Safe Space: Gay Neighborhood History and the Politics of Violence

371 Pages·2013·2.62 MB·English

by  Christina B. Hanhardt

SAFE SPACE
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 men-
tion, 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 mem-
bers, 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, pur-
sued 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 analy-
sis 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 think-
ing 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 par-
ticular, 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 in-
valuable, 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 dis-
sertation. 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