Castro Street Memorial & Community Corner - Hibernia Beach

Castro Street Memorial & Community Corner - Hibernia Beach The 18th & Castro streets corner, aka "Hibernia Beach," is the focus of this page.

This is a public page for people to post images & news related to San Francisco's Castro District & LGBTQIA community, primarily memorials & celebrations of life.

Mark your calendar and don't miss the 50th Anniversary of the Castro Street Fair Sunday, Sept. 6, 11am to 6pm!
09/17/2024

Mark your calendar and don't miss the 50th Anniversary of the Castro Street Fair Sunday, Sept. 6, 11am to 6pm!

Sad news of the passing of Jeff Stiarwalt on May 11, 2021.
06/08/2021

Sad news of the passing of Jeff Stiarwalt on May 11, 2021.

"Ruach Graffis, legendary SF cab driver and organizer, is dead at 74."
06/01/2021

"Ruach Graffis, legendary SF cab driver and organizer, is dead at 74."

Labor activist ends her life with dignity, surrounded by friends.

Please read this insightful memorial by Hank Trout re the passing of Patrick O’Connell, creator of the AIDS Awareness Re...
05/07/2021

Please read this insightful memorial by Hank Trout re the passing of Patrick O’Connell, creator of the AIDS Awareness Red Ribbon. https://aumag.org/2021/05/07/in-memoriam-patrick-oconnell-1953-2021/?fbclid=IwAR0TStrMyhBv9Y66zOfMPnoQrKax0Nqk7p4L517lIZongX3VkA1K0W65sPw

Home Features In Memoriam: Patrick O’Connell, 1953-2021 Features In Memoriam: Patrick O’Connell, 1953-2021 May 7, 2021 In Memoriam: Patrick O’Connell, 1953-2021 Patrick O’Connell, founding director of Visual AIDS and creator of the red ribbon symbol of AIDS advocacy, died from AIDS-related c...

Sharing from Burning Man...2020 Remembrance Plaque of Burners who have passed.
02/20/2021

Sharing from Burning Man...2020 Remembrance Plaque of Burners who have passed.

Sharing news of the passing of Margo St. James. Read about her impactful life in her own words below. Condolences to her...
01/13/2021

Sharing news of the passing of Margo St. James. Read about her impactful life in her own words below. Condolences to her family, friends, colleagues and fellow activists over the course of her amazing life. https://www.stjamesinfirmary.org/wordpress/?p=5389&fbclid=IwAR36zVYsLWUgZ83JIPJoBxsaAvxhwaACtdqsqwRVVe31xU08iMp2-wleOsA

Margo St. James Posted on January 12, 2021January 12, 2021 by StJames With profound sadness, the St. James Infirmary announces the death of the most storied among our founders, Margo St. James. The St. James Infirmary is a part of Margo’s legacy. So too are her deeds and words, that exposed hypocr...

Many San Franciscans will remember him fondly. Keep dancing John! ❤️🌈🕺🏼
12/05/2020

Many San Franciscans will remember him fondly. Keep dancing John! ❤️🌈🕺🏼

The obituary for John Edwin Lind Jr.

Denise DiAnne(11/ 30/1933 - 09/02/2020). Obituary: Denise D’Anne Denise D’Anne of San Francisco passed away peacefully o...
09/03/2020

Denise DiAnne
(11/ 30/1933 - 09/02/2020).

Obituary: Denise D’Anne Denise D’Anne of San Francisco passed away peacefully on September 2, 2020 at the age of 86.

Denise D’Anne was born Anthony Albanese in New York City in 1933. Originally from Brooklyn, she spent most of her childhood on the East Side of Manhattan in an Italian immigrant community of modest means. Her mother was a chef, who instilled in Denise a lifelong interest in fine food.

As Anthony, Denise served in the Army in Europe, and in the early 1950s settled in Los Angeles where she worked for a railroad company and earned a degree in Political Science from Los Angeles City College.

