A Magic Key to Our Past, Present & Future
By Harry Breaux
The key to the Black Cat in the GLBT Historical Society Museum; photo by Mark Sawchuk, courtesy same.
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, a museum is “an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value.”
The concept behind this definition inspired my membership in the GLBT Historical Society and, later, to become one of the volunteer docents at GLBT Historical Society Museum. The museum, which reopened last month, teases and pleases those who enter with its significant and abundant displays.
Since my first days volunteering at the museum, one object on display that has always fascinated me is a simple, unassuming door key. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s the key to the front door of the Black Cat, a historic establishment that was located in San Francisco’s North Beach district where the activist José Sarria performed in drag shows. An astounding person of energy and imagination, Sarria founded the Imperial Court System and in 1961 became the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States when he ran for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
The Warp & Weave
When I first saw the key and realized what a journey that little front-door key had to go through to be here on display from the early 1960s, I paused and thought of all the lives that were touched by the hopes and dreams that passed through that establishment, and the thousands and thousands of other bars in San Francisco and around the world.
Bars have from the earliest of times been the social gathering places of “our kind.” Throughout history they have become the very warp and weave of our social fabric. Many of us, gay or straight, probably remember our first visit to a “gay bar.” That little key sparked in me a vision of our progress though history with all its breakthroughs, disappointments and victories. I think of it as a magic key to our past, present and future experience and stories.
I hope each of you will get the chance to see this little piece of history and all the displays that document the days that this key — and many others — worked their magic. May you allow it to transport you through our history and on into the future.
Harry Breaux volunteered as a Shanti emotional support counselor during the AIDS crisis. He is a longstanding volunteer at the GLBT Historical Society Museum.