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LOOKBACK: WHAT GAY LIFE WAS LIKE SAN FRANCIS 1976

Chief William Stt apologized on Monday for the way the partment historilly treated lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer people. * gay cops san francisco *

Historilly, police were known for beatg gay men the Castro district and for arrtg transgenr women for wearg drs.

Openg s Goln Gate to a world of diverse culture, viewpots, and sexual 'I'm so glad I did this': Comg out, growg up at San Francis PriWe've been diggg through our archiv and found an amazg seri to give you a glimpse of gay life here late 1976. It portrays San Francis as the gayt cy the untry. Though the seri foc only gay men, lbian, bisexual, and transgenr people were also fightg their own battl for public acceptance.

"BAY GAYS" was shockg for s time and is stunng still today for how many of the issu still the vio above for the ABC7 special reports prented as they aired the text om the special reports below:The Queen Cy: San Francis 1977Durg the past six months or so, several of here at Channel 7 have been focg our attentn on the homosexual muny of the Bay Area pecially San Francis, wh the hope of prentg for you a report that would shed some light on the darkns of the gay scene and generally show that people of homosexual persuasn are no different except their sexual preference. San Francis the Queen Cy of the Wt known to many for the Goln Gate Bridge and the ble rs known to far fewer as a haven for homosexuals.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

It was a time before the rabow flag, before the Whe Night rts and before HIV and AIDS vastated a muny. This ABC7 special report, shown s entirety, giv a glimpse to what gay life was like San Francis 1976. * gay cops san francisco *

You n look around the cy's many districts and be sure that gays, as many homosexuals prefer to ll themselv, are part of the scene.

But when work is through one hundreds gather here what many are nvced as the largt and most signifint gay ghetto the Uned Stat if not the entire world. Castro village the name given for roughly 20 square blocks of quat jobs vaguely Victorian stctur cut to livg quarters and more than 15 gay bars.

Otherwise for gays om D Mo or Duluth, a sort of heaven on earth. Walk down the street this crossroad the gay muny and you're likely to meet your neighbor, your doctor, the guy who fixed your televisn set, or perhaps your boss. Look at any crowd San Francis and the odds are that one out of three is gay.

GAY SAN FRANCIS P VOLVED TEXTG SNDAL RIGNS

* gay cops san francisco *

Mart Stoll, a former State Department official and now one of the most rpected lears of the San Francis gay muny, "I thk San Francis is attractive to all people who are particularly those mori and that this has always been known as a place that uld accept people wh different liftyl and certaly the gay liftyle is a different liftyle. Gays are tolerated and will be for a long time. Gays are tolerated San Francis that very likely explas why more and more homosexuals are gog public or as they prefer to put g out of the closet.

You start out by g out to yourself and fdg out that you are gay and then you beg to do somethg about and e out to those few other people wh whom 's absolutely necsary. Specifilly the people wh whom you go to bed, and then gradually you build up a support group of iends who are gay and tell them and then you beg to tell your iends that aren't gay, and then 's a gradual ongog thg until fally everybody your life knows that you're gay, and you disver you're out there the world and that hasn't all fallen apart bee everybody knows who you are.

While thoands of gays don't md beg seen activi like the Gay Freedom Day Para or the annual police vers gay softball game San Francis, there are at least as many others who say they n't afford to be publicly intified. They take part only on the g of the gay subculture, admtg their sexual preferenc only to the very close gay iends. Gays have created their own private tablishment held together om the si wh prsure om the outsi.