San Francisco Skivvies Run, a holiday fundraising tradition in the Castro
Michael Flanagan, a local journalist who has done so much fantastic reporting on LGBT history over the years, has a fun article in the Bay Area Reporter about the history of Christmas holiday traditions in San Francisco’s LGBT community.
Most of our local gay bars have some form of decorations up for the holidays, with some like the Twin Peaks Tavern and the late Marlena’s (now Brass Tacks) going all out for their holiday décor. But as early as the 1950s, San Francisco gays were throwing public celebrations for the Christmas holiday season.
Flanagan reports that in 1955, the Mattachine Society had a special Christmas issue:
In 1955, their first year, the Mattachine Society offered a special Christmas issue of The Mattachine Review which was available to subscribers to the magazine but did not appear on newsstands. The attitude of the time shows through on the cover though, as along with the banner wishing the reader “Seasons Greetings” is an article entitled “Sex Offenders Work to Help Themselves.”
— Michael Flanagan, “Mary; Christmas! A history of LGBT holiday traditions,” Bay Area Reporter, December 18, 2014
Other highlights from Flanagan’s article include:
- By 1965, the Society for Individual Rights (SIR) was hosting an annual Christmas celebration a few weeks before December 25th, with hundreds of guests.
- An annual toy drive begun in the mid-1960s grew to be so big that by 1968, 700 participants had to cram into the Maritime Hall.
- Beginning in 1966, the California Motor Club held their annual CMC Carnival a few weeks before. Thanksgiving, which formally kicked off the holiday season. The CMC Carnival is considered by many to be a predecessor to the Folsom Street Fair.
Check out the full article for more.
Some more contemporary holiday traditions in the LGBT community include:
- The annual tree lighting ceremony for the massive (artificial) Christmas tree in front of the Bank of America building on Castro at 18th sponsored by the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro;
- The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band’s annual Dance-Along Nutcracker, their one fundraiser of the year;
- Donna Sachet’s annual “Songs of the Season” concert at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel;
- The LookOut’s new Santa Skivvies Run fundraiser in early December;
- Katya Smirnoff-Skyy’s annual “Holiday Spectacular,” this year at Feinstein’s at the Nikko; and
- The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus annual Christmas Eve concert at the Castro Theatre, now in its 25th year.
(H/T: Edge Media Network)
