As early as the Barbary Coast days, the city has also been known to be famously gay. This identity would be neither as strong nor as powerful were it not for the Castro neighborhood.
Watering holes like Twin Peaks Tavern and the Missouri Mule became safe spaces and meeting grounds; local shops like Castro Cameras and Orphan Andy's became beacons of activism. The communality of the Castro provided a platform for political reach that extended beyond the neighborhood, as made evident by the mobilization around the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
Today, even as the city undergoes its own identity crisis, the Castro's LGBTQ history can still be felt in almost every shop, every cafe, every eatery. We rounded up the most locations in the neighborhood that have contributed to the importance and stronghold of queer identity.
Think we missed a spot? Tip us off.
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