Coming Out into the 1970s - Revision history

Ccarlsson: added lost landscapes video

2023-11-03T05:29:57Z

added lost landscapes video

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:29, 2 November 2023
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	''Photo: Christa Mae''		''Photo: Christa Mae''

			<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/gay-freedom-day-1970s-llsf-2016-20-mbps" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

			'''Home movie footage of early Gay Freedom parade on O'Farrell Street, probably 1972.'''

			''Video: from "Lost Landscapes 11" courtesy Prelinger Archives''

	By the early '70s, several different gay cultures were developing within the City. Gay columnists of the period were surprised but delighted by the emergence of the Castro Street area as a gathering spot for gay culture. There was fluidity between the neighborhoods and between the emerging gay cultures. And several cultures could find a home in the same gay male soul. As a group, gay men are consummate chameleons, reinventing themselves at will. This is a survival skill honed from necessity in a world hostile to queer visibility. For instance, a gay man could don glitter drag inspired by gay theatre groups like the [[Cockettes\|Cockettes]] and the Angels of Light. The next night he might "butch it up" in leather drag to go prowling along Folsom. This worked, as long as he wore the right outfit to the right place.		By the early '70s, several different gay cultures were developing within the City. Gay columnists of the period were surprised but delighted by the emergence of the Castro Street area as a gathering spot for gay culture. There was fluidity between the neighborhoods and between the emerging gay cultures. And several cultures could find a home in the same gay male soul. As a group, gay men are consummate chameleons, reinventing themselves at will. This is a survival skill honed from necessity in a world hostile to queer visibility. For instance, a gay man could don glitter drag inspired by gay theatre groups like the [[Cockettes\|Cockettes]] and the Angels of Light. The next night he might "butch it up" in leather drag to go prowling along Folsom. This worked, as long as he wore the right outfit to the right place.

Ccarlsson: added photo and formatting

2023-03-10T00:18:07Z

added photo and formatting

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:18, 9 March 2023
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	[[Image:Gay Freedom Day 1976 Gaar wnp72.085.jpg\|800px]]		[[Image:Gay Freedom Day 1976 Gaar wnp72.085.jpg\|800px]]

	'''Gay Freedom Day in 1974, when the gay community was equally focused on the Polk Gulch area, as seen in this photo.'''		'''Gay Freedom Day in 1974, when the gay community was equally focused on the Polk Gulch area, as seen in this photo taken on Polk near O'Farrell.'''

	''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp72.085; © Greg Gaar Photography''		''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp72.085; © Greg Gaar Photography''

	"After Stonewall, we started coming out from everywhere and converging in San Francisco. And what you had were thousands of young men, who were suddenly liberated from these old restrictions. They'd been hearing all their lives that they were sick, twisted, criminal, sinful, depraved, and, you know, they couldn't do what they most wanted to do. And then they got a clue, there's something going on in San Francisco, and they came they liberated themselves sexually. I think there's a lot more in terms of culture and spirituality that they weren't really grasping. For them, being gay was all about fucking and sucking. Now we have a much more sophisticated understanding that sexuality is very much involved with spirituality, and politics, and culture. Basically, we've grown up. Back in those days, we had all these guys who were having this explosive adolescent surge of new-found erotic freedom which unleashed this creative explosion, too. But it was all entirely new.		[[Image:Polk Street Fair at Polk and Pine 1975 opensfhistory wnp25.4818.jpg\|800px]]

			'''Polk Street Fair at Polk and Pine in 1975.'''

			''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp25.4818''


			<Blockquote>"After Stonewall, we started coming out from everywhere and converging in San Francisco. And what you had were thousands of young men, who were suddenly liberated from these old restrictions. They'd been hearing all their lives that they were sick, twisted, criminal, sinful, depraved, and, you know, they couldn't do what they most wanted to do. And then they got a clue, there's something going on in San Francisco, and they came they liberated themselves sexually. I think there's a lot more in terms of culture and spirituality that they weren't really grasping. For them, being gay was all about fucking and sucking. Now we have a much more sophisticated understanding that sexuality is very much involved with spirituality, and politics, and culture. Basically, we've grown up. Back in those days, we had all these guys who were having this explosive adolescent surge of new-found erotic freedom which unleashed this creative explosion, too. But it was all entirely new.

