Preserving LGBT Historic Sites in California

08/31/2026

San Francisco: The National Trust for Historic Preservation covers itself with shame by cluelessly (or worse, knowingly) engaging in media-release journalism repeating Another Planet Entertainment's gaslighting about the Castro Theatre.

Lots of rah-rah about the ceiling restoration; not a peep about the destruction of the historic movie-palace orchestra. And if you believe the National Trust, APE is now programming occasional films and LGBTQ+ events at the Castro Theatre purely out of the goodness of its corporate heart.

No mention of the two-plus year community campaign that forced the corporate giant into a corner. I've of course not only commented on the National Trust's Facebook post. One of our administrators has sent a request for revision or a follow-up article directly to the trust at [email protected].

Restored: Castro Theatre | The Castro Theatre’s hand-painted ceiling resembling the interior of an ornate tent is its most distinctive feature. But for decades, layers of grime and an improper coating partly obscured this original element of the 1922 San Francisco movie palace, designed by Bay Area architect Timothy Pflueger.

“In an effort to stabilize it, a coat of varnish had been applied,” says Elisa Hernández Skaggs, associate principal at Page & Turnbull a preservation architecture firm. But rather than protecting it, “the varnish turned dark and gave the ceiling a very dark appearance.”

In early 2024, Page & Turnbull, CAW Architects, Inc. and EverGreene Architectural Arts embarked on a $41 million restoration funded by Another Planet Entertainment which manages and operates the theater.

The project included restoring the ceiling and other key features, as well as addressing persistent issues such as water intrusion, ventilation problems, and limited accessibility.

Unveiled to the public in February 2026, the Spanish Colonial/Eclectic–style theater is again “a beacon of culture and activity in the neighborhood,” says Page & Turnbull Principal Carolyn Kiernat.

The Castro Theatre has long stood as a safe space for the Castro neighborhood’s q***r community, hosting drag shows and an annual performance by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

Following the restoration, the theater’s newly expanded programming includes live music, comedy shows, film screenings, and more. “I went to the grand opening. ... There was a lot of oohing and aahing,” says Skaggs. “It’s just stunning.”

From the Transitions section of Preservation magazine, Summer 2026.

Photo by Jason Chew/Another Planet Entertainment

08/30/2026

FROM SAN FRANCISCO PLANNING: Join us the evening of September 8 for a community forum about a potential historic landmark district designation for the Castro, hosted by District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and San Francisco Planning.

Planning staff will be on hand to discuss the landmark designation process, associated preservation incentives and responsibilities, and opportunities for public participation.
Individual landmarks and landmark districts are unique and irreplaceable assets, serving to enhance and protect many of the physical surroundings in which past generations lived.

The Eureka Valley Commercial and Castro Village LGBTQ+ Historic District represents two histories: early commercial development (1879-1932) and the emergence of an LGBTQ+ neighborhood (1953–1980.)

Periods of significance, boundaries, contributing properties and character defining features may be informed by findings from the San Francisco Survey Cultural Resource findings adopted by the Historic Preservation Commission in December 2025.

ADDED NOTE FROM THE PAGE ADMINISTRATORS:

San Francisco Planning engaged Gerard Koskovich, one of our page administrators, last fall as a consultant on the process of identifying sites in the Castro associated with LGBTQ+ history. His findings are taken into consideration in the historic district proposal.

The public forum will be a great opportunity to learn about the proposed district — and perhaps event to suggest that Planning extend the boundaries somewhat to include nearby important sites. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

08/25/2026

Orinda: Situated on a 2.33-acre lot at the end of a winding cul-de-sac in the Lake Orinda Highlands neighborhood on the northwestern edge of the city of Orinda in Contra Costa County, a striking midcentury modern home marks a heretofore unidentified le***an historic site.

Ausenbaum-Parker House is a handsome example of Second Bay Tradition architecture, a sophisticated combination of sleek geometries, plate glass and machine aesthetics softened by rustic materials echoing the natural setting of the home.

The house was commissioned in 1958 by a le***an couple, Helen Ausenbaum (1911–2006) and Zelma Parker (1904–1997). Both were successful professional women who had earned the means by the late 1950s to acquire land and build a home to reflect their tastes and their way of living.

Ausenbaum held an MSW from the University of California, Berkeley, and worked as a guidance counselor for the Oakland School District for 25 years. Parker likewise held a graduate degree; she served as a psychologist and social worker in Alameda County Schools, then as director of the Orinda Counseling Center for 30 years.

DISCRETION & OPENNESS

The home the couple built is discreet when viewed from the street: Nothing is visible other than fences, shrubbery and the top of the gable at the rear of the house. Inside the compound, by contrast, the ground slopes away and the house juts out over the woods like a ship's prow, with floor-to-ceiling windows above a projecting deck and pool.

The careful placement of the structure protects the privacy of the residents, as the side open to nature overlooks an unbroken expanse of woods with no neighboring buildings. Ausenbaum and Parker and their guests could enjoy spaces bridging indoors and outdoors while remaining safe from prying eyes.

