Chrlstlna B. HANHARDT

GAY NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY AND THE POLITICS OF VIOLENCE SAFE SPACE CHRISTINA B. HANHARDT Perverse Modernities A series edited by Judith Halberstam and Lisa Lowe Christina B. Hanhardt SAFE SPACE GAY NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY AND THE POLITICS OF VIOLENCE Duke University Press Durham and London 2013 © 2013 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ∞ Designed by Heather Hensley Typeset in Chaparral Pro by Copperline Book Services, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Hanhardt, Christina B. Safe space : gay neighborhood history and the politics of violence / Christina B. Hanhardt. pages cm — (Perverse modernities) isbn 978- 0- 8223- 5457- 4 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978- 0- 8223- 5470- 3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Gay liberation movement — New York (State) — New York. 2. Gay liberation movement — California — San Francisco. 3. Gentrification — New York (State) — New York. 4. Gentrification — California — San Francisco. 5. Community policing — New York (State) — New York. 6. Community policing — California — San Francisco. I. Title. II. Series: Perverse modernities. hq76.8.u5h37 2013 306.76'609747 — dc23 2013013825 CONTENTS vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 35 1. “THE WHITE GHETTO”: Sexual Deviancy, Police Accountability, and the 1960s War on Poverty 81 2. BUTTERFLIES, WHISTLES, AND FISTS: Safe Streets Patrols and Militant Gay Liberalism in the 1970s 117 3. “COUNT THE CONTRADICTIONS”: Challenges to Gay Gentrification at the Start of the Reagan Era 155 4. VISIBILITY AND VICTIMIZATION: Hate Crime Laws and the Geography of Punishment, 1980s and 1990s 185 5. “CANARIES OF THE CREATIVE AGE”: Queer Critiques of Risk and Real Estate in the Twenty- First Century 221 CONCLUSION 227 EPILOGUE 231 APPENDIX: Neighborhood Maps of San Francisco and New York 233 NOTES 315 BIBLIOGRAPHY 335 INDEX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I thank all of the activists from whom I’ve learned. It is no exaggeration when I write that their vision and la- bor has given clarity of purpose not only to this book but to my own life. The activists whom I interviewed include, in order of appear- ance, Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon, Randy Alfred, Hank Wilson, Ben Gardiner, Michael Shernoff, Ali Marrero, Ruth Mahaney, Maggie Jochild (Meg Barnett), Pamela David, Lois Helmbold, Lenn Keller, Joan Gibbs, Bran Fenner, and Krystal Portalatin. Extra thanks to Maggie and Lenn for their exceptional generosity and memory, and to Joan Annsfire, with whom I had invaluable exchanges as well. I also thank those who chose to remain anonymous and the many individuals whose interviews did not make it into this narra- tive, including Rickke Mananzala, Yasmeen Perez, and others. I am thankful to all of the members and staff of Fabulous Independent Educated Radicals for Community Empowerment (fierce), past and present. Those active in the early 2000s deserve special mention, such as Krystal, Bran, and Rickke, as well as Aries Dela Cruz, Lucia Leandro Gimeno, Jesse Ehrensaft- Hawley, Mervyn Marcano, J. D. Melendez, Justin Rosado, and many more. I am also thankful for exchanges with other former and present fierce staff members, including Emerson Brisbon and Naa Hammond. Many thanks to fierce allies and other fellow travelers, especially Kai Barrow, Kenyon Farrow, and Joo- Hyun Kang. I have been honored to work alongside more people than I could mention here who are involved in social movements inside and outside New York and Washington, D.C. I thank them all. I am tremendously grateful to the archivists, staff, and volunteers at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society (glbths) in San Francisco; the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections of Cornell University; the Lesbian Herstory Archives in Brooklyn; the Sexual Minor- ity Archive of Northampton, Massachusetts; the New York and San Fran- cisco Public Libraries; the June Mazer Lesbian Collection in Los Angeles, now at the University of California, Los Angeles; the one National Gay and Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles, now a part of the University of Southern California; the Fales Library of New York University; the Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley; and the National Archive of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History of the lgbt Community Center in New York. Special thanks go to Susan Stryker, who pointed me to many of the sources on which the first and second chapters of this book are based and whose research on San Francisco’s history has been so foundational. I owe extra recognition to Brenda Marston, curator of the Human Sexuality Collection at Cornell; Rebekah Kim and Marjorie Bryer, archivists at the glbths; and the entire collective of the Lesbian Herstory Archives. I am lucky to have had the opportunity to study at the Program in Ameri- can Studies at New York University (nyu). I am most grateful to have learned so much from Lisa Duggan. It is because of her example that