Module G Gay Life In The 1970's

Gay life in general became much more visible in the 1970's because it could. No longer could men and women be arrested and institutionalized. Gay businesses could operate with less worry about being raided by police or closed down for allowing illegal activity to occur. The declaration that homosexuality was no longer considered a mental illness in 1973 lead to the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual acts. In California, "sodomy laws" were abolished in 1975. All of this provided a foundation for neighborhood centers to form.

In the Bay Area, the landscape was changing as people left San Francisco for the chance to own a ranch style house in the booming suburbs of cities like Walnut Creek and Concord. Neighborhoods like those in Eureka Valley, now more commonly known as the Castro, offered groups of men and women the chance to move in together in huge multi-level Victorian style homes. Gay owned businesses exploded up and down Castro Street between Market Street and 19th and quickly branded the areas as a "gayborhood."

Bars opened up and provided a place for men and women to meet each other and word about the dozens of new gay bars traveled quickly attracting visitors to this "safe haven" for gay life from all over. Of course the bathhouses continued to operate now with much less fear of being raided. The 1970's was a decade of dancing, drinking, drugs and lots of sex.

The First LGBT Liaison Officer

Believe it or not, the San Francisco Police Department was the very first department in the nation to appoint an LGBT liaison officer for the gay community. Though a lot of violence involving police and the community continued to happen, there was at least a recognition by police administrators of the growing large LGBTQ+ community in San Francisco.

Below is Sergeant Elliott Blackstone, appointed in 1962 to be the very first LGBT liaison officer.

Retired Sergeant Elliott Blackstone, first LGBT liaison officer in the nation.

San Francisco Police Chief Charles Gain and Sheriff Richard Hongisto were the first two law enforcement executives to recruit openly gay and lesbian applicants to be police officers and deputy sheriffs. San Francisco Police Department was the first department in the nation to publicly recruit from the gay community in 1979. The recruitment attracted more than 300 applicants!