WebCastro: "94114"---I Remember Harvey

The following are excerpts from "94114"---the unpublished recollections
and history of the early Castro by Ron Williams.

I Remember Harvey

I don't remember the exact year that the Castro actually took hold and became the central Gay neighborhood in the City outdoing Polk and the South of Market, but I believe it was 1971. Many of the important dates have slipped my mind, but I do remember the era, the people, the street and many of the characters. I was living in a big flat just above 19th and Castro with four others. Our flat was huge, $165 a month, complete with a back yard and one lonely redwood tree.
January of 1973, I had ventured out on my own as a graphic artist and tried freelancing. I had a small storefront studio in front of the print shop on Castro between 18th and 19th. It was a convenient setup and I had just leased a new typesetting computer for $200 a month and had no idea how I was going to pay for it. But many of the local gay business kept me busy and I prospered.
Another new bar had opened and several of us were belting down cheap cocktails. It was "Happy Hour" at Dirty Dick's, a small, long and narrow bar, with little room between the bar stools and the wall. It was also the new headquarters for just about any type of drug you could want. The PLG (Polish Love Goddess) had declared the place his new headquarters. As happy hour continued and most of the bar's clientele were well on their way to oblivion, an unfamiliar face walked in and broke our alcoholic concentration. The guy obviously wanted something we didn't have. You could see the assertive look on his face as he approached several of us at the bar. He was handing out flyers and buttons for some political thing, and this crowd couldn't have cared less. I remember the hair, pony tail, strong eyes and friendly handshake. I was very apathetic towards politics, my interests were in sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll and I thought Harvey was just another political radical exploiting the gay vote. His political strategy was to get gay people to register to vote and get them involved in the political process. "Out of the closets and into the streets" (or was it, "Out of the bars and into the streets"?) -- in any event, people started to pay attention and Harvey's political momentum began to build.
Harvey's political presence began to blossom at about the same time as the local gay press. The new and upcoming gay publication of the day was the Bar Area Reporter, published every other week, the content being a mix of local politics, bar gossip, royal court gossip, a splash of entertainment, gay events and generally tended to be liberal politically with a touch of the National Enquirer. The vision of the B.A.R. in those early days often seemed self-serving to the political and business ambitions of the publishers. The "A" gays of that era were the bar owners that were getting rich off the packed bars. The bar owners had formed an association known as the Tavern Guild and it was headquartered at the B.A.R. office. Also emerging about the same time was the San Francisco Sentinel. It's publisher was much more conservative compared to the B.A.R. The Sentinel had fewer pages, but the design and layout were exceptional and the content was in the style of a real newspaper. But in the early years the Sentinel had a hard time competing since it was undercapitalized, but it has survived.
Harvey's strategies were clever, he never let the gay press influence his political direction. Harvey didn't subscribe to the "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" philosophy. The press paid attention to Harvey because he demanded to be heard as a representative of the emerging powerful block of gay voters. Harvey was a true maverick -- he wanted political power for the gay community. His ambitions were not self-serving and he had the tenacious drive that eventually got him that seat on the Board of Supervisors. He knew that the gay community was a sleeping giant of political power that was just waiting to be aroused.
As the Castro was emerging as the new gay mecca, Harvey Milk found many issues to use as a vehicle for his fight against the established political machine. He brought the police department and the Castro residents together and forced the police to address the violence in the neighborhood. He formed a merchants association and successfully brought everyone together and organized the first Castro Street fair in 1973. The magic that Harvey brought to the gay community was remarkable, not because of Harvey but because the time was right, and Harvey was in the right place at the right time. The fruit of gay political recognition was ripe for the picking and Harvey had a vision.
Harvey's store was directly across the street from the print shop where the vitamin store is today. I'll always remember Scott and Harvey and their dog, who's name escapes me now. The dog loved to play and wrestle, he always hung out at the store. The back of the store is where Harvey organized all of his campaigns with the help of several well qualified political consultants. Harvey ran for supervisor 3 times before his victory. All of Harvey's supporters were sure that he would get the necessary votes on his second try. But the disappointments ran heavy at the Milk campaign headquarters when again he didn't get the necessary votes. Harvey's victory finally came the with the next election. As a rule, Harvey never drank, but on that night at the celebration party he totally let go and celebrated his new victory with the rest of the Castro.
I was never a political activist during the Milk years. I only remember his personality and some of the people in the early days of the Castro. I do remember that many people of those days were apathetic about gay politics and weren't really impressed with Harvey's style of politics. Even in those early years there was a conservative faction in the gay community. Harvey really wasn't canonized until after his assassination.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Next door to Dirty Dick's was a small frame shop that also specialized in the restoration of old paintings. Dirty Dick's didn't last long, it closed and someone reopened it as Le Bistro. As with many gay bars of that period, its success was also short-lived. Eventually the frame shop moved or went out of business, the wall was torn out and the two spaces combined into one large space. Another new bar that went in this space, the Castro Station, is still there today and going strong.