Before the Castro, San Francisco’s Sprawling Gayborhood Was Polk Gulch

A recently drafted map by a local queer independent tour agency showcases the demoralizing disappearance of queer spaces in SF’s first gayborhood.

When the words “San Francisco” and “queer” are paired together, it’s almost certain that a mention of the Castro is imminent. Or already preceded the utterance of those two words. And for good reason; San Francisco is still largely considered the gay mecca of the world and the Castro exists as the city’s present core for queerdom.

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But before Castro’s synonymization with gay rights and queerness was birthed during the late 1960s — a somewhat happenstance byproduct to the Summer of Love in the adjacent Haight-Ashbury neighborhood circa 1967 — Polk Gulch was San Francisco’s foremost gayborhood. Between the 1940s and 1980s, well over 100 then-described queer spaces punctuated the neighborhood, hitting its stride in the 1950s; the Tenderloin, too, was a far more gay area during the same time frame with dozens of queer-friendly establishments dotting the neighborhood.

Let’s not forget: San Francisco’s first Pride celebration — an assemblage of self-described hippies and “hair fairies” that marched for what was called “Freedom Day Revolution” — took place as a march down Polk Street on June 27, 1970.

Fast forward over four decades later, and now just two queer-recognized spaces that unfurled between the 1940s and 1980s remain in the two neighborhoods. (Thankfully, Polk Gulch and shouldering Lower Nob Hill are coming alive with newly opened, queer spaces… much like the lesbian-owned bar, Propagation, at 895 Post Street.)

It’s a reality recently cemented by a drafted map by Unspeakable Vice, a local queer-operated walking tour agency that specifically highlights San Francisco’s LGBTQIA+ history, showing the scale of both the Tenderloin and Polk Gulch’s historic queer presence.

“The sheer scale of the Tenderloin and Polk [queer] scene is staggering,” reads a caption from the independent tour agency, whose guided tours of North Beach canvas the area’s rich history in San Francisco’s queer representation. The agency is set to launch tours of the Tenderloin and Polk Gulch neighborhoods that also have a like-queer bend to them.

“So we’ve counted more than 150 queer spaces from the 1940s to the 1980s—this first draft map and list highlights a more ‘manageable’ 88 sites for the upcoming tour,” continues the Instagram caption, showcasing the map, as well as an index of the included queer spaces. “Only two places remain today.”

As Unspeakable Vice notes, the stories that wrap these areas are “powerful,” spanning the gamut from trans folks defeating hate from the San Francisco Police Department — “with heeled shoes to sweaty disco dance floors” — to hosting San Francisco’s first-ever Pride parade (remember?). Moreover: Polk Gulch and the Tenderloin were among the first neighborhoods in San Francisco that offered gender-affirming care facilities for transgender folks.

“There is so much to learn from this period in queer history,” the caption concludes. In a time where anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation is prolific in city, state, and national governments, we must learn from our history as queer folk… while simultaneously realizing our fight toward an equitable, fair, and just future is far from over.

Feature image: Courtesy of Greg Gaar

Matt Charnock