businesses and cultural centres, while sushi and ramen lovers will be spoilt for choice by the wealth of cuisine on offer.
Like other neighbourhoods, Japantown is likely to prevail but residents are wary that big business may further encroach on this Asian enclave. There are two Japan Centre shopping malls that are currently legally obliged to host Japanese- themed businesses. However, those obligations expire in 2021 and some residents fear that more homogenous high- street brands will move in.
But what about the city’s really touristy stuff? The most famous attraction has to be Alcatraz. I have to admit, I had little prior interest in visiting the former prison, but it turns out to be one of my highlights.
“I fell in love with the scene here. I felt you could get away with eveerything”
About a mile off the coast, The Rock is clearly visible from San Francisco and is woven into the city’s DNA, despite closing as a high- security federal penitentiary in 1963.
Once you leave the ferry, climb the hill to the one- time jail- house and take the audio tour. Listen to former inmates and prison officers recount the history, taking you into the cells of those imprisoned there — inmates included Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly and Birdman Robert Stroud.
The entire Bay Area — one of San Fran’s many nicknames is Bay City — boasts its own micro- climate, and on the day I visit, the island is wrapped in thick fog, making the visit all the more eerie and ghostly.
When you arrive back from Alcatraz, it’s a short walk from the ferry terminal to Pier 39, which is crammed with souvenir stores, boutiques and other businesses looking for your tourist dollars. It’s worth visiting for the city’s very noisy sea lions.
These “sea- lebrities”, which live off the West Marina, are a phenomenon. A small number of them began to appear following the 6.9- magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Due to a plentiful supply of herring and the protected environment, the creatures realised they’d found themselves a cosy home. An increasing number turned up, hitting an all- time record of 1,700 in 2009. They have become a tourist spectacle.
Other attractions with a “wow” factor include the huge San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the newly opened and awe- inspiring Chase Center, home to the NBA Warriors basketball team and the venue for numerous pop concerts.
Golden Gate Park is not next to the bridge of the same name. However, do seek it out. Like New York’s Central Park, it’s vast, covering more than 1,000 acres — it can easily take several hours to explore and is home to a number of institutions, including the de Young Museum of modern art, which also offers a great viewing platform overlooking the city. Opposite the de Young is the impressive California Academy of Sciences.
I also recommend the nearby National Aids Memorial Grove.
It was conceived in 1989 when the city was in the grip of the epidemic, with the aim of providing a healing sanctuary for those affected by HIV and the loss of loved ones.
To this day, it remains a beautifully tended woodland grotto to explore. As you find yourself walking beneath the fronds of giant ferns, you’ll spot the many rocks engraved with the names of those lost to the illness. It’s a sobering and moving experience.
Like Patrick, Tom Burtch is a long- term San Francisco resident. He began visiting the city from Wisconsin in 1973 and moved permanently in 1985, searching for sexual liberation. Now 70 and working as a volunteer at the GLBT Historical Museum, he says it still offers something unique, even if the cost of living has spiralled.
“I sing with the Gay Men’s Chorus and we’ve just had a number of members say they can’t afford to make it here any more. It’s the economics more than the actual change in the gayness of San Francisco that’s had am impact,” he says.
“More gay presence in society in general has possibly made San Francisco a little less “special” in terms of what it has to offer the community, and [ Mayor] Dianne Feinstein closing the bathhouses, in that early knee- jerk reaction in the early days of Aids, did a lot to make San Francisco a less wild and crazy place than the reputation it had received.”
That’s not to say queer night life isn’t flourishing — far from it. From behind the counter at the human rights centre store, two gay men in their twenties tell me about
“Golden Gate Park covers more than 1,000 acres. It can take hours to explore”
their favourite bars. David Doucette, originally from another part of California, says he came to San Francisco because he saw it as the centre of gay life and it has “lived up to expectations.” He recommends Castro bars 440 and Moby Dick, along with The Stud and Powerhouse in the Soma district ( South of Market Street).
