In the November 2014 Issue...
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Article1The Gayola Scandal, 1960
Gay bar owners fought extortion by corrupt cops

Black Cat owner Sol Stoumen
was a leader in fighting back against extortion
In 1960, a group of gay bar owners and bartenders (led by "Uncle Billy" Morrell, owner of the 585 Club) went to San Francisco Police Chief Thomas Cahill and accused eight police officers and a state liquor agent of demanding payment to protect the bars. Indeed, officers had been practicing this kind of extortion for decades, but Cahill and Mayor George Christopher had staked their careers on clean government, and though they were not otherwise inclined to sympathize with homosexuals, they agreed to work with the bar owners to entrap the accused officers.


As the accusations mounted, the situation became known as the "gayola scandal." A grand jury indicted five police officers and the state liquor agent. The ensuing month-long trial was lurid, as the defense sought to portray gay men as a moral threat to the community and a danger to the city's youth. Though all but one of the accused were eventually acquitted, the police now knew that they no longer had a free hand to demand bribes from gay bar owners, and the practice largely ended.

Furthermore, local media coverage of the trial contributed to the perception among the liberal populace that gay people possessed citizenship rights. Though police raids on gay bars continued, the gayola scandal was a small step forward in our fight for equality.

The most comprehensive history of the gayola scandal appears in The Streets of San Francisco, a new book by Christopher Lowen Agee, assistant professor in the history department at the University of Colorado Denver. Agee relied extensively on the GLBT Historical Society's archives in conducting research for the book.

ArchivesAndEighteenthIn the Archives and Out on 18th Street
In the Archives

Mr. Lynne Carter
This year, we processed a collection of photos and ephemera from Al Burgess, co-owner of the Beige Room, a San Francisco nightclub from 1949 to 1958 that featured female impersonators, like Finocchio's. The club's headliner was Mr. Lynne Carter, who gained notoriety (and fans) after Kay Thompson threatened to sue him for copying and satirizing her own nightclub act. "Slumming at the Beige was suddenly the shabby chic thing to do," wrote Thompson's biographer, who noted that George BurnsSammy Davis Jr. and Audrey Hepburn visited the club. From 1951 until its closing, the Beige Room was located at 831 Broadway Street in Chinatown.
Out on 18th Street

From the guest book at the GLBT History Museum, here's a wonderful note from a Massachusetts woman:


"I've travelled, by car, all the way from a small Catholic town in MA to be in the Castro and see my history. This museum brought me to tears and I wanted to celebrate! Myself and our legacy of passion and fighting. The oral history interviews were wonderful!"
 

EventsUpcoming Events
First Wednesday means free admission
Bob Ross Foundation logo

November 5 is the first Wednesday of the month, which means free admission all day to The GLBT History Museum, courtesy of the Bob Ross Foundation.
Trans* Double Feature

On Thursday, November 6, 7-9pm, the GLBT History Museum and the LGBT Studies Department of City College of San Francisco will co-present two talks on transgender identity at the Museum by Dr. Ardel Thomas and Ms. Bob Davis.  Get details here.

 

Admission: suggested donation of $5, $3 for students, free for members. 

Gay Tourism, Urban Development

Queer tourists have been drawn to San Francisco for many decades--and many have set down roots. Non-queer tourists have also been attracted to the city's reputation as a "wide-open town." In the past few decades, however, gay merchant groups and the City of San Francisco have mounted strategic efforts to enhance visitorship through LGBT-related initiatives. How has LGBT-related tourism shaped neighborhood development and gentrification? What are the implications of evolving neighborhood-based tourist interests? The next events in G Spot, our 2014-15 special program series, will explore these questions.


Thursday, November 13, 7 - 9 p.m.
IN CONVERSATION: Jon Ballesteros, SVP of Public Policy, San Francisco Travel Board; Brian Basinger, AIDS Housing Alliance; Nan Alamilla Boyd, Professor at San Francisco State University.


Thursday, November 20, 7 - 9 p.m.
ARTS PROGRAM: Raquel Guti�rrez and Eric Stanley in dialogue with Constance Hockaday.

These events will happen at the GLBT History Museum, and are free. Register online and view the list of suggested readings.
Digital Wildlife party/fundraiser for queer history

On Friday, November 14, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., Digital Wildlife will host a party at Caf� Flore (2298 Market Street) to raise funds for the GLBT Historical Society, featuring DJs Justime and CBass with guest DJ Miles Cooper (High Fantasy).
LGBTQ Historic Sites Project Final Community Meeting

On Sunday, November 16, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., the GLBT History Museum will host a free presentation by public historian Donna Graves and architectural historian Shayne Watson on the development of the Citywide Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ History in San Francisco, which documents queer local history from the 1800s through the early 1990s.   Get details here.
GLBT History Museum holiday closure

The GLBT History Museum will be closed on Thursday, November 27 in observance of Thanksgiving.
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415-621-1107 / www.glbthistorymuseum.org
Open Sunday noon-5 p.m.; Monday and Wednesday-Saturday: 11 a.m.-7 p.m.  Closed Tuesday.

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The GLBT Historical Society
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415-777-5455 / www.glbthistory.org
See our research hours here.
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