Day One

The Castro

The largest flagpole in the city flies a rainbow banner above 1 Harvey Milk Plaza, which begins above ground at Castro and Market streets and descends a wide curving stairway to the Muni Metro station entrance. A brass plaque describes Milk’s life, work and death, and concludes with a pithy comment from the first openly gay supervisor in San Francisco on his role in the gay community: “I am all of us!” Just above the station is the Pink Triangle Memorial Park, a memorial to the LGBT victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Start the day with breakfast at the popular 2 Cafe Flore (2298 Market Street; 621-8579). A block away is where the world-renowned AIDS memorial quilt got its start in 1987. It now has 46,000 panels.

Across the street is 3 Twin Peaks (401 Castro; 864-9470), which made a major statement when it opened in 1975, breaking the tradition of dark and secretive bars. It emerged as the country’s first ground-floor gay bar with expansive, clear glass windows. Down the block is Timothy Pflueger’s landmark 4 Castro Theatre (429 Castro; 621-6120), primary venue for the LGBT Film Festival each June. Year-round it features imaginative billings of sophisticated, classic films. Evening performances at this Spanish Baroque-style theater include Wurlitzer organ music.

On the same block is 5 A Different Light bookstore (489 Castro; 431-0891), which Betty & Pansy’s Severe Queer Review calls “the gay community center of San Francisco,” and 6 Cliff’s Variety (479 Castro; 431-5365), home of everything 5 & 10ish. The first Cliff’s opened at 545 Castro in the 1930s; this latest incarnation, the fourth, opened in 1972. Cliff’s Halloween inventory is second to none.

Be sure to stop at 7 Harvey’s (500 Castro; 431-4278), formerly known as the Elephant Walk. In 1979, in retaliation for riots at City Hall following Dan White’s conviction for manslaughter instead of murder of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Milk, police went to the Elephant Walk and dragged out patrons and beat them. The bar sued the city and won. (White served five years in prison and after he got out killed himself in 1985.) Today, eclectic wall exhibits at Harvey’s are donated or lent by the community: photos tracing Milk’s rise to political power; a poster signed by the cast of “La Cage Aux Folles”; an oil painting of Liberace; “Play Fair,” the first-ever safe sex pamphlet for gays published by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

8 Harvey Milk’s Camera Shop (575 Castro), a Victorian storefront, is among the more historic addresses in the Castro. Milk and his partner Scott Smith opened the store in 1972, and it quickly became a political gathering place. Milk and Smith lived upstairs and ran the store for four years. The store has had several changes in owners; currently, it’s called Given, and sells home accessories and gifts.

Walk back to Market Street and 9 The Cafe (2367 Market; 861-3846), a notable bar and dance club for men and women that looks out from the second floor onto the spectacle at the confluence of Market, Castro and 17th streets.

10 The Eureka Valley-Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library (3555 16th St.; 355-5616) has a solid collection of lesbian and gay literature.

For dinner, try the supper club 11 Mecca (2029 Market; 621-7000) with new American cuisine; the eponymous 12 2223 Market (431-0692) for California cuisine; 13 Ma Tante Sumi (4243 18th Street; 626-7864) for California/Asian fusion; 14 Firewood Cafe (4248-18th Street; 252-0999) for pizza and other Italian entrees; 15 Blue (2337 Market; 863-2583) for American diner-style food.

Be sure to stop in at the 40,000-square-foot 16 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center (1800 Market, 865-5555). About 20 organizations have offices in the building, offering legal, health, social, educational and cultural workshops, events and counseling. In 2006, the center and Frameline began admission-free screenings of documentaries and features, 7:30 p.m., second Thursday of every month.

For a ”green” break, stroll over to 17 Dolores Park (Dolores between 18th and 22nd streets), a green oasis bordered by well-kept Victorians and a gorgeous view east over the city’s skyline. The southwest corner of the park is known by the locals as Dolores Beach, for all its sunbathers, mostly gay men.

For the latest works by established and emerging women and transgendered artists, check the schedule at 18 Femina Potens Gallery and Performance Space (2199 Market; 217-9340).

The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial (863-4676) is in May, but June is the month of most activity, many tied to the Pride Parade. The 11-day San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival (703-8650) is presented at the Castro Theatre and other venues by Frameline, the nation’s oldest and largest gay and lesbian film-presenter. The festival ends the day of the parade. The Saturday night before the Sunday parade is the Dyke March, a motorcycle contingent of renown, and Pink Saturday, a street party in the heart of the Castro. The five-week Queer Arts Festival of poetry, visual arts, dance and comedy presents at various venues around the city, sponsored by the Queer Cultural Center (864-4124).

Street fairs, too, celebrate gay and lesbian life: Up Your Alley Fair (777-3247), the last Sunday in July; the Folsom Street Fair (861-3247), last Sunday in September; Hairrison Street Fair on Labor Day weekend; and the Castro Street Fair (841-1824) in October. Watch for Our Family Coalition (981-1960), alternative family events held year-round.

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