![gay sex parties san fransisc0 gay sex parties san fransisc0](http://assets3.thrillist.com/v1/image/2767477/size/tl-full_width_tall_mobile.jpg)
Shops with gay owners, gay bars, and places of gay socialization lined the streets. The Castro and other gay San Francisco neighborhoods also provided a certain spatial freedom. While Milk’s assassination cut his life and political influence short, gay San Franciscans organized political clubs, lobby groups, and other methods of applying political pressure within the city to define and protect gay rights. The Castro elected one of the nation’s first openly gay officials in 1978 when they chose Harvey Milk, a Castro resident, for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The Castro became one of the nation’s most distinctive and visible gay neighborhoods and a hub of sexual activism and politics.
![gay sex parties san fransisc0 gay sex parties san fransisc0](https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/Rvllj88zxDUDfwm6EUul1XdDBxc=/2121x1414/filters:fill(auto,1)/GettyImages-846811474-60f8c0a7301b4c32adb65e9a0e1623f5.jpg)
San Francisco attracted gay men and others with non-normative sexualities after World War II, but especially in the 1960s and 1970s as it became known as a city open to people who identified as gay.(1) Gay men and women grouped together, creating gay neighborhoods – places where they could seek safety in numbers, live an openly gay lifestyle, buy homes, and launch their own businesses. Today, the SF LGBT Center is the only non-profit in San Francisco serving all members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. This landmark event breathed new life into the physical space and created financial sustainability. In April 2017, the center inaugurated a state-of-the-art building-a $10.3 million remodel. The SF LGBT Center, first opened in 2002, seen here in mid-2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.