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Gay men, lesbians, and even transgender people were prominent members of local society long before anyone ever flew a pride flag or marched in a pride parade.

Out of the Past: Local LGBTQ History Is Full of Surprises

The legacies of a pair of Victorian-era same-sex couples live on in our public beaches and the landmark Villa Montezuma house. Later, around the turn of the 20th century, a pair of progressive, upper-crust women lived together on the edge of Balboa Park. Lee was a prominent Progressive activist who advocated for public playgrounds and public beaches.

Notably, the couple played host to Roosevelt and his second wife Edith after his presidency. As for transgender people, national headlines in blared the news that the death of La Jolla physician Dr. Eugene Perkins, married to his wife for 28 years, revealed he was actually a biological woman.

Perkins was dead, and my uncle was shocked. Perkins is a woman. And in the s, Ful gays was home to the first worldwide drag queen superstar, a stage and film performer named Julian Eltinge. For more on Eltinge and the remarkable early years of drag performance, ful gays my profile for The Washington Post.

San Diego became a military powerhouse during World War II, and gays and lesbians flocked here to work for the Navy and the defense industry. A veteran described finding camaraderie with other gay sailors at the San Diego Naval Training Station. Gay-friendly bars and restaurants were clustered in downtown.

And then two things happened, First, a gay restaurant called The Brass Rail moved from downtown to Hillcrest and became a bar. Then the rise of gay liberation catalyzed members of the LGBTQ community to live more openly and started running shops and restaurants in Hillcrest.

My analysis of census data found that gay male couples were still clustered around Hillcrest and other mid-city neighborhoods while lesbian couples lived all over the county. For much of the latter half of the 20th century, the San Diego Police Department was no ally of the queer community.

Then came a department store sting operation that galvanized the gay community. Then tolerance set in. Inthe police department said it would hire openly gay officers. By the early s, the police chief joined the Pride Parade and officers marched openly. Parade organizers even temporarily banned uniformed officers from marching.

Learn more about the restroom sting and its impact. Still, it was lesbians who first gained power in San Diego politics. They were the first openly gay people here to be elected to the San Diego City Council, to ful gays district attorney, and to the state Assembly and Senate.

The AIDS pandemic may be partially responsible for this. That was probably a result of the fact that a lot of the men were ill, taking care of partners or involved in some kind of AIDS activism. In recent years, gay men have been elected to top positions in local politics, notably San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.

Learn more about the rise of lesbians in local politics. Randy Dotinga is a freelance contributor to Voice of San Diego.