Homosexual Public Indecency Tolerated in San Francisco

In San Francisco there has been notable cases of homosexual public indecency that has been tolerated. For example, a letter written by a 25 year veteran of the San Francisco police force which was published in a September 30, 1993 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. In police officers letter, the officer describes a recent assignment regarding keeping things under control at the San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair. According to the letter the officer described, the fair included food and craft booths, but "appeared to have as its main theme a public display of the private sexual practices and preferences of consenting adults." The officer described seeing totally naked male couples publically engaging in lewd sex. The officer in his letter stated that he was "highly embarrassed" when people asked him he was not making any arrests. The officer stated that "At least a dozen times I had to painstakingly explain that we were to take a position of 'high tolerance' and not to create an incident."

In 1990 and 1991 extreme public lewdness was exhibited at the Gay and Lesbian Parades in San Francisco and when police authorities were asked why there were no arrests they offered various excuses such as the primary responsibility was to "reflect community standards and maintain crowd control."