I sharpened my feminist and queer analysis, first thought conceptually about the state, pursued historical research, and believed that one day I would be done. Andrew Ross was also an important guide, who gave me knowledge and confidence that inspired me to identify as an urbanist, taught me invaluable lessons about writing clearly, and cheered me on with genuine encouragement. They are exemplars of engaged scholars, and they understood what was at stake for me as I pursued this path. Without them, none of this would have been possible. Phillip Brian Harper was a key advisor, especially in my first years of graduate school, when he encouraged me to direct my close readings at the social world. I am thankful for Adam Green’s example of historical analysis joined by cultural critique. In those years, I learned from a remarkable group of faculty members, including Arlene Dávila, Steven Gregory, Robin D. G. Kelley, Anna McCarthy, Toby Miller, José Esteban Muñoz, and George Yúdice. It was in a class with Cathy Cohen, then a visiting faculty member at nyu, that I first began to think about the ideas that would become this book. I will be forever grateful for Alyssa Burke’s expertise during the years she served as the administrative head of the Program in American Studies. Madala Hilaire combined humor and generosity, making me laugh as she assured me that smooth sailing was ahead. I cannot thank them enough. My coconspirators from nyu are many, and I thank in particular Alyosha Goldstein, Laura Harris, Richard Kim, Sujani Reddy, Mariel Rose, and Emily viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thuma. Rich Blint, Rebecca Sumner Burgos, Sybil Cooksey, Carlos Ulises Decena, Mireille Miller- Young, and Alison Redick were also invaluable thinking partners. I have appreciated the opportunity to continue to learn from people I first met at nyu who were years ahead of me in the program, such as Davarian Baldwin, Tanya Erzen, Alondra Nelson, Julie Sze, Thuy Linh Tu, and many more. The year I wrote my dissertation proposal was a very lucky one for me. It was then that I met Dayo Folayan Gore, who was finishing her dissertation in history at nyu. Ever since, she has been my most important colleague and friend. Her sharp thinking, kind patience, and great fun have kept me out of trouble and in this game. A network of scholars has inspired, supported, and challenged me. In particular, I am tremendously grateful for the example and generosity of Jack Halberstam, Regina Kunzel, and Siobhan Somerville. Through visits to the University of Maryland, invitations for me to speak at their institutions, on panels and in the rare breaks of various conferences, and via other exchanges and collaborations I have been inspired by the scholarship and collegiality of Eduardo Contreras, Beth Currans, John D’Emilio, Kirstie Dorr, Roderick Ferguson, Gill Frank, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Laura Gutiérrez, Yukiko Hanawa, Gillian Harkins, Scott Herring, Lucas Hilderbrand, Colin Johnson, Miranda Joseph, Sara Clarke Kaplan, Roshy Kheshti, Larry La Fountain-Stokes, Ian Lekus, Adela Licona, Martin Manalansan, Joanne Meyerowitz, Nick Mitchell, Kevin Murphy, Tavia Nyong’o, Marcia Ochoa, Jasbir Puar, Jordana Rosen- berg, Nayan Shah, Svati Shah, Andrea Smith, Sandra Soto, Dean Spade, Marc Stein, Karen Tongson, and Ara Wilson, and many more (as well as others whom I mention elsewhere). Extra appreciation goes to Mimi Thi Nguyen and Hiram Perez. Three people are owed special mention for their close en- gagements with this book: Emily Hobson, Kwame Holmes, and Emily Thuma. Their respective, and shared, knowledge about the history of the left, sexual and racial politics of the city, and vexed terms of antiviolence have been invaluable, although, of course, all errors remain my own. I also give thanks for astute research assistance from Aaron Allen, Douglas Ishii, Emerson Brisbon, Abram J. Lewis, Justin Maher, and Mary White. I was fortunate to have amazing colleagues and students when I taught classes at Barnard College and Hampshire College while finishing my dissertation. Tally Kampen (at Barnard) and Barbara Yngvesson and Margaret Cerullo (at Hampshire) were supportive as I balanced teaching and writing. While I was in western Massachusetts, Kara Lynch and Wilson Valentín- Escobar brought me good politics and conversation. E. B. Lehman magically made a year at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center produc- tive and relaxing. I am very fortunate that Janice Irvine had just become the center’s new director; she is now an important friend. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix At the University of Maryland, I benefit from the support of many individuals, programs, and other units. The chair of the Department of American Studies, Nancy Struna, has been a stalwart source of support and humor; I am also very happy to work alongside my colleagues John Caughey, Jason Farman, Perla Guerrero, R. Gordon Kelly, Jeffrey McCune, Jan Padios, Sheri Parks, Jo Paoletti, Mary Corbin Sies, Psyche Williams-Forson, and Janelle Wong.

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