PILGRIMAGES: CALIFORNIA LGBT HISTORIC SITES
by joel martens model photography by david quintanilla
Many of us know of the riots at New York’s historic Stonewall Inn, one of the places in which the beginnings of the LGBT movement took shape. Few know however, of the other significant locations before and after that seminal event, places that are also a part of our legacy and worth consideration. Locations, some hidden, some not, worth re-examina- tion the next time you’re wandering the cities in which they exist—perhaps even worth protection, as a part of our valiant LGBT pilgrimage through time.
THE FOLLOWING IS A SAMPLING OF SIGNIFICANT SPOTS TO PONDER:
SAN FRANCISCO:
MONA’S 440 CLUB 440 Broadway Street Open from 1939 to 1948 Mona’s 440 Club became
the city’s first male impersonation venue. The female staff donned tuxedos, sang and entertained patrons in the North Beach locale and it thrived for many years, along with many other LGBT establishments in the neighborhood. In the 1950s the California Alcohol Beverage Control began raiding local bars, arresting patrons and publishing their names in the city’s newspapers. Amazingly, the building still stands, housing The Cosmo Bar & Lounge.
COMPTON’S CAFETERIA 101 Taylor Street Stonewall is remembered as the seminal LGBT
event by most of us; but to be truthful, there were important uprisings that predate it. Compton’s Cafeteria was one of those and the city bares witness to the riots that broke out there in 1966 with a com-
memorative plaque at the corner of Taylor and Turk Streets. The building is gone, but the commemora- tive plaque there reads, “Here marks the site of Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, where a riot took place one Au- gust night when transgender women and gay men stood up for their rights and fought against police brutality, poverty, oppression and discrimination.” Look just around the corner for another commem-
orative plaque: “130 Turk Street, c. 1923. Formerly housed the Bulldog Baths. This building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Uptown Tenderloin Historic District.” Only in San Francisco.
MAY 2014 | RAGE monthly 49
TRAVEL COVER
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