San Diego Releases Draft Of LGBTQ History Report GUEST: Charles Kaminski, board member, Lambda Archives Transcript for audioclip 31098

Document LGBTQ Historic Context Statement Draft A draft of the city of San Diego's report on LGBTQ history and buildings that are culturally signficant. Download document

The city of San Diego is looking for public input on a recently released history of the local LGBTQ community, including a list of physical locations that could eventually get historic designations.

The City Council last year accepted a state grant to create an "LGBTQ Historic Context Statement." The city published a draft last week, which includes discussions of culturally important bars, coffeehouses, political groups, religious organizations and artists.

"The overriding goal of this context statement is to distill much of what we know about the evolution and development of San Diego's LGBTQ community and to help establish why a particular place may be considered historically significant," the report said. "It will hopefully inspire members of the community to nominate places which they think are important for formal designation."

Charles Kaminski, a board member at Lambda Archives, an organization that preserves LGBTQ history in San Diego, helped the authors gather information for the report. Despite his expertise, Kaminski said he was still surprised by some anecdotes he didn't know before about the city's LGBTQ history. He pointed to a section describing gay-friendly downtown bars during World War II.

"The Seven Seas Locker Club, which provided a variety of amenities for the enlisted, ranging from a laundry to a travel agency, was so popular that by one sailor's account, gay civilians 'borrowed servicemen's uniforms just to gain admission and make the scene,'" the report said.

The city is holding public workshops to review the report on Thursday at 6:00 pm at the Balboa Park Club Ballroom and on Saturday at 10:00 am at the Balboa Park Recital Hall. The final report is expected by late fall.

Kaminski joins KPBS Midday Edition on Thursday to discuss what he's learned from the report.

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