The Pridelets Files for October 6

On this day in 1989, the San Francisco police department acts up against ACT UP. As a non-violent protest march attempts to make it thirty city blocks, stopping at the Burton Federal Building, City Hall and Federal Mint to remind the government of its responsibilities to citizens with HIV/AIDS, 160 armed officers invade the Castro district on foot and motorcycle. Under orders from Deputy Chief Frank Reed, the public servants (half of the entire force) deem the march an "illegal assembly" and try to prevent the crowd from stepping into the street, confiscate all banners and signs, and place 7 blocks of the town under house arrest, bullying all citizens off the streets and refuse to let everyone leave nearby houses and buildings.

Only one officer, Tactical commander Capt. Richard Cairns, is eventually disciplined (during what the San Francisco Police Commission review board calls "proper conduct" under department regulations) for false arrest and bludgeoning a pair of lesbians "without cause." Participants win a judgement of $250,000 in damages agaisnt the S.F.P.D. and form another civil rights group from which to act up: "Bad Cop/No Donut."

"The Castro Sweep Police Riot" remains the single largest anti-gay demonstration in San Francisco history.

BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* 1872 - Russian writer Mikhail Alekseyevich Kuzmin,
* 1886 - Prolifically pederastic poet John Gambril Francis Nicholson
* 1889 - "The Ascent of Humanity" author Gerald Heard
* 1898 - "Death Takes a Holiday" director Mitchell Leisen
* 1937 - Polish composer Karol Szymanowski

Q.UOTE
"When she left, she wept
a great deal; she said to me, 'This parting must be
endured, Sappho. I go unwillingly.'
I said, "Go, and be happy
but remember (you know
well) whom you leave shackled by love."
-- Sappho

THE BEDSIDE TABLE
"Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area" by Susan Stryker and Jim Van Buskirk

A fabulous montage of word and image, this is the first book ever to chronicle the origin and evolution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. Capturing the international center of the gay experience as never before, "Gay by the Bay" contains over 200 full-color and black-and-white photographs of historical memorabilia, including correspondence, posters, buttons, and other artifacts. With anecdotes about Bay Area gay luminaries, past and present, and a foreword by acclaimed author Armistead Maupin, "Gay by the Bay" offers a scintillating look at a continually dynamic and evolving community.

This work is copyright© 2006 Thomas Allen Heald, all rights reserved. Contact the author at tom@idontgetit.org and the latest column are always available at www.Pridelets.com.