San Francisco Gay History Museum

Honoring Gay History In San Francisco

It has been estimated that around 10%—or about 70,000 people—in San Francisco identify as GLBT. It may surprise you, but this is not much different than in many other large cities. So why locate a queer museum there if it's not much different than other cities? In my opinion, the reason you will find the only GLBT HISTORY MUSEUM (opened Jan 13, 2011) in the United States located in the beautiful bay area, is because of the cities history for queer acceptance.

San Francisco Loves Its LGBT Population

It may not be so much that San Francisco has a larger LGBTQ population, as it is about the people who live within that segment of the San Francisco population. Typically the gay folks are more open and demonstrative within the city. Because the city has a wonderful history of tolerance and acceptance it feels as if a larger LGBT population resides there; possibly due to the fact that we are more comfortable holding hands and being "ourselves" when in the city by the bay. Now that we have the GLBT HISTORY MUSEUM as another great reason to head for the city, we can navigate to the Castro for companionship and entertainment, but also experience and respect those people and events who have blazed a rainbow-trail for the rest of us. Commemorating our timeline at the GLBT History Museum will help us to better understand where our LGBT roots began.

The San Francisco GLBT History Museum is one of only two GLBT museums in the world, and the only one in the United States. The other museum is located in Berlin, Germany; Schwules Museum opened its doors 25 years ago.

“Our letters were burned, our names blotted out, our books censored, our love declared unspeakable, our very existence denied.”

• Size- 1,600-square-foot museum
• Content- Chronicles the evolution of the liberation of GLBT community
• Hero- Harvey Milk's personal items
• Exhibit- Our Vast Queer Past
• Exhibit- Celebrating GLBT History
• Exhibit- Great Collections of the GLBT Historical Society Archives

Location: 4127 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94114

Hours: Wednesday-Saturday,11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m.

Admission: $5.00; free for members. First Wednesday of the Month: Free (sponsored by the Bob Ross Foundation)

For more information call (415)621-1107

Community Makes It Happen

For the most part, through the generosity of community and supporters the museum stays open. Another way to offer your support for the only Gay museum in the USA, is through membership. To become a member or to donate to the museum, all you have to do is fill out a few lines of information. At the same time, you can subscribe to the eNewsletter!

The cool part is this; if you donate over $50, you become a member of the GLBT Historical Society. Over $100, and you become a sponsor which has several benefits that include recognition at the museum itself! Do something a little bigger than yourself, support this great cause and keep the GLBT Museum in San Francisco a place to remember for our families, as well as for the generations to come.

As discussed above, this is the first museum dedicated to the struggles and achievements throughout modern gay history in the USA today. It is still in its infancy, and is sure to mature with time. For me, it is a beautiful reminder of the brave boys and girls who stood fast in our fight for equality and freedom of personal happiness. I thank each of them, from the bottom of my heart. Their struggle in my opinion was—and is—no less important than that endured by the suffrage movement and black civil rights for their place within the "equality for all" throughout time.