July 6, 1973: Founding of the Lavender Panthers in San Francisco

By Zane McNeill, Riley Clare Valentine, and Blu Buchanan

On July 6, 1973, Reverand Ray Broshears, a gay Pentecostal evangelist, formed the Lavender Panthers, a group of armed street vigilantes who patrolled San Francisco to defend the gay community. The Lavender Panthers creation was spurred by the sharp increase in violence against the LGBTQ+ community.

Lavender Panthers, 1973. Source: GLBT History Center/FoundSF

1973 San Francisco Examiner article about the Lavender Panthers. Source: FoundSF

The violence included beatings, verbal harassment, and somtimes death. After the death of Robert Hillsborough in 1977 from injuries he sustained from a gay bashing in San Francisco, the queer community rallied around itself for protection.

The Lavender Panthers were the first prominent safe street patrol in the Castro and Tenderloin neighborhoods of San Francisco, which were known for their trans and gay communities. Members would patrol the streets, watching for altercations. They frequently carried shotguns and bats. A Time magazine article chronicling the group during the 1970s referred to the Lavender Panthers as a “stiff-wristed team of gay vigilantes.” The reporter noted that Reverend Broshears himself had been the victim of a hate mob outside his mission center that served the queer community. Broshears said his goal was to put fear into the hearts of “all those young punks who have been beating up my faggots.”

The Lavender Panthers held self-defense training sessions for community members. In the 1970s, San Francisco was flourishing as a space for the queer community, yet queer people were reluctant to call the police to report violence in case they were accused of propositioning their attacker for sex. Due to the city’s antigay statutes, it was dangerous for gay people to come forward. The Lavender Panthers were an alternative source of safety.

Additional Resources

Lavender Panthers & LGBTQ Politics in the Postwar Era by Colleen Greisch (FoundSF)

The Controversial Gay Priest Who Brought Vigilante Justice to San Francisco’s Streets by Sonja Anderson (Smithsonian magazine)

This post is taken from Be Gay, Do Crime: Everyday Acts of Queer Resistance and Rebellion, edited by Zane McNeill, Riley Clare Valentine, and Blu Buchanan, and published by PM Press and Working Class History.

Packed with daily snapshots of radical queer history, this book celebrates the bold, the brave, and the beautifully defiant moments that have shaped the fight for justice. By situating readers within a larger pattern of struggle, these everyday acts counter the erasure of queer people from history and serve as a reminder that our struggles are part of a broader fight against systemic violence and dehumanization. [Adapted from publishers’ description.]