September 26, 1997 GAY PEOPle's ChroNiCLE 21
TRAVEL AND LEISURE
For countless reasons, San Francisco is a gay mecca
by Bob Boone
San Francisco, the gay mecca. But why? How can a city, a cluster of asphalt and bricks and pipes and wires like any other city, become a mecca?
If this were television, the omnipotent educator of my generation raised before the Internet, the screen would suddenly flash image after image answering why San Francisco is not honestly like any other city.
We could start with some easy images, like the Gay Pride celebrations throughout June.
Early in the month comes the appearance of the schedule for the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, and suddenly everyone is desperately trying to choose from the seemingly endless list of films by lesbian and gay writers, directors, and producers. (Yes, there are
more than the five or six queer films each year that are tucked away in the program guides of "mainstream" art-film festivals).
Next thing you know, rainbow flags have blossomed along the city's major thoroughfare, Market Street, mapping the path of the impending parade. The fun-filled galas of the film festival mix with the power of the Dyke March as the streets of the Castro district are blocked to traffic and flooded with tens of thousands of queers for the annual Pink Party, an immense and exuberant pep rally on the eve of the parade.
And then comes the parade itself, contingent after contingent of gay and lesbian political groups, AIDS organizations, drag queens, the mayor and most every other elected city official, more drag queens, the crowd-pleasing contingents of gay and lesbian police officers and fire fighters, and the
San Diego: the 'fifth gayest' city in America
by Dawn Leach
This year's annual National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Creating Change conference will take place on the west coast in sunny San Diego from November 12-16.
Brimming with sailors from the nearby U.S. Naval Air Station, San Diego is known for a high concentration of gay men, and to a lesser degree, lesbians, creating a unique opportunity for lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender—or “lesbigatr”—travelers. Creating Change is an annual gathering where political activists for lesbigatr rights can meet, compare strategies, lend each other encouragement and inspiration, and recharge from the year's activism. Big name leaders in the lesbigatr community present workshops and speeches on a wide variety of topics. Activists from around the country meet and exchange ideas and e-mail addresses and share stories about their experiences in the field.
to
Queers traveling to the Creating Change conference should consider booking extra time to explore San Diego, which former Gay and Lesbian Times editor Jeri Dilno reports has been named the country's fifth gayest city. The weather is sunny and mild, with daytime temperatures averaging around 70 degrees year round.
San Diego
Of course, gay travelers will find plenty to do in San Diego throughout the year, and there are a number of annual events worth seeing. At the end of the summer every year since 1984 is the CityFest street fair, a celebration of the mostly gay Hillcrest neighborhood. San Diego's annual Lesbian and Gay Pride Week features celebrity gay and lesbian entertainment and a full week of special events and activities.
If you are interesting in gay sporting activities, San Diego hosts the largest gathering of gay and lesbian softball teams every year in October at the Autumn Classic, sponsored by America's Finest City Softball League (619-231-4081). The city has a gay runners' group called Front Runners, 619-525-3100, and a gay scuba diving club called the Finny Dippers, 619-287-6646.
San Diego has plenty to offer for beach lovers. The favorite beach of gay sun worshippers is Torrey Pines City Park Beach, also known as Black's Beach. Fodor's Andrew Collins reports that "nudity is not officially permitted but widely practiced" on Black's Beach. Collins says there is also a stretch of Pacific Beach that is a gay hang out, and a section of gay beach and lawn nestled in the conservative Mission Bay area, home of Sea World.
Gay night life is plentiful in San Diego. The Hillcrest neighborhood boasts a concentration of gay bars, restaurants and shops. Most notably, Hillcrest has a strip of gay businesses known as the "Rainbow Block." Other neighborhoods with high gay populations include University Heights, North Park, and Normal Heights. Collins also reports that the Gaslight District draws a gay-friendly crowd.
Of course, many gay travelers will also want to see the same tourist spots that draw heterosexuals to San Diego, such as Sea World, Balboa Park and the many attractions in Balboa Park, such as the world famous San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Fleet Space Theater and Science Center, and the San Diego Natural History Museum. If you are attending the Creating Change conference, there is a special group room rate at the Holiday Inn on the Bay for conference participants if you book by October 10. There are also a number of gay owned or gay friendly lodgings in San Diego.
If you want to stay in the heart of the gay district of Hillcrest, there are many options. Among them is the classy Balboa Park Inn, 619-298-0823; the Embassy Hotel, 619296-3141; or for a very low rate, the Hillcrest Inn, which Collins describes as “a cut above a youth hostel (and a very gay one at that).”
More information about San Diego attractions for gay and lesbian travelers is available from the lesbian and gay Greater San Diego Business Association, 619-296-4543. ▼
elaborate floats from every bar and from the city's major radio stations. This huge mass of people all make their way toward the Ferry Building (I kid you not) on the downtown waterfront, to dance and eat and drink and mingle among the booths representing their particular causes, hobbies, and fetishes.
Ah, June.
But San Francisco is not a gay mecca for just one month of the year. In fact, it's the other eleven months that seem to matter more. It's the recognition and appreciation that the city has gained for the gay community's political clout and cultural contributions. It is political officials and candidates, no shortage of which are gay or lesbian themselves, working the Castro, canvassing the neighborhood and visiting every shop and bar, when an issue or an election is at hand.
Another aspect is the mainstream media, which covers the gay and lesbian (never homosexual, thank you) community as it covers any of the other segments of the city. The parades, the marches, the street fairs and the issues surrounding AIDS are covered with the respect and professionalism with which any group would expect their community to be reported upon and informed.
Of course, there are
Francisco a mecca, is obvious once you're here. It's as evident as the beautiful muraladorned Women's Building in the Mission and the same-sex couples holding hands and the rainbow flags across the city, and the Barbra Streisand museum in the Castro. The community here is out. There is no hemming and hawing. There is no hoping that the local paper will maybe run a story on the gay community and not run a remark from the SAN FRANCISCO CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU CALIFORNIA
San Francisco's renowned Chinatown.
the elements of San Francisco which draw anyone, regardless of sexual orientation. There are the views, the unspeakably beautiful landscapes and seascapes that surround the city. There is the perfectly moderate climate. There is style, in architecture and clothing and in the old cable cars and trains which serve as mass transportation. And for those individuals that consider food a close friend, San Francisco is a city filled with the best friends you'll ever need.
For gays and lesbians from all over, there is also the draw of diversity, the wild, outlandish collection of individuals that comprise San Francisco's lesbian and gay community. Whether they're clad in leather or feather boas or business suits, every aspect of the gay community is represented in the city and in great numbers. Certainly, no one ever has to feel like they're the only one of anything here.
What it all stems from, what makes San
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area conservative nut condemning all homosexuals as an abomination.
San Francisco's lesbian and gay community one day, not all that long ago, said enough. They took the courage and the strength to be out and now the community is reaping the benefits-working hard to maintain and build upon what has been achieved, but doing it all out in the open and having a good deal of fun.
The Fifth International Gay and Lesbian World Travel, Fun and Fitness Expo will be held in San Francisco on October 22 at the San Francisco Marriott, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Admission is $5. For more information about the city by the bay, call the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau at 415-227-2603
Bob Boone is a former Chronicle reporter now living in San Francisco.
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