His friend and co- worker Delvin Hodges warns that although San Francisco is the epicentre for gay life for some, queer people of colour like him haven’t always felt the same sense of belonging. He recommends a bar called Jolene’s, on the border of Mission and Soma.
“Their slogan, in this pink triangle, says ‘ You are safe here’. That’s what Jolene’s symbolises for a lot of people who lost their familiarity with San Francisco. They find it in Jolene’s.”
Away from the Castro, there are many bars dotted around Soma. The Stud is one name that pops up often. Facing potential closure in 2016, the long- running establishment was taken over by a co- operative of performers and other scene folk. One of them is Marke
Bieschke, who also edits local publication 48 Hills and The San Francisco Bay Guardian.
“San Francisco has changed a lot but it’s not less gay in terms of its off erings,” he tells me over a coff ee.
“There is still a wonderful underground of queer people, of gender- non- conforming people, trans people, who are pushing the envelope in relation to arts and music.
That’s been a little overshadowed by the tech industry, but the tech industry is surprisingly made up of so many young gay men that there’s been a fl ush of them into the scene.
“Underground dance parties and sex parties have been revived by them… we didn’t really have those. That’s kind of exploded.”
He recommends Comfort & Joy, and Honey Soundsystem, as clubs to check out. I make it a mission to visit the legendary Sunday Beer Blast at the San Francisco Eagle and I’m not disappointed.
The venue is dark, scuzzy and illuminated with red lighting. Posters for club promotions past and present adorn the walls.
The outdoor area, with camoufl age netting and mirror- balls, is packed with burly men, and a giant leather fl ag fl ies above the building. The city designated this area as its Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District in 2018 and is creating a “leather plaza” – a public park outside the bar.
You’ll fi nd a similar welcome at biker bar, The Hole in The Wall Saloon, while bears hang out at the Lone Star Saloon and at the aforementioned Powerhouse. The annual leather and S& Mthemed Folsom Street Fair takes place in this neighbourhood each September.
The biggest LGBTQ gathering, unsurprisingly, is Pride. After the focus on New York in 2019 for the Stonewall anniversary, all eyes will be on San Francisco this summer for its own 50th celebration.
It’s sure to be a huge event, although, like elsewhere in the world, conversations around the corporate presence abound.
“Two years ago, the contingent [ in the parade] from Apple was something like 45 minutes long,” recalls Tom Burtch. “We’re very happy Apple are supportive but we don’t need to see 3,000 [ of their] employees.”
Organisers tell me they now limit contingents to 1,500 people. It’s not diff icult to imagine smaller community groups might still feel overshadowed by the tech giants.
On my Sunday evening walk around the Castro, I’m surprised to come across one such community group: three naked men standing outside the theatre at about 7pm. They don’t appear to be doing anything and no one is taking much notice of them. In any other city in the world, they’d probably be arrested.
“Were they wearing cock socks?” asks Marke when I question him about them.
Actually, I recall, one did appear to be wearing a sequin- encrusted condom over his willy, but not the others.
“Oh, they’re supposed to,” he laughs. “Maybe they were protesting. They’re nudists. There used to be a whole contingent of them, and they used to be tourist attractions and nobody would blink an eye.”
Marke adds: “A gay city supervisor, Scott Wiener, went on a campaign to get rid of public nudity, so now it’s only allowed at certain street fairs. And the compromise, because there was an outcry about it, is that they can walk around as long as they wear cock socks. It’s just a very San Francisco thing.”
I find it reassuring that I can still stumble across a trio of nudists casually hanging out in the Castro, but Marke’s words are a reminder that things ain’t what they used to be.
However, the 50th anniversary of San Francisco Pride is the perfect time to plan a trip. It’s sure to show off the city in all its queer glory. But the main reason for going sooner rather than later is that San Fran is changing and there’s no predicting what the city will be like a few years down the line.
“They’re nudists. They can walk around as long as they wear cock socks””