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Help with the LGBTQ Context Statement
September 2016
By A. Hayes
 The West Broadway YMCA |
 The Center for Social Services, now known as "The Center" |
The Planning Department for the City of San Diego held two workshops in late August to get community feedback about the LGBTQ context statement, a project that began earlier this year and will be completed by the end of September. Drafted by GPA Consulting (who prepared the Los Angeles and San Francisco LGBTQ contexts), this is an informational tool that identifies important LGBTQ-related themes and explains them through the lens of existing (and demolished) buildings in San Diego. This report will serve as a helpful resource for the Historical Resources Board and their staff to recognize and evaluate LGBTQ resources that come before them.
The six themes identified in this draft report are social life, community organizations, political activism, and religion in the LGBTQ community, LGBTQ media, and arts and culture. Building examples that represent these themes include the West Broadway YMCA, the Center for Social Services, and Dawn Media Headquarters. The YMCA, already a historically designated building, represents the social life theme, because it was once known to be a cruising and lodging spot for the LGBTQ community. The Center for Social Services, now known as "The Center," was originally located at 2250 B Street (another designated property) and illustrates early political activism. Dawn Media, the first distributor of LGBTQ magazines in San Diego, was once located at 4835 Voltaire Street.
In addition to general community feedback over the next month, city staff is asking for specific information about several potential historic resources, such as the residence of Dr. Brad Truax. They are also looking for information and testimony to more fully explain this context beyond the Caucasian male perspective. For example, city staff needs more detail to appropriately represent those who identify themselves as transgender and queer, and to better understand the LGBTQ context among African Americans and within ethnic communities, such as Latino and Filipino.
If you have relevant information, please send it to Kelley Stanco, Senior Planner and HRB liaison, at kstanco@sandiego.gov as soon as possible, and encourage other knowledgeable individuals to do the same, so we can increase accuracy and inclusive perspectives for this context statement.
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