San Francisco's Castro Street, a well-known gay mecca, is undergoing a 1970s makeover. The redecoration is for a Hollywood film about the life and death of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay activist and, according to Time magazine, "the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet." Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978. The movie crew has changed storefronts, stapled up fliers indicative of the era, and even redecorated the garbage bins, to approximate the historical setting. Castor Street at that time was a transformative place for many people and it's interesting to hear from folks who were there then and are again seeing the neighborhood as it once was. From the San Francisco Chronicle (photo of Castro Theater under renovation from Castro Shopper):
"I have cried every single day since we started working," said Cleve Jones, 53, a longtime gay activist who is best known as creator of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Jones is working as an historical consultant on "Milk" and will be portrayed in the film by "Into the Wild" star Emile Hirsch..."I'm happy that they're using the actual locations," said Marc Huestis, a film director ("Way Cool," "Sex Is") and producer who knew Milk well. "More than just for veracity. I think there's a spiritual element to that."
Link to SF Chronicle article, Link to more photos at the Castro Shopper blog, Link to even more photos by Flickr user david78sf (Thanks, Jason Tester!)
