"Bigots on Parade" from the 1977 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. Anita Bryant, the KKK, and Hitler, amongst other hate-mongering luminaries... Credit: Archival photo by: Marie Ueda

Hi Gay Place, it’s been a while. Have you been feeling neglected? Well ain’t no one gonna stop the rush of posts I’ll have for you in a week’s time after I visit San FranCrisco – sadly I’ll be away for part of SXSW and the even more painful for me is that I’ll be missing GAY BI GAY GAY III! Tears of sadness.

I’ve been trolling around the SF LGBT History archives online. As you can imagine, it’s quite the treasure trove, especially all of the mind-blowing historical film and video. Lucky for us, they have uploaded quite a bit of content onto YouTube.

Here’s a video of the 1975 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade (this is before freedom fries, people) – back when queers could roam the streets for one day, and one day only, before they were busted by the vice cops.

Youtube video

This article appears in February 29 • 2008.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US