Sights in San Diego

Gay attractions in San Diego are concentrated in Hillcrest, the neighborhood that has become the queer center of the city since the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, LGBTQ residents moved into the district's cheap old houses and refurbished them, while at the same time the first bars sprang up as places of freedom. The most striking landmark today is the large Pride flag at the corner of University Avenue and Normal Street, which flies as a Progress Pride variant on a pole about 20 meters high. A few steps away, Harvey Milk Street leads to the LGBT Community Center. It was the first street in the USA to be named after the gay civil rights activist and makes the history of the movement visible in the cityscape.

If you want to understand the change, look at the old bars, which date back to the beginning. The Brass Rail opened downtown in 1934 and moved to Hillcrest in 1963, making it one of the oldest continuously operating gay venues in the city. The historic neon sign with the lettering Hillcrest, a popular photo motif, stretches over the district. The highlight of the year is San Diego Pride in July, which is one of the largest queer events on the US West Coast with a parade and festival in and around Hillcrest. Guided LGBTQ history tours through the district connect the individual stations to form a tour. The following places will take you to the most important points in the city's queer history.