California Gay History
Long before anyone put the words “gay pride” together, San Francisco had a certain reputation. The city’s Barbary Coast was a gay cruising area during the Gold Rush, and the U.S. military used to discharge gay soldiers and sailors in the Northern California port. If you’re curious to know more, spend some time at the GLBT Historical Society perusing letters, diaries, photographs, and other materials.
1950s – 1960s
In 1950, Henry Hay and friends established The Mattachine Foundation in Los Angeles, the first American homosexual group of record. Later renamed The Mattachine Society, the group expanded with New York and San Francisco chapters in 1956. In 1955, a group of lesbians found The Daughters of Bilitis in San Francisco.
In 1956, Lawrence Ferlinghetti published Allen Ginsburg’s Howl and Other Poems, and got sued for obscenity a year later. Ferlinghetti won, and his City Lights Bookstore is a San Francisco landmark.
1960s
Jose Sarria, an openly gay candidate, ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961. In 1964, Life magazine named San Francisco the “Gay Capital of the U.S.”
1970s
In June of 1970, Los Angeles hosted a parade down Hollywood Boulevard that has become Los Angeles Gay Pride. The same day, San Francisco hosted the Gay In, which has evolved into San Francisco LGBT Pride. Similar events sprung up in communities large and small throughout the state over the next decade.
In 1977, San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood elected openly gay Harvey Milk to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The Castro continued to establish itself as the center of gay liberation culture, hoisting a huge rainbow flag, and hosting an annual Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and street fair.
1980s – 2000s
AIDS became a worldwide epidemic, re-focusing many gay groups. Community centers emerged throughout the state. In 1999, California adopted a domestic partnership law, evidence of continuing gay rights advocacy.
2008
In May 2008, the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on gay marriage, setting the stage for legalized gay marriage. A proposition to reinstate the ban via a Constitutional Amendment succeeded by a narrow margin in November, reflecting similar votes in Florida and Arizona, and the continued national debate over marriage. Gay rights groups, as well as civil rights organizations, organized to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
2009
In May 2009, the California Supreme Court upheld the Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage.
