As the night goes on, however, the telltale signs become impossible to ignore. My immediate assumption is well, she’s at Gossip Grill, and we shouldn’t assume she’s straight. There we meet this very effusive girl that we’ll call Tina. We’ve just had a few shots lovingly poured by one of our favorite bartenders (Scott Gomes) at Baja Betty’s, and we decide it’s time to head to Gossip Grill. I’m out with some friends on a Thursday night. Now, before you start thinking this is going to be yet another article advocating for the wholesale expulsion of straight people out of the gayborhood, I’m here to tell you that’s far from the truth. Having allies is always a welcome sight, and who hasn’t enjoyed having that straight bestie in your life? After all, who else is going to tell you, grinning like the Cheshire Cat the entire time, that they have a friend that they’re dying to introduce you to, who also just happens to be gay? In fact, you’ve lost count how many times you’ve said, “Just because we’re both gay Karen, doesn’t mean we’re perfect for each other. However, the dust has not yet settled on one of our latest struggles - straight people in the gayborhood. We’ve survived the AIDS epidemic the fight for marriage equality and “don’t ask, don’t tell,” among many others. We are fortunate that here in San Diego, the early pioneer activists had the foresight to collect and preserve physical artifacts of LGBTQ culture in the Lambda Archives, which is a wonderful resource for researchers, artists and storytellers to find new ways to recognize and understand the multiple arcs of our history.Something I think we can all agree upon is that the LGBTQ community is pretty resilient when it comes to … well, basically everything. A new generation needs to learn of its past., and the history of San Diego cannot be complete without the voices and stories of its LGBTQ residents. It’s important that we rediscover and bring to light stories from the history of LGBTQ San Diego while there are still voices left to tell them firsthand. These advances provide new landscapes of exploration for those interested in discovering lesser-known but unique and significant contributions that LGBTQ San Diegans have made both to the city, and to the larger social and cultural history of California. But as LGBTQ acceptance has grown both locally and nationally, a new San Diego audience has become more receptive to learn about the history and contributions of local LGBTQ institutions and individuals. Additional historic images were obtained through the San Francisco Public Library and the GLBT History Museum.Īs a military town and a historically conservative city, San DIego has (until recently) not always properly recognized the contributions of its queer community, and in the past, some have viewed the community as a step-sister to the larger, more liberal, and more visible queer communities in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
I also contacted bar owners, managers, and bartenders and used photos from their personal albums.
#Gay bars san diego county archive
Many of the photographs from bars had already been digitized by Archive staff and thus were searchable in the Archives’ computer system, but many were not, and instead were found amidst piles of unrelated materials, and each time it was like finding a gold nugget in a pile of hay. Many hours were spent searching through their collection of archival materials. We also held fundraisers at local gay bars, and it was heartwarming to hear people’s excitement about the project, as everyone involved was supportive and helpful.Ī major part of creating the documentary was researching and collecting the visual evidence of historic bar culture (photos, footage, bar advertisements, etc.) and the San Diego Lambda Archives was an invaluable resource for that. My project was one of 4 chosen by KPBS for production funding out of 180 submissions. In November 2016, I entered KPBS’ Explore San Diego program, an open competition to solicit ideas for documentaries, podcasts, and webisodes from local media content producers. I have always been interested in making films that explore the diagonal lines that run counter to the norms of society, and expand people’s perspectives.