By: Nicole Murray Ramirez
As I have said so many times: “A community, indeed a movement, that does not know where it came from and whose shoulders it stands on does not really know where it’s going.” Yes, I believe God has blessed me to be alive today to be a witness to the growth and visibility of the two communities I love – the LGBTQ and Latino communities.
As I am now in my senior/elder years, I have come to realize that more and more leaders/activists from my generation are passing away regularly, and that in many ways, we are losing our history. These people and their contributions are being lost and yes, some people are writing our history who never lived it. Especially the community’s history from the 1950s through 1970s, and in some cases, these writers are changing our history.
Recently, I had a meeting with some City of San Diego officials to discuss the possibility of naming Hillcrest cultural or historic district and was very upset to learn that they were working on this with a committee that had no people of color on it and most of them did not even live in San Diego during the 1960s and 70s when our community really began to organize locally.
Homosexuality was illegal in California until 1977. It was in the 1970s that our community began to organize and our first organizations were founded, including: Dignity San Diego (for LGBT Catholics), the Imperial Court de San Diego, the Metropolitan Community Church, San Diego Pride, and The Center. Our first LGBT publication that was distributed in the community was called The San Diego Son. The first gay bar hangouts included The Brass Rail, Bradley’s, and Babes. Almost all of the people who started these first organizations and businesses have passed on, several of them from AIDS.
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of our first San Diego Pride march/parade and the San Diego GLBTQ Task Force and I have made a commitment for a 2024 LGBTQ Historic Campaign Project to save our history and celebrate and remember our pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes.
I believe that our community’s Lambda Archives is, and has been, doing its best to preserve our history without much interest or support from the greater community, sadly. As many of you know, I am the founder of the San Diego LGBT Wall of Honor located in The Center’s auditorium, alongside the LGBT Veterans Wall of Honor. I am also the proud founder of the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor located inside the historic Stonewall Inn in New York City. I mention this all because I want everyone to know how serious I have always been about preserving our history and remembering our heroes.
I owe much gratitude to The Center, Dr. Delores Jacobs, the Imperial Court de San Diego, Chris Shaw, the late Ben Dillingham, and many bar and business owners who have supported my efforts locally.
In 2024, my San Diego LGBTQ History Book Project will also be officially launched and I will be working with some city officials to find a permanent location/building for a San Diego LGBTQ History Museum. Our San Diego GLBTQ Historic Task Force 2024 Project will also include installing special historic markers at local LGBTQ historic landmarks. One of our most valued supporters is attorney Bruce Abrams who is a new member of the City of San Diego’s Historic Resources Board. We also have some major bar and business sponsors for next year’s project and campaign.
If you are interested or have ideas or suggestions, or want to be a sponsor, please contact me at [email protected] or write to San Diego GLBTQ Task Force, c/o Nicole Murray Ramirez, PO Box 33915, San Diego, CA 92163.
I want to thank the many of who have been sending me your historic photos, posters, newspapers, and other items!
–Nicole Murray Ramirez is a lifelong Latino and LGBT activist and advocate, a longtime city commissioner, and is the Queen Mother of the International Imperial Court of the Americas. He can be reached at [email protected].
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