Before the Stonewall riots in NYC became a symbol of the Gay Liberation Movement of the 1970s, San Francisco already had its own history of queer folks resisting police harassment. One of the best known incidents happened in 1966 at Compton's Cafeteria in the Tenderloin District. At the time, an anti-crossdressing ordinance made it easy for the police to harass transgender women, drag queens, and gender non-conforming people which came to a boiling point when a group of people resisting arrest turned into a full on fight inside the cafeteria. The owners decision to ban trans women and drag queens gave way to a protest by members of the community, and marked the incident as the birth of trans activism in San Francisco.

San Francisco had been a stronghold for the homophile movement since the 1950s, with the presence of organizations like the Daughters of Bilitis and the Mattachine Society. Although this movement advocated for civil rights for homosexuals and law reform, it did so from a place of assimilation within mainstream society and with an emphasis on respectability.

In the 1960s, the Tenderloin and Castro districts co-existed as queer spaces but with contrasting identities. The Tenderloin was a place of prostitution, drug addiction, and homelessness, while the Castro emerged as the neighborhood of the middle-class white gay man. These contrasting environments reflect the diversity of the queer culture ecosystem that emerged in San Francisco and which cemented its name as a gay Mecca.

Many of the spaces and organizations documented in this collection have their own history of exclusion and in-fight identity politics. The materials capture a historic snapshot of popular culture within the queer community. Although many of the spaces were short-lived, some of their buildings continue to be LGBTQ+ bars, clubs, and other venues.

Harvey’s Bar and Restaurant Named after gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, Harvey’s opened in 1996 on the same spot where a gay bar frequented by Harvey Milk once stood. Harvey’s closed its doors in 2023.

Esta Noche Esta Noche, was a gay Latine bar in the Mission district of San Francisco, owned by Anthony Lopez and Manuel Quijano, two members of the Gay Latino Alliance (GALA). Esta Noche opened in 1979, and for decades it functioned as the epicenter of the gay Latine community. One of the main attractions of the bar was its drag shows and pageants, such as Mr. and Miss Gay Latino, Mr. Latin Leather, and Mr. and Miss Safe Latino, a contest originally focused to raise safe sex awareness during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

Esta Noche's majority clientele were working-class immigrants from Latin America, and since its opening it became a contentious place within the ever changing Mission District. The bar closed in 2014 due to change in licensing and permit fees. One of many Latine-owned places lost to gentrification.

Imperial Court of San Francisco The Imperial Council of San Francisco, a California non-profit public benefit corporation, was founded by Jose Julio Sarria, a political activist, business owner, and drag queen. The Imperial Council originally functioned within the Tavern Guild of San Francisco (co-founded by Sarria).  After a failed effort to put an Emperor representative on one of the Gay Liberation Movement committees, the Imperial Council branched out of the Tavern Guild while still maintaining the social duties of the Empress under the Tavern Guild. An Imperial Court System spun off the Imperial Council, and currently holds chapters across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.