Primary Source Set: LGBTQ life, 1960-1970
The 1960s were a decade of liberation for LGBTQ people. Although homophile organizations like the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis had begun in the 1950s, the movement flowered in the 1960s, with increased public visibility, open protests against homophobia in the military and church, and collaboration with newer groups like the Council on Religion and the Homosexual. In San Francisco’s Tenderloin, Vanguard began to publish its eponymous zine advocating for leftist causes, trans women, and sex workers. Meanwhile, in local gay high society, the Imperial Court System was founded, with its traditions of drag pageantry and charitable fundraising. In 1970, the city celebrated a Gay-In in Golden Gate Park — its first Pride event.
Although there were cultural clashes within the community — between people of different classes, different political priorities, and different views on faith — these clashes came about because the community felt increasingly energized and connected. Much of the queer revolution of the 1970s, when the city seemed to come out of the closet en masse, had its roots in the previous, turbulent, potential-filled decade of the 1960s.
Performer at the 1970 Golden Gate Park Gay-In. From the Crawford Wayne Barton papers (1993-11).
Selected Source Set
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