Helen Ausenbaum's great-niece Jordan L'Moore recalls, "I’m pretty sure Helen and Zelma were in the Daughters of Bilitis, if not that, then another early le***an organization, and I know they were in the Grey Panthers. They traveled extensively, loved freighter ships and even took a trip on one down the Mekong river during the height of the Vietnam War because they wanted to see for themselves what was happening."

L'Moore adds, "I spent a lot of time in their house when I was a kid and then when I was a young adult.... It’s definitely one of the reasons I love architecture. The views were incredible and the little pool was a joy to splash around in."

JUST LIKE ANY COUPLE

Designed by California architect Henry Hill (1913–1984), Ausenbaum-Parker House is featured in the 1961 book "Contemporary Houses Evaluated by Their Owners" (New York City: Reinhold Publishing) by Thomas H. Creighton and Catherine M. Ford, where Ausenbaum and Parker are identified as commissioning and residing in the home.

The most striking part of their interview in the book: They say they told the architect they wanted "bathroom facilities adequate for the morning rush of two employed women" and "a guest sleeping room." Attentive readers will note from the floor plan in the book that the home has one master bath and two bedrooms: The women thus casually reveal that — just like any other couple — they share a bedroom and bathroom.

THEIR FINAL YEARS

Parker passed the end of her life in a senior care community, as did Ausenbaum a few years later. Parker's death notice preserved in L'Moore's family scrapbook mentions among her survivors, "a friend, Helen E. Ausenbaum." When Ausenbaum died nine years later in 2006, her obituary erroneously names "special friend Zelma E. Parker" as a survivor.

The two women are interred in a shared grave in Union Corners Cemetery in Ausenbaum's hometown of Grant Park, Ill. Both their names are carved on the pink granite headstone. The home they built in Orinda is extant, located at 20 Chapparal Place.

08/14/2026

San Francisco Bay Area residents & visitors: Get your tickets now for Reunion, the annual gala of The GLBT Historical Society Museum & Archives coming up the evening of Saturday, October 17.

The GLBT Historical Society is an invaluable resource for LGBTQ+ historic preservation and place-based history. We've frequently shared images and documents from its archives this page.

You can join the table of Gerard Koskovich, one of the administrators of Preserving LGBT Historic Sites in California, by reserving your ticket through the link in the comments.

Book no later than Sunday (August 16) for discounted early-bird admission.

The gala is a high point of San Francisco's autumn season and of LGBTQ+ History Month for q***r and trans folks and our friends and allies. A grand chance to dress up and enjoy fine conversation, entertainment, food and drink.

If you can't attend, you can still help sustain the invaluable LGBTQ+ public history work of the Historical Society: Simply click on the ticket link to make a donation.

08/04/2026

San Mateo County: The Bay Area Reporter picks up the story of the changes at San Gregorio Beach and even refers to our post on Preserving LGBT Historic Sites in California.

The BAR adds memories from beachgoers Howard Grant, who first visited in 1958, and Marty Courson, a regular since 1991, along with an interview with California State Parks representative Chris Spohrer.

Notably, the BAR reports that State Parks has posted a sign acknowledging somewhat coyly the importance of the site for gay intangible cultural heritage:

“Since the 1960s, this beach has been a popular safe space for the q***r community and its allies, where people have felt welcome to recreate without fear of discrimination. Now, it will continue to provide important access for all.”

As we noted in our original post: San Gregorio Beach stands as an example of the ways natural environments no less than built environments can take on meaning as LGBTQ+ historic sites — in this case, an isolated shore marked by nearly seven decades of q***r friendship, pleasure, loss, grief and remembrance.

If you have memories of gay times at San Gregorio, please post a comment.

The acquisition of San Gregorio Ranch by the state means no more nudity at a site on the San Mateo County coast that has been a popular gathering space for q***r people for generations.

07/25/2026

San Mateo County: A historic n**e beach which has long been frequented by gay men will soon be subsumed into an adjacent California State Park with nudity banned under uniform state regulations.

San Gregorio Beach, just south of Half Moon Bay near the junction of Highway 1 and Highway 84, is about a one-hour drive south of San Francisco.

The isolated n**e beach area north of San Gregorio Beach State Park previously was accessible only via the privately owned San Gregorio Ranch, with paid limited parking and limited admission. The land has been acquired by the Peninsula Open Space Trust, which will provide much expanded public access.

San Gregorio has attracted nudists at least since the late 1950s. When the Bay Area Reporter began publishing in 1971, the classifieds occasionally mentioned the beach, as in this ad for an es**rt from the August 1, 1971, issue: "Enjoys living, from cultural music to art and then on to po*******hy ending with possibly a trip to San Gregorio Beach where they let it all hang out."

By May 1973, a tour business named Epicurus was advertising chartered bus trips from San Francisco to "San Gregorio — enjoy the Gay N**e Beach every day of summer." In the 1970s and 1980s, San Gregorio Beach also became a destination for runs organized by San Francisco gay motorcycle and cycling clubs.

A BAR roundup in 1979 by Charles Finley, "The Best Bay Area N**e Beaches," notes that "the n**e area is off the state land area, thus it is hassle free by the rangers. Extremely popular beach on warm days and known as California's first free beach which began in the mid-60s."

