For military servicemen during World War II, the sight of a blue discharge paper was a sentence for struggle. The color, indicating a dishonorable discharge from the military during a time long before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and when homosexuality was classified as a mental illness, not only formally outed people to their friends and family, but also cut their access to military benefits, setting them up for prejudice in the workforce and beyond.
Of the more than 9,000 servicemen and women who received a blue discharge during World War II due to the ban on queer service members—though there were thousands of others who received dishonorable discharges for other reasons—many decided to settle in San Francisco, cementing the city as an LGBTQ+ hub—a legacy that originally stemmed from the town’s reputation as a hotbed for sex and gender nonconformity in the 1800s. “Ever since the Gold Rush, there was already a kind of queer world in the city, but certainly, the military role in World War II built upon that world,” Steve Estes, a history professor at Sonoma State University, tells TIME.
Many were attracted to the city because it provided them with a sense of freedom from the judgment they’d likely receive at home due to their sexuality. It was also easily accessible, serving as a major port of disembarkation for more than a million individuals throughout the war. “Homosexuals who couldn't hope to pass for straight set up their own small businesses that created a group of openly gay people [in San Francisco] with an economic base to sustain the possibilities of a movement here,” says Gerard Koskovich, a founding member of the GLBT Historical Society.
The city’s long-standing history earned it the status of the “gay capital” of the U.S. in a 1964 LIFE Magazine issue. San Francisco was also one of the first cities to issue same-sex marriage licenses in 2004—though the licenses were not legally binding at the time.
The number of queer-identifying individuals in San Francisco's gay neighborhoods has diminished over time, in part due to a trend of declining affordable housing units that has also been seen in other corners across the U.S. Still, San Francisco remains a mecca of LGBTQ+ history and culture.