Gay City

From Lambda Award–winning, Eisner–nominated comics scholar, curator, and author Justin Hall comes a graphic novel that is equal parts an unapologetically gay memoir and a love letter to the queer history of San Francisco

“United we stand. Divided they catch us one by one.” —José Sarria, 1961

San Francisco is home to one of the largest LGBTQIA+ communities in the world—a hotbed of queer culture over a century in the making, and the poster city for the fight for gay rights in America. But how do you build a queer city?

This Justin Hall project illustrates six events in San Francisco’s history beginning in 1955, including the founding of the Daughters of Bilitis, José Sarria’s groundbreaking political campaign, the opening of the Tool Box Bar, the 1965 raid of the New Year party of the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, the Compton Cafeteria Riots, all leading up to the city’s first Pride march in 1970. Each historical chapter is illustrated by a different cartoonist, including Dave Davenport, Allegra Figeroid, Diego Gómez, John Macy, and Bishakh Som.

Along the way, Justin Hall weaves in memoir chapters about his experience with San Francisco—the good, the bad, and how moving to the city from the East Coast let him explore his identity as a gay man and find community in the city’s leather scene.