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In 1978, my ex-husband and I visited California and stopped first in San Francisco for a few days. We stayed at a Holiday Inn on Van Nuys Blvd. and went for a stroll our first night there. We happened to stroll down this street and there were about a zillion men and hardly any women. They all were gawking at my husband - I've never seen him act so affectionate toward me. Anyways, I had to use the facilities and couldn't wait till we got back to the hotel, so I picked the closest bar, which was full of men with tank tops and fishnet shirts on. When it hit me that we were in a gay bar, I thought I better ask the staff if they had a ladies room. They did but it had alot of graffiti such as "Bruce loves Ramon" written on the walls. When I was done, my husband was standing at the door, about as nervous as a bastard at a family reunion. All he could say was "What took you so long?" Apparently, he was getting eyeballed by the customers alot. It was quite an experience for me. I was 27 at the time and had never seen gay men acting gay in public like that - holding hands and all.

I was 27 at the time and had never seen gay men acting gay in public like that - holding hands and all.

I remember this place near Chicago called "New Town" that had the same kind of atmosphere. Very different.