A newspaper launch that was no April Fool's joke
Only the date looked like an April Fool's joke: in 1971, a newspaper launched in San Francisco that made history.
On 1 April 1971, the first issue of the "Bay Area Reporter" appeared in San Francisco. Anyone who thought the date meant a joke was wrong. Behind the paper were Bob Ross and Paul Bentley, two men from the city's bar scene. Ross was working as a cook at the time, while Bentley performed on stage as a drag character and wrote columns under a pseudonym. The printing was modest; according to the paper itself, it was done on a duplicating machine in the back room of a gay bar.
The first issues read like a scene paper. Gossip, horoscopes and lots of drag shaped the content, and one reader even suggested renaming the paper the "Bay Area Drag Reporter". But after only a few issues, political news was added. The Stonewall riots in New York were only two years in the past, and harassment of gay men and lesbians was part of everyday life. The paper got involved in local politics, endorsed sympathetic candidates and reported on demonstrations for equal rights.
Over the years, the "B.A.R." became the community's most important source of information. Without the internet, it was the place where you found out what was going on. Harvey Milk also wrote for the paper for a time, before he was elected as San Francisco's first openly gay politician. When AIDS reached the city in the early eighties, Ross decided on extensive coverage. In the dispute over health regulations, he sided with the authorities. His editor-in-chief disagreed and left the paper.
Bentley sold his share in the mid-seventies, and Ross ran the paper until his death. The "Bay Area Reporter" is still published today and is one of the oldest LGBTQ newspapers in the United States. The early issues have been digitised and are freely available, including the very first one.