In 1968 Denise realigned her sexual identity as a woman, an early pioneer in the transgender movement.

Denise eventually migrated to San Francisco, where she became a City employee in what would become the Department of Human Services. She was a member of SEIU Local 400, where she served as shop steward, editor of the Local 400 newspaper, and a member of the Executive Board. She helped write new by-laws that, at her insistence, included a clause banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Over the years Denise stalwartly defended union interests on local and state ballot initiatives, and took a leadership role in the fight for pay equity. In addition to speaking in various forums, Denise contributed op-ed pieces defending the rights of workers, especially women and minorities. In 2019 she was honored as Labor Woman of the Year by the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition.

As an active member of the National Organization for Women for many years, Denise worked to pass the City ordinance establishing the Commission on the Status of Women. She also helped establish the Women’s Building and the Women’s Credit Union, and was an executive board member of the Democratic Women’s Forum.

An early activist for environmental issues, Denise is former President of San Francisco Community Recyclers. For a while she had a local radio program on environmental issues, where she was known as the “Green Lady”. She helped write the Sustainable Plan for the City of San Francisco, and was recognized many times for her contributions to the City’s environmental initiatives, especially its successful recycling program. In 2007 San Francisco Tomorrow honored her as Unsung Hero for her role as pioneer in the City’s recycling program.

Denise served on the boards of San Francisco Tomorrow, Sustainable San Francisco, and the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club (where she served as co-president), and was a delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council. She ran unsuccessfully for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, city-wide in 1998 and in District 6 in 2002.

Unfortunately, Denise left behind no living relatives. In her final years she was cared for by her “adopted grandson” Geoffrey Scott and his partner David Scott her "Grandson-in-law". She was well loved in SanFrancisco, not just in the LGTBQ community put among environmental and labor activists of all persuasions.

There will be a documentary film about her biography/autobiography in 2021 sometime. A memorial service for Denise D’Anne is planned for the Spring of 2021 and will be announced at that time. Those wishing to be notified of the memorial service should send an email message to that effect to "[email protected]".

As Denise would say: Just one more thing.... Make sure you print on both sides of the paper. Save a tree.

Shared from Jon Sugar:
07/20/2020

Shared from Jon Sugar:

David E. Gluck, an actor and computer analyst, died June 2 from pneumonia at Sinai Hospital. The Pikesville resident was 70.

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Castro Street Memorial & Community Corner at 18th & Castro streets

This is a public page for people to post images and news related to San Francisco's Castro District & LGBTQIA community, primarily memorials and celebrations of life. For decades the southeast corner of 18th & Castro streets, aka "Hibernia Beach," has served as an unofficial space for the community to share current and vital information. While the present tenant of 501 Castro Street is Bank of America, where posts and items often are displayed on the building’s corner wall and rail, the former tenant was Hibernia Bank, thus the nickname “Hibernia Beach” referencing a time when many LGBTQIA residents and tourists hung out to catch the afternoon sun and meet.

During the HIV/AIDS crisis and ongoing, this corner wall and railing has been a powerful and poignant location for friends and family to post notices, photos, flowers, candles, memorabilia and more about the passing of loved ones. Prior to the internet, the practice was one way to communicate quickly for locals and passersby.

The well-trafficked and highly visible corner has been utilized for a variety of purposes ranging from pet adoptions, Girl Scout cookie sales, political activism, community fundraisers, impromptu memorial gatherings, community organization titleholder campaigns, voter registration, SF Pride grand marshal voting, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc. blessings, to buskers and Castro Merchants Association banners.

The site has memorialized tens of thousands of people over the years, from the famous to homeless neighbors with no known family contacts. At times it may be a single expression of the su***de or accidental death of a loved one. Other times it may be an outpouring of photos, letters, flowers and candles for a tragedy such as the Orlando nightclub mass shooting on June 12, 2016, that took many LGBTQIA lives and allies.