			Everything was fresh and new. None of this had been done before!"</blockquote>

	~~Everything was fresh and new. None of this had been done before!"~~

	[[Image:2-women-and-2-men Party-2.jpg]]		[[Image:2-women-and-2-men Party-2.jpg]]

Ccarlsson: added photo

2022-10-25T19:51:47Z

added photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:51, 25 October 2022
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	Everything was fresh and new. None of this had been done before!"		Everything was fresh and new. None of this had been done before!"

			[[Image:2-women-and-2-men Party-2.jpg]]

			'''Snapshot from a house party in the Castro in the 1970s.'''

			''Photo: Christa Mae''

	By the early '70s, several different gay cultures were developing within the City. Gay columnists of the period were surprised but delighted by the emergence of the Castro Street area as a gathering spot for gay culture. There was fluidity between the neighborhoods and between the emerging gay cultures. And several cultures could find a home in the same gay male soul. As a group, gay men are consummate chameleons, reinventing themselves at will. This is a survival skill honed from necessity in a world hostile to queer visibility. For instance, a gay man could don glitter drag inspired by gay theatre groups like the [[Cockettes\|Cockettes]] and the Angels of Light. The next night he might "butch it up" in leather drag to go prowling along Folsom. This worked, as long as he wore the right outfit to the right place.		By the early '70s, several different gay cultures were developing within the City. Gay columnists of the period were surprised but delighted by the emergence of the Castro Street area as a gathering spot for gay culture. There was fluidity between the neighborhoods and between the emerging gay cultures. And several cultures could find a home in the same gay male soul. As a group, gay men are consummate chameleons, reinventing themselves at will. This is a survival skill honed from necessity in a world hostile to queer visibility. For instance, a gay man could don glitter drag inspired by gay theatre groups like the [[Cockettes\|Cockettes]] and the Angels of Light. The next night he might "butch it up" in leather drag to go prowling along Folsom. This worked, as long as he wore the right outfit to the right place.

Ccarlsson at 06:58, 5 October 2021

2021-10-05T06:58:51Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:58, 4 October 2021
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	The bars South of Market were the places where leathermen could exist on their own terms by controlling who was admitted and under what conditions. The street outside was a world away. Yet in another sense, the street was equally important in forming their queer identity, for the street was where queers were confronted with the norms of heterosexual society. In ''Some Dance to Remember'', Jack Fritscher writes: "When gay people liberated themselves at the Stonewall riot, they shouted, 'Out of the bars and into the streets.' The street is a confirmation of the public side of gay life and politics. The street is the place where, when you go there, you know you're out of your closet."		The bars South of Market were the places where leathermen could exist on their own terms by controlling who was admitted and under what conditions. The street outside was a world away. Yet in another sense, the street was equally important in forming their queer identity, for the street was where queers were confronted with the norms of heterosexual society. In ''Some Dance to Remember'', Jack Fritscher writes: "When gay people liberated themselves at the Stonewall riot, they shouted, 'Out of the bars and into the streets.' The street is a confirmation of the public side of gay life and politics. The street is the place where, when you go there, you know you're out of your closet."

	''~~originally~~ published in ''Black Sheets'' magazine ''		[[Image:Folsom-Prison,-a-gay-bar,-at-1898-Folsom-Street-at-15th-Street---1976-.jpg\|800px]]

			'''Folsom Prison, a gay bar at 1898 Folsom Street at 15th Street, 1976.'''