The mid-1980s saw Ben Hernandez and Ronald Sturgeon, the gay operators of the rental parking lot and private trail for San Gregorio Beach, unsuccessfully targeted by lawsuits from neighbors complaining that the business encouraged trespassing and public homos*xual activity.

San Gregorio was marked more than once in a particularly moving way in the 1980s–early 1990s as a location for scattering ashes of men who had loved the beach. The September 15, 1985, obituary of John Brannon following his death from a heart attack indicated "John's favorite place in this world was the beach at San Gregorio. In accordance with his wishes, his ashes will be scattered there one bright, sunny day in the future."

The July 3, 1986, obituary for 32-year-old Mark Ryan, brings the memory of the darkest hours of the 1980s to the shore: "His ashes were returned to the sea at his beloved San Gregorio on June 25 following a memorial service. After a long illness with ARC and AIDS, he died as he had lived: with quiet dignity, astonishing humor, enormous patience and the music of Mozart."

Likely the most widely known gay man whose survivors scattered his ashes at San Gregorio is Al Parker (né Andrew Robert Okun), who died of AIDS on August 17, 1992, at age 40. Parker was one of the most celebrated stars, producers and directors of gay erotic videos of the era, working with C**t Studios, Bijou Video and his own Surge Studios.

San Gregorio Beach stands as an example of the ways natural environments no less than built environments can take on meaning as LGBTQ+ historic sites — in this case, an isolated shore marked by nearly seven decades of q***r friendship, pleasure, loss, grief and remembrance. If you have memories of gay times at San Gregorio, please post a comment.

07/21/2026

San Francisco: An update from the Bay Area Reporter on progress toward granting landmark recognition to the home of James Hormel (1933–2021), the first openly gay ambassador in the history of the United States.

"The stately home where the late gay U.S. Ambassador James. C. Hormel once resided is a step closer to becoming a San Francisco landmark. It is expected to join the list of local historic sites come September."

The stately home where the late gay U.S. Ambassador James. C. Hormel once resided is a step closer to becoming a San Francisco landmark.

06/04/2026

San Francisco: The GLBT Historical Society is participating today (June 4) in Give OUT Day, a U.S. national campaign to encourage donations to LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations.

The GLBT Historical Society's Museum and Archives in San Francisco welcome visitors and researchers from across to globe to join in documenting, interpreting and sharing LGBTQ+ history and culture in all their diversity.

The society's collections are particularly strong in materials that sustain work in place-based history and on the identification and preservation of q***r and trans historic sites.

In this era of intense attacks by the MAGA Regime using to force of the federal government to disrupt and suppress the production and distribution of LGBTQ+ knowledge, your support will help the Historical Society proudly and defiantly continue its vital work.

See link in comments to make a donation or become a member — with any gift you make doubled up to $20,000 total thanks to generous sponsor Rick Brown.

⭐ Today is Give OUT Day — a national day of giving dedicated to celebrating and uplifting LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations doing vital work for the communities they serve.

For over 40 years, the GLBT Historical Society has preserved and shared LGBTQ+ history, arts, and culture — an act of defiance against the forces that seek to erase our community.

🎉 Double Your Impact Today! Thanks to the incredible generosity of longtime supporter Rick Brown, every membership and donation made through June 30th will be matched up to $20,000.

🏳️‍🌈 This Pride Month, make a tax-deductible gift to ensure that LGBTQ+ history — our history — remains accessible to all.

Visit glbthistory.org/pride or follow the link in our bio to learn more.



Photo: Volunteers hoist one of the two original rainbow flags created for San Francisco Gay Freedom Day 1978. Photograph by James McNamara, courtesy of Mick Hicks.

03/27/2026

San Francisco folks & visitors: Looking forward to seeing many of you the evening of April 9 at The GLBT Historical Society Museum for a discussion of the brief history of the Castro District co-authored by Jen Reck and Gerard Koskovich, one of the administrators of Preserving LGBT Historic Sites in California.

They'll be joined by Tina V. Aguirre, author of the introduction and director the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, which published the booklet, and Devin McGeehan Muchmore, an archivist at Historical Society, where the archives were central to our research.

Copies of the second printing of "The Castro" (which Gerard notes has a few typos corrected) will be available hot off the press and ready for signing.

03/20/2026

San Francisco: The building that housed one of the city's longest-running gay erotic entertainment establishments is back on the market for sale or lease after the current owner abandoned plans for a mixed-use development project.

Located at 729 Bush St. between Powell and Mason streets in the Tendernob neighborhood, the structure was home to the Nob Hill Adult Theatre, one of the first establishments in the city to show gay p**n films starting circa 1968.

Over its five decades in business, the theater evolved to offer live s*x shows, a video arcade, glory-hole booths and other erotic services for a clientele that came from around the world.

During the era of p**no chic in the early 1980s, the owners of the Nob Hill even gave their basement apartment on the premises a fabulous makeover that landed a feature in the January 1982 issue of Architectural Digest magazine.

The Nob Hill Adult Theatre closed in 2018 when the owners retired, and the building has since stood vacant. For more stories about the history and about the current availability of the property, see the article in comments from The San Francisco Standard.