Queer History Series Debuts in San Francisco

The Chan National Queer Arts Center is the site of boundless new San Francisco queer programming. (SFGMC)

I’ve been candid about my love for the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. It’s robust and overflowing community in a city buffeted by bad takes from bored and profiteering media pundits is a reminder San Francisco is alive with the sound of music, for those willing to listen. Now, in the choruses new home — the Pansy L. Chan and Terrence D. Chan National Queer Arts Center on Valencia Street — there’s a new event for those same believers who want to hear how gorgeous this city really is.

Memory Keepers Initiative is a four-part interactive series wherein gay and queer elders will participate in a panel discussion with participation from the audience. Attendees will have the chance to record their own stories on-site, too. Mega famous drag innovator Donna Sachet is set to moderate the debut event on January 11 at 7 p.m. To ensure accessibility, the event is pay what you can.

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus artistic director and conductor Jake Stensberg says the series is meant to bring various queer communities under one roof. “Many LGBTQIA+ communities tend to be monogenerational,” Stensberg says. “We want to create intergenerational queer space.”

The event comes at an important time: Finding places for queer community is challenging, especially as the national conversation regarding transgender rights reaches dangerous heights. There are cafes and lunch spots for locals that feel safe and friendly, and late at night one can always go to longtime beacon Grubstake Diner rather than the clubs. There are sober spaces, too, as hangouts that don’t expressly revolve around drinking are important for many.

But just up the street from the arts center queer-owned cafe Milk SF closed — under dubious circumstances — as did Sluts wine bar in SoMa, another surreptitiously-run outfit. Needless to say, telling these stories and hearing from elders might be the key to ensuring future San Franciscans know there were gay and queer artists living in the city at all. “These are San Francisco icons,” Stensberg says of the panelists for Thursday’s event.