San Francisco's Gay history began with its first gay community in North Beach. In the following years, San Francisco's Gay population expanded to the waterfront, migrated up Market Street into the Tenderloin, Polk Street and finally settled in the Castro, San Francisco's own Gay village.
No visit to San Francisco would be complete without a trip to the Castro. The main street of the Castro runs on Castro Street from Market to 19th. You can tell you're in the Castro by simply looking up - if there are rainbow banners lining the streets then you're in the right place!
How did San Francisco became the Gay Mecca of the World? A large credit goes to the US military! That's right, during World War II the United States armed forces "sought out and dishonorably discharged" homosexuals. Many men who were expelled for being Gay were processed at San Francisco bases. And many of these Gay men fell in love with the natural beauty of San Francisco and stayed. Since World War II, San Francisco's Gay and Lesbian population has grown quickly.
Besides West Hollywood,
Key West, Manhattan and
Palm Springs, there are few places in the United States where Gays enjoy the wonderful political atmosphere of freedom that they do in San Francisco.
The late San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk was one of the first openly-gay politicians in America
In San Francisco, the state of California permits domestic-partner registration that grants "same-sex couples all state-level rights and obligations of marriage — in areas such as inheritance, income tax, insurance and hospital visitation."