			''Photo: Max Kirkeberg Collection, diva.sfsu.edu''

			''Originally published in ''Black Sheets'' magazine ''


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	[[The 1970s: Disco Fever and Respectability \| Prev. Document]] [[Sex Panic Closes Bathhouses \| Next Document]]		[[The 1970s: Disco Fever and Respectability \| Prev. Document]] [[Sex Panic Closes Bathhouses \| Next Document]]

	[[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:Castro]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:Polk Gulch]]		[[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:Castro]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:Polk Gulch]] [[category:Mission]]

Ccarlsson at 21:48, 16 July 2020

2020-07-16T21:48:54Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:48, 16 July 2020
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	[[Image:Gay Freedom Day 1976 Gaar wnp72.085.jpg\|800px]]		[[Image:Gay Freedom Day 1976 Gaar wnp72.085.jpg\|800px]]

	'''Gay Freedom Day in ~~1976~~, when the gay community was equally focused on the Polk Gulch area, as seen in this photo.'''		'''Gay Freedom Day in 1974, when the gay community was equally focused on the Polk Gulch area, as seen in this photo.'''

	''Photo: ~~Greg Gaar, courtesy~~ OpenSFHistory.org wnp72.085''		''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp72.085; © Greg Gaar Photography''

	"After Stonewall, we started coming out from everywhere and converging in San Francisco. And what you had were thousands of young men, who were suddenly liberated from these old restrictions. They'd been hearing all their lives that they were sick, twisted, criminal, sinful, depraved, and, you know, they couldn't do what they most wanted to do. And then they got a clue, there's something going on in San Francisco, and they came they liberated themselves sexually. I think there's a lot more in terms of culture and spirituality that they weren't really grasping. For them, being gay was all about fucking and sucking. Now we have a much more sophisticated understanding that sexuality is very much involved with spirituality, and politics, and culture. Basically, we've grown up. Back in those days, we had all these guys who were having this explosive adolescent surge of new-found erotic freedom which unleashed this creative explosion, too. But it was all entirely new.		"After Stonewall, we started coming out from everywhere and converging in San Francisco. And what you had were thousands of young men, who were suddenly liberated from these old restrictions. They'd been hearing all their lives that they were sick, twisted, criminal, sinful, depraved, and, you know, they couldn't do what they most wanted to do. And then they got a clue, there's something going on in San Francisco, and they came they liberated themselves sexually. I think there's a lot more in terms of culture and spirituality that they weren't really grasping. For them, being gay was all about fucking and sucking. Now we have a much more sophisticated understanding that sexuality is very much involved with spirituality, and politics, and culture. Basically, we've grown up. Back in those days, we had all these guys who were having this explosive adolescent surge of new-found erotic freedom which unleashed this creative explosion, too. But it was all entirely new.

Ccarlsson: added photo and category

2020-07-09T20:23:33Z

added photo and category

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:23, 9 July 2020
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	''by Bill Brent''		''by Bill Brent''

	[[Image:~~gay1$ffa-flyer~~.jpg]]		[[Image:Gay Freedom Day 1976 Gaar wnp72.085.jpg\|800px]]

	'''~~Fistfucking "timeline"--poster for Fist Fuckers of America (FFA) night at~~ the ~~Folsom Street Barracks~~, c. ~~1972~~'''		'''Gay Freedom Day in 1976, when the gay community was equally focused on the Polk Gulch area, as seen in this photo.'''

			''Photo: Greg Gaar, courtesy OpenSFHistory.org wnp72.085''

	"After Stonewall, we started coming out from everywhere and converging in San Francisco. And what you had were thousands of young men, who were suddenly liberated from these old restrictions. They'd been hearing all their lives that they were sick, twisted, criminal, sinful, depraved, and, you know, they couldn't do what they most wanted to do. And then they got a clue, there's something going on in San Francisco, and they came they liberated themselves sexually. I think there's a lot more in terms of culture and spirituality that they weren't really grasping. For them, being gay was all about fucking and sucking. Now we have a much more sophisticated understanding that sexuality is very much involved with spirituality, and politics, and culture. Basically, we've grown up. Back in those days, we had all these guys who were having this explosive adolescent surge of new-found erotic freedom which unleashed this creative explosion, too. But it was all entirely new.		"After Stonewall, we started coming out from everywhere and converging in San Francisco. And what you had were thousands of young men, who were suddenly liberated from these old restrictions. They'd been hearing all their lives that they were sick, twisted, criminal, sinful, depraved, and, you know, they couldn't do what they most wanted to do. And then they got a clue, there's something going on in San Francisco, and they came they liberated themselves sexually. I think there's a lot more in terms of culture and spirituality that they weren't really grasping. For them, being gay was all about fucking and sucking. Now we have a much more sophisticated understanding that sexuality is very much involved with spirituality, and politics, and culture. Basically, we've grown up. Back in those days, we had all these guys who were having this explosive adolescent surge of new-found erotic freedom which unleashed this creative explosion, too. But it was all entirely new.
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	Jack Fertig recalls, "I was living in genderfuck drag in Berkeley in '72. We got up into drag and came into the City. We were just checking out the bars on Folsom Street that we'd heard about. We tried getting into the Ramrod, but they wouldn't allow us in because we didn't fit the dress code, which was sort of black. They said, 'Sorry, girls! You gotta dress butch to come in here.'"		Jack Fertig recalls, "I was living in genderfuck drag in Berkeley in '72. We got up into drag and came into the City. We were just checking out the bars on Folsom Street that we'd heard about. We tried getting into the Ramrod, but they wouldn't allow us in because we didn't fit the dress code, which was sort of black. They said, 'Sorry, girls! You gotta dress butch to come in here.'"

			[[Image:gay1$ffa-flyer.jpg\|left]]

			'''Fistfucking "timeline"--poster for Fist Fuckers of America (FFA) night at the Folsom Street Barracks, c. 1972'''

	The bars South of Market were the places where leathermen could exist on their own terms by controlling who was admitted and under what conditions. The street outside was a world away. Yet in another sense, the street was equally important in forming their queer identity, for the street was where queers were confronted with the norms of heterosexual society. In ''Some Dance to Remember'', Jack Fritscher writes: "When gay people liberated themselves at the Stonewall riot, they shouted, 'Out of the bars and into the streets.' The street is a confirmation of the public side of gay life and politics. The street is the place where, when you go there, you know you're out of your closet."		The bars South of Market were the places where leathermen could exist on their own terms by controlling who was admitted and under what conditions. The street outside was a world away. Yet in another sense, the street was equally important in forming their queer identity, for the street was where queers were confronted with the norms of heterosexual society. In ''Some Dance to Remember'', Jack Fritscher writes: "When gay people liberated themselves at the Stonewall riot, they shouted, 'Out of the bars and into the streets.' The street is a confirmation of the public side of gay life and politics. The street is the place where, when you go there, you know you're out of your closet."

	''~~--Bill Brent,~~ ''Black Sheets ''magazine, from which this material was excerpted, can be ordered by sending an age statement with your order to Black Books, PO Box 31155, San Francisco CA 94131-0155. Complete catalog of all our publications on underground culture is just $1. ''		''originally published in ''Black Sheets'' magazine ''


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	[[The 1970s: Disco Fever and Respectability \| Prev. Document]] [[Sex Panic Closes Bathhouses \| Next Document]]		[[The 1970s: Disco Fever and Respectability \| Prev. Document]] [[Sex Panic Closes Bathhouses \| Next Document]]

	[[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:Castro]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:1970s]]		[[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:Castro]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:Polk Gulch]]

Jeff: Text replacement - "category:Gay and Lesbian" to "category:LGBTQI"

2018-10-16T15:09:03Z

Text replacement - "category:Gay and Lesbian" to "category:LGBTQI"

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:09, 16 October 2018
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	[[The 1970s: Disco Fever and Respectability \| Prev. Document]] [[Sex Panic Closes Bathhouses \| Next Document]]		[[The 1970s: Disco Fever and Respectability \| Prev. Document]] [[Sex Panic Closes Bathhouses \| Next Document]]

	[[category:~~Gay and Lesbian~~]] [[category:Castro]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:1970s]]		[[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:Castro]] [[category:SOMA]] [[category:1970s]]

Ccarlsson: added link

2012-08-07T21:17:49Z

added link

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:17, 7 August 2012
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	Everything was fresh and new. None of this had been done before!"		Everything was fresh and new. None of this had been done before!"

	By the early '70s, several different gay cultures were developing within the City. Gay columnists of the period were surprised but delighted by the emergence of the Castro Street area as a gathering spot for gay culture. There was fluidity between the neighborhoods and between the emerging gay cultures. And several cultures could find a home in the same gay male soul. As a group, gay men are consummate chameleons, reinventing themselves at will. This is a survival skill honed from necessity in a world hostile to queer visibility. For instance, a gay man could don glitter drag inspired by gay theatre groups like the Cockettes and the Angels of Light. The next night he might "butch it up" in leather drag to go prowling along Folsom. This worked, as long as he wore the right outfit to the right place.		By the early '70s, several different gay cultures were developing within the City. Gay columnists of the period were surprised but delighted by the emergence of the Castro Street area as a gathering spot for gay culture. There was fluidity between the neighborhoods and between the emerging gay cultures. And several cultures could find a home in the same gay male soul. As a group, gay men are consummate chameleons, reinventing themselves at will. This is a survival skill honed from necessity in a world hostile to queer visibility. For instance, a gay man could don glitter drag inspired by gay theatre groups like the [[Cockettes\|Cockettes]] and the Angels of Light. The next night he might "butch it up" in leather drag to go prowling along Folsom. This worked, as long as he wore the right outfit to the right place.

	Jack Fertig recalls, "I was living in genderfuck drag in Berkeley in '72. We got up into drag and came into the City. We were just checking out the bars on Folsom Street that we'd heard about. We tried getting into the Ramrod, but they wouldn't allow us in because we didn't fit the dress code, which was sort of black. They said, 'Sorry, girls! You gotta dress butch to come in here.'"		Jack Fertig recalls, "I was living in genderfuck drag in Berkeley in '72. We got up into drag and came into the City. We were just checking out the bars on Folsom Street that we'd heard about. We tried getting into the Ramrod, but they wouldn't allow us in because we didn't fit the dress code, which was sort of black. They said, 'Sorry, girls! You gotta dress butch to come in here.'"

Ccarlsson: Protected "Coming Out into the 1970s": finished essay [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

2009-01-06T07:09:25Z

Protected "Coming Out into the 1970s": finished essay [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

← Older revision	Revision as of 00:09, 6 January 2009
(No difference)

Ccarlsson: PC and protected

2009-01-06T07:09:11Z

PC and protected

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:09, 6 January 2009
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			'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''

			''by Bill Brent''

	[[Image:gay1$ffa-flyer.jpg]]		[[Image:gay1$ffa-flyer.jpg]]

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	The bars South of Market were the places where leathermen could exist on their own terms by controlling who was admitted and under what conditions. The street outside was a world away. Yet in another sense, the street was equally important in forming their queer identity, for the street was where queers were confronted with the norms of heterosexual society. In ''Some Dance to Remember'', Jack Fritscher writes: "When gay people liberated themselves at the Stonewall riot, they shouted, 'Out of the bars and into the streets.' The street is a confirmation of the public side of gay life and politics. The street is the place where, when you go there, you know you're out of your closet."		The bars South of Market were the places where leathermen could exist on their own terms by controlling who was admitted and under what conditions. The street outside was a world away. Yet in another sense, the street was equally important in forming their queer identity, for the street was where queers were confronted with the norms of heterosexual society. In ''Some Dance to Remember'', Jack Fritscher writes: "When gay people liberated themselves at the Stonewall riot, they shouted, 'Out of the bars and into the streets.' The street is a confirmation of the public side of gay life and politics. The street is the place where, when you go there, you know you're out of your closet."

	''--Bill Brent, ''Black Sheets ''magazine, from which this material was excerpted, can be ordered by sending an age statement with your order to Black Books, PO Box 31155, San Francisco CA 94131-0155~~. $6 for issue 12, or $20 for a 4-issue sub~~. Complete catalog of all our publications on underground culture is just $1~~. And yes, we do take plastic! (415) 431-0171~~.''		''--Bill Brent, ''Black Sheets ''magazine, from which this material was excerpted, can be ordered by sending an age statement with your order to Black Books, PO Box 31155, San Francisco CA 94131-0155. Complete catalog of all our publications on underground culture is just $1. ''