In the 1970’s gay bars were everywhere in the city but none of them were owned by gay men or women because they were unable to obtain liquor licenses having thought of as degenerates. For many people, the gay bars then were an entrance into the hidden LGBT community. Detwiler mixes archival footage with interviews of bar patrons and owners from that time who shared that everyone used a fake ‘bar’ name so they were not exposed, they all had a great deal of fun despite the legal restrictions. Homosexuality was illegal then and being ‘found out’ could literally ruin your lives, but between 1950’s and the 1960’s there were 25 gay bars in the City. The film begins after World War II when San Diego was a major naval and military base, and even though heterosexual serviceman couldn’t wait to rush back home to their families, gay men and women were enjoying the freedom they had begun to experience away from traditional family lives and they did not want to leave the area. It is a story that seems to be the same in other urban areas in the US in the recent past. Filmmaker Paul Detwiler looks at the history of the San Diego gay bars in his new documentary.
