As advertised in the April 17, 1974 'Bay Area Reporter,' the EndUp's Jockey Short Contest, immortalized by Armistead Maupin in his best-selling 'Tales of the City' series, took place frequently at the South of Market nightclub.

As we continue to celebrate the Bay Area Reporter's 50th anniversary, each week we'll take a nostalgic look at a highlight from each year's issues. In May 1, 1971 , a plumaged party seemed like a lot of fun.

With more than 900 articles penned for the Bay Area Reporter, I feel a strong connection as the newspaper celebrates its 50th anniversary this week. I thought to share some behind the scenes tales as well.

Our veteran erotica reviewer reminisces about the early glory days of gay porn on film, vintage B.A.R. coverage, and porn's rise, (ahem) in popularity before changes made into VHS and online formats.

The Bay Area Reporter first published on April 1, 1971, two years after the New York Stonewall Riots. But the paper's emergence grew not out of activism, but from San Francisco's growing gay bar scene.

The opportunity to see Marlene Dietrich in person came 23 years after her U.S. film dbut. In 1953 the Sahara Las Vegas offered her $30,000 per week to perform. And so her career as a cabaret singer was born. The film star later performed in San Francisco.

Queer Nation Chicago inspired Terence Alan Smith to become Joan Jett-Blakk and run a write-in campaign amid the reelection campaign of Richard M. Daley, and later, a write-in run for the presidency.

Two years before the Bay Area Reporter premiered, the New York City-based GAY covered politics, arts, civil rights and sexuality with a bold and groovy style. The complete issue collection from 1969 to 1974 is online.

Skip Arnold's historic drag act became one of many fascinating anthropological subjects by scholar Esther Newton, whose groundbreaking dissertation, once ignored, has found new readers.

In a continuing effort to receive support from readers, the Bay Area Reporter has launched its membership program.

Polly Polaroid was a presence for around two decades in the gay bars of San Francisco — and yet no one seemed to remember her story. She would make her rounds in the bars, saying "Photo to remember the evening?" to all patrons — and yet she disappeared an

The QueerCore Podcast, hosted by August Bernadicou, elucidates radical, LGBTQ activists' dark histories. It is a spotlight on the catalysts who fought in the front-lines, in the back-lines and in the trenches of civil rights.

A new scholarly project at Cal State Fullerton, created by Assistant Professor Eric Gonzaba, maps LGBT bars, cafes and hotels from the historic Bob Damron's Gay Guides.

The town of Guerneville and the Russian River area are lovingly portrayed in Mark Abramson's latest, 'River Days, River Nights.' The memoir covers the period from 1976 through 1984, an era of considerable change for the region.