How a Pacifica Bar Became a Flashpoint for Queer Civil Rights

Bay Curious

KQED

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2026

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Henry Lie grew up in Pacifica and thought he knew everything there was to know about his hometown, just a few minutes south of San Francisco. So he was shocked to learn about a police raid in the 1950s that targeted LGBTQ+ identifying people. He had never heard of the bar, Hazel's Inn, or that Pacifica had a moment when it was a safe gathering spot for the queer community. He wanted to know more. Additional Resources: How the Bay Area’s Gay Bars Became a Battleground for LGTBQ+ Rights in the 1950s Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Ana De Almeida Amaral. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Olivia Allen-Price and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for KQED podcast comes from Genentech, the original biotech pioneer forging life-altering scientific breakthroughs to help improve the lives of all patients.
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0:50.9	From KQED.
0:53.3	San Francisco and its surrounding Bay Area have long been known as a gay capital of the world.
1:03.6	After all, it's here where the first lesbian civil rights group was formed, the daughters of Boletus,
1:10.1	and where Harvey Milk became an iconic
1:12.1	gay public official.
1:13.7	I will fight to represent my constituents.
1:16.4	I will fight to represent the city and county of San Francisco.
1:19.6	I will fight to give those people who had once walked away hope so that those people will
1:25.3	walk back in.
1:26.6	Thank you very much.
1:27.6	It was the birthplace of the gay pride flag, and it's where City Hall gets lit up like a rainbow
1:32.8	for Pride Month. This is the Bay Area that our question asker, Henry Lye, knows well.
	...

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