Day Three

Civic Center • Downtown

Start out in the Castro with coffee and a mouth-watering selection of muffins, scones or bagels at 31 Sweet Inspiration (2239 Market; 621-8664). Then head toward the Civic Center by hopping on one of the beautifully restored F-Line streetcars. Get off at Market and Eighth streets for the city’s Main Public Library and its third-floor 32 James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center (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.

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

Catch the F-line or walk five blocks east to the 33 Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society (657 Mission; 777-5455), open Tuesday through Saturday, 1-5 p.m. History and art exhibits change regularly, selected from an archival collection of LGBT history, including records of the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis, and the personal papers of 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 a well-known lesbian writer who had hosted salons in Montreal and New York for other lesbian and gay writers and artists.

Continue your historical tour at 35 Macondray Lane. Two blocks long, rising above Taylor and Leavenworth, Union and Green, it was the model for Barbary Lane in Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City. 36 Black Cat Cafe (710 Montgomery) in the historic Barbary Coast area, the Bohemian bar in Kerouac’s On the Road, was a hangout for queers in the ’40s and specialized in drag shows in the ’50s. The Black Cat’s owner wouldn’t pay off the police, so there were regular, well-publicized raids and fines. The Black Cat closed in 1963.

Besides clubs, like 37 The Eagle (392-12th St.; 626-0880) with its mud wrestling and live music, the city also boasts first-rate live performances.
38 Theatre Rhinoceros’ (2926 16th St.; 861-5079) main stage season September-June is dedicated to gay and lesbian productions; readings and small productions are staged in Rhino’s studio. The S.F. Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band performs several times a year, including its annual Dance Along Nutcracker in early December at 39 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission; 255-1355). 40 The New Conservatory Theatre (25 Van Ness; 861-8972) premieres gay and lesbian plays. The 40-voice Golden Gate Men’s Chorus (626-2883) performs mostly classical music three times a year. The S.F. Gay Men’s Chorus (865-3650), formed the night Moscone and Milk were slain, today has more than 200 singers who perform internationally.

Late at night or early in the morning, go to the 24-hour 41 Bagdad Cafe (2295 Market; 621-4434) and try the house-made fresh turkey sausage and breakfast anytime. Or check out 42 the Grubstake (1525 Pine off Polk; 673-8268), a classic diner housed in a railroad car. It’s open til 4 a.m.

NEXT