Do you know where San Diego’s early gay bars were? Have you read the hate crimes plaque? Have you looked at the base of the flag pole? Have you peeked into the secret garden? How much do you really know about Hillcrest?
To celebrate Pride week, Lambda Archives will have two evening tours: Wednesday July 13 and Thursday July 14 each at 6:15 pm. Walter Meyer, the manager of Lambda Archives, who conducts the tours said, “The tour is about two and a half miles and takes a little over two hours. All proceeds from tour ticket sales fund the work of Lambda Archives to continue collecting, preserving and educating people about the LGBT history of the greater San Diego region.”
After a good deal of research including a visit to the University of Southern California’s One Archive, and consultation with many in the community, and a few practice tours, the first official tour took place in April and the May tour sold out before it could even be advertised.
Bruce Coons, Executive Director of Save Our Heritage Organization took the tour and said, “This very important tour highlights the history, stories, places, sites, tragedies and triumphs and of this modern civil rights struggle. A national and international struggle in which, San Diego was at the forefront. A struggle where there has been tremendous progress and like all struggles for human rights, a struggle that requires constant vigilance and continues today. Visitors will find this tour enlightening, entertaining, at times disheartening and ultimately inspiring.”
Famed historian and author of numerous books about LGBT history including The Gay Revolution, Lillian Faderman said, “I thought I knew a lot about gay Southern California, but Lambda Archive’s wonderful tour of the Hillcrest was eye-opening. Lambda knows every nook and cranny, every pertinent gay event that ever happened here. They make the history of gay Hillcrest come alive!”
Luke Terpstra, Hillcrest Town Council Board President Emeritus said the tour was, “A great way to get some exercise and learn about the amazing LGBT history in our community. Learn how Hillcrest first offered the LGBT community a place to gather, meet and take early steps toward the many freedoms that we finally enjoy today including Marriage Equality and the end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
The tours cover some of the art and architecture of the neighbor and how and why Hillcrest became the LGBTQ hub of San Diego. Three of the five locations of The Center have been in Hillcrest and are stops on the tour. “We like to cover how Hillcrest reluctantly became the gay neighborhood, then fully proudly and openly gay, to now in some respects being post-gay,” Meyer said. “It’s been an interesting evolution and we at the Archives learned a lot we didn’t know as we did our research. And what has been great is that we have learned more from participants on every tour.”
Tickets are $20 for Archives members and $25 for nonmembers and are available at lambda-archives.ticketleap.com
