San Francisco Bay Times Connects Local LGBTQ History With a Global Audience

The San Francisco Bay Times began in 1978 with an unusual distinction: it was founded jointly by gay men and women. More than four decades later, it remains one of Northern California’s oldest and largest LGBTQ newspapers, continuing a local publishing project that began with a small collective in San Francisco.

The paper’s origin story centers on seven women and men who worked together to plan and produce its first issue. Their meetings took place in the Central Avenue home of founding co-publisher Bill Hartman. The founding group also included co-publisher Roland Schembari, editor Randy Alfred, circulation manager Susan Calico, and women’s section editor Priscilla Alexander, along with two other members.

The early Bay Times drew on the work of LGBTQ community leaders and contributors, including Cleve Jones, Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon, and Howard Wallace. Their involvement placed the newspaper within San Francisco’s wider LGBTQ community at a formative point in its history, while the paper’s shared leadership reflected its founding connection between gay men and women.

The Bay Times has since expanded beyond its print newspaper. Its operations include the Castro Street Cam, a live stream available around the clock from Harvey Milk Plaza and the Castro. The camera offers people outside San Francisco a continuous view of a location strongly associated with LGBTQ life in the city. For LGBTQ people in places where they feel isolated from community, the stream can serve as an emotional link to San Francisco and to a broader LGBTQ public.

The organization also operates Betty’s List, an LGBTQ news and events service. Related services include Harvey’s List and the Bay Times List, extending the publication’s role as a source of information about LGBTQ life and activities.

Together, the newspaper, livestream, and lists show how a community publication can operate across several forms of media. The Bay Times remains rooted in the San Francisco community that created it in 1978, while its online services allow people elsewhere—including internationally—to maintain a connection with the Castro and with LGBTQ news and events. Its history is therefore both local and expansive: a project launched by a small group meeting in a San Francisco home now reaches audiences through print, web-based information services, and a live view of one of the city’s best-known LGBTQ neighborhoods.

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Further links listed by the Wikipedia page (not independently checked): - https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/06/19/san-franciscos-iconic-lgbtq-newspaper-marks-40-years-during-sf-pride/ - https://sfosb.org/sites/default/files/Legacy%20Business/SBC%20Hearings/Item%204f.%20LBR-2020-21-037%20SF%20Bay%20Times.pdf - https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8r49w8g/ - https://www.legacybusiness.org/home - https://www.legacybusiness.org/business/san-francisco-bay-times - https://issuu.com/sfbt Image rights Photograph description: This plane went straight from the maintenance bay to the runway, presumably to be ferried to a nearby airport, most likely San Francisco. I've never seen a 777 do such a short takeoff roll and climb like a rocket. I've never flown on this particular airframe, though I've seen it many times, here at LAX as well as in San Francisco and London. This aircraft was initially an XI in United parlance, in Creator: skinnylawyer from Los Angeles, California, USA. License: CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0). Original image page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AUnited_Airlines_-_N787UA_-_Flickr_-_skinnylawyer.jpg. The image was resized for display; no other changes were made.