Q&A With Our 2023 Pride Ambassadors: Wayne Kaleck and Michael Rose

2023 Sausalito Pride Ambassadors

Wayne Kaleck and Michael Rose, Gene Hiller Menswear

From Michael:

How did you two meet and what brought you to Sausalito?

There is so much I could say but I will try to give you a “nutshell “ version. The full version is way more interesting and colorful than I can say in a few sentences but I will try.

Wayne and I met May 3rd, 1997 on the Russian River. I grew up in Sonoma county and had gone back to my roots after many years in San Francisco. I was bartending in a new bar that happened to be hosting a “women’s weekend end party (over 400 ladies). I was the only man in the building until about quarter to 2 o'clock in the morning when the service is cut off.  In walks Wayne and two friends of his. He came up to the bar and said “what are you doing after this?” I replied “whatever the hell you’re doing.” We’ve been together ever since.

Gene Hiller Menswear has always been friendly toward the LGBTQ community. Can you talk a little about the history of the store?
The Gene Hiller store has a long history in Sausalito supporting gay rights for over 63 years and before that in San Francisco. The entire staff at one point was gay early on. The founder and namesake was our best man and witness to Wayne’s and my marriage at the San Francisco city hall rotunda; he was 80 years old at the time. He was always very supportive of us even to the point of giving me spousal benefits from Wayne’s employment before it became the norm. 

Why are you volunteering to help plan the inaugural Sausalito Pride celebration? What does "Pride" mean to you?

Pride has always been important to me. The first gay pride parade in San Francisco was televised on local news. I was maybe 13? It’s how I found out I was not “alone.”  Wayne and I believe that Pride means being visible in your community and being the best role model and example you can be in order to make being gay more accepted in our society. 

Our Proud History - Shared Memories

By: Rosie Marin

San Francisco and Sausalito both became gay meccas after WWII.  SF was the big center, but Sausalito had more gay bars per capita by far.  In the 60's and 70's there was Agatha's Pub, the Sausalito Inn (tag line: take a ferry to San Francisco and bring a fairy home), and the Two Turtles.

The artists and the beats and the hippies were all here, so were the queers.

Then came AIDS. Agatha's had closed in the 70's, and became Angelino's.  The Two Turtles closed by the mid-eighties and became the Sausalito Ferry Company; the Sausalito Inn closed shortly after and became multiple different shops.  The only gay space left in town was the front bar area of the 7-Seas, then they converted the front area to an ice cream shop.   The 7-Seas was then sold and converted to the biggest tourist shop in the downtown.  

Back in the day, the toilets at the back of the Two Turtles had windows that opened onto the rear dining room of the 7-Seas.  Upon discovering that, many of us never returned to the rear dining room space of the 7-Seas, and only ate up front in the bar area (that may be the reason it became the last gay gathering place in town, another unintended consequence).  

The visible gay population in Sausalito in the 60's and 70's was mostly  male.  There were lesbian clubs/bars popping up all around San Francisco, but not here.  Agatha's Pub was the most eclectic of the Sausalito bars: gay/straight/men/women.  The Sausalito Inn was mostly "older" (ie 40's up and their younger companions) gay men, and the two straight women who worked there for years.  When local lesbians went out to a gay bar in town it was the Two Turtles.

There were no gay events in town, except drag shows at the Sausalito Inn.  There were many gay men living in Sausalito, and they were visible.  There were many gay women living in Sausalito,  but far less visible.  The feminist movement of the 70's coincided with the queer movement.  Most of the gay women were participating in both.

And, of course, back in the 70's transgenders were just starting to receive recognition, if not acceptance.   Acknowledgement of gender neutral, non-binary, agender, pangender, genderqueer, cisgender, two-spirit, third gender, and all, none or a combination of these was still on the far horizon.

The 80's brought HIV and a mammoth change to queer socializing in San Francisco and Sausalito.  The Castro is a prime example of that change, so is downtown Sausