Click MAP to locate destinations preceded by yellow numbers.

Start out in the Castro with coffee and a mouth-watering selection of muffins, scones or bagels at 31 Sweet Inspiration (2239 Market; 415-621-8664). Then head toward the Civic Center by hopping on one of the beautifully restored F-Line Market Street streetcars.

Get off at Market and 8th St. for the city’s new Main Public Library and its third-floor 32 James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center (415-557-4400), named for the former U.S. ambassador to Luxemburg. The trompe l’oeil ceiling mural is by local artists Mark Evans and Charley Brown. The center has changing exhibits and samples of the library’s growing collection of lesbian and gay books, magazines, manuscripts, films, videos and memorabilia.

Catch the F-line or walk east to the 33 Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society of Northern Calif. (657 Mission; 415-777-5455), open weekends and by appointment. History and arts exhibits change regularly, selected from an archival collection of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender history, including records of early organizations such as the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis, and the personal papers of individuals such as Elsa Gidlow. You can still see the exterior of the 34 Elsa Gidlow House at 150 Joice, between Stockton and Powell, California and Sacramento streets. When Gidlow came to the city in 1927, she already was renowned as a lesbian writer who had hosted Montreal and New York salons for other lesbian and gay writers and artists.

Continue your historical tour at 35 Macondray Lane. Two blocks long and rising above Taylor and Leavenworth, Union and Green, this narrow street was the model for Barbary Lane in Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City. 37 Black Cat Cafe (710 Montgomery) in the historic Barbary Coast area, the Bohemian bar in Kerouac’s On the Road, was a hangout for gay men and lesbians in the ‘40s and specialized in drag performances in the ‘50s. The Black Cat’s owner resisted paying off the police, despite regular, highly publicized raids and fines. The Black Cat closed in 1963.

Besides clubs, so vital to the lesbian and gay community, the city also boasts first-rate live performances. At 38 Theatre Rhinoceros (2926 16th St.; 415-861-5079) the Sept.-June main stage season is dedicated to gay and lesbian productions and also stages readings and small productions in its studio. 39 Jon Sims Center for the Performing Arts (1519 Mission St.; 415-554-0402) is a studio performance and rehearsal space. Programs: AIRspace, a queer, new-work studio performance every Friday night Jan.-Sept.; the S.F. Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, the nation’s oldest lesbian and gay marching band, performing the second Tuesday of every second month at Bethany United Methodist Church; and the annual Dance Along Nutcracker in December. 40 The New Conservatory Theatre (25 Van Ness; 415-861-8972) premieres new and historic gay and lesbian plays. The 40-voice Golden Gate Men’s Chorus (415-626-2883) performs mostly classical music three times a year. The S.F. Gay Men’s Chorus (415-865-3650), formed by a small group of men the night Moscone and Milk were slain, today has more than 200 singers, and performs internationally throughout the year.

For a late night or early morning meal, try the 41 Bagdad Cafe, open 24 hours (2295 Market; 415-621-4434), house-made fresh turkey sausage and breakfast anytime. Or check out 42 the Grubstake (1525 Pine off Polk; 415-673-8268), a classic diner housed in a railroad car that stays open until 4 a.m.

F-Line restored historic streetcar on Market Street

San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus

James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center at the Main Library