California Hall: A Night to Remember by Eric Garber
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Title
California Hall: A Night to Remember by Eric Garber
Description
Published in San Francisco Bay Area Gay & Lesbian Historical Society Newsletter, volume 1, number 2, December 1985. From research papers of James Waller.
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California Hall A Night to Remember
At its January 21st meeting, the San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society will be remembering the infamous 1965 California Hall confrontation between the San Francisco Police Department and the gay community. For a generation of lesbian and gay San Franciscans, this incident marked a watershed in the City's gay history.
In their book Lesbian/Woman, long-time gay activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon proclaim that California Hall ''will long be remembered in the history of the homophile movement.'' What happened at California Hall on the night of January 1st, 1965? Why is it so important?
For the majority of lesbian and gay men, San Francisco gay life in the early 1960's was far from easy. Gay bars like the Black Cat and the Jumping Frog were frequently raided. Police harassment on the streets was common. Many gay bars were forced to make payoffs to the Vice Squad to avoid persecution. Early homophile groups like the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis lacked the political power to fight this oppression. It was often scary and dangerous to be gay.
In 1962 Ted McIlvenna, a young minister and social worker from Kansas City, arrived at Glide Memorial Methodist Church. From talking with gay members of his Tenderloin congregation, McIlvenna developed an understanding of the problems facing San Francisco's gay community. He began to organize meetings between local church leaders and members of the homophile movement. As a result, in December 1964 the Council on Religion and the
Homosexual was formed.
The initial fundraising event for the new organization was to be a New Year's Eve dance. Scheduled for the California Hall on Polk Street, the dance was sponsored by six San
Francisco gay organizations. The entire gay community was invited, as well as interested clergy and their families.
The San Francisco Police Department viewed these plans as deliberate provocation. On the evening of the dance over fifty police officers descended on California Hall. They harassed and intimidated the guests, photographing all who entered. They eventually arrested four people: three attorneys and a ticket-taker. Yet over five hundred lesbians and gay men braved harassment and arrest, and crossed the police line to enter.
The Police Department had won a victory that evening but it was short-lived. Shocked at the incident they had witnessed, concerned clergy from the Council on Religion and the Homosexual called a press conference the next day at Glide to publicly protest. The ACLU took up the cases of the four arrested, and all were eventually found not guilty. The well-publicized court cases gave the gay community its first taste of power and radically redefined its relationship with the police. No longer would it tolerate police harassment.
We owe a great deal to the lesbians and gay men who passed the police cameras and risked arrest to demand their civil rights. They were our community's early freedom fighters. Please join the Historical Society in honoring these San Francisco heroes on January 21st.
Eric Garber
At its January 21st meeting, the San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society will be remembering the infamous 1965 California Hall confrontation between the San Francisco Police Department and the gay community. For a generation of lesbian and gay San Franciscans, this incident marked a watershed in the City's gay history.
In their book Lesbian/Woman, long-time gay activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon proclaim that California Hall ''will long be remembered in the history of the homophile movement.'' What happened at California Hall on the night of January 1st, 1965? Why is it so important?
For the majority of lesbian and gay men, San Francisco gay life in the early 1960's was far from easy. Gay bars like the Black Cat and the Jumping Frog were frequently raided. Police harassment on the streets was common. Many gay bars were forced to make payoffs to the Vice Squad to avoid persecution. Early homophile groups like the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis lacked the political power to fight this oppression. It was often scary and dangerous to be gay.
In 1962 Ted McIlvenna, a young minister and social worker from Kansas City, arrived at Glide Memorial Methodist Church. From talking with gay members of his Tenderloin congregation, McIlvenna developed an understanding of the problems facing San Francisco's gay community. He began to organize meetings between local church leaders and members of the homophile movement. As a result, in December 1964 the Council on Religion and the
Homosexual was formed.
The initial fundraising event for the new organization was to be a New Year's Eve dance. Scheduled for the California Hall on Polk Street, the dance was sponsored by six San
Francisco gay organizations. The entire gay community was invited, as well as interested clergy and their families.
The San Francisco Police Department viewed these plans as deliberate provocation. On the evening of the dance over fifty police officers descended on California Hall. They harassed and intimidated the guests, photographing all who entered. They eventually arrested four people: three attorneys and a ticket-taker. Yet over five hundred lesbians and gay men braved harassment and arrest, and crossed the police line to enter.
The Police Department had won a victory that evening but it was short-lived. Shocked at the incident they had witnessed, concerned clergy from the Council on Religion and the Homosexual called a press conference the next day at Glide to publicly protest. The ACLU took up the cases of the four arrested, and all were eventually found not guilty. The well-publicized court cases gave the gay community its first taste of power and radically redefined its relationship with the police. No longer would it tolerate police harassment.
We owe a great deal to the lesbians and gay men who passed the police cameras and risked arrest to demand their civil rights. They were our community's early freedom fighters. Please join the Historical Society in honoring these San Francisco heroes on January 21st.
Eric Garber
Citation
“California Hall: A Night to Remember by Eric Garber”, The Council on Religion and the Homosexual, LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, accessed May 18, 2024, https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/exhibits/show/crh/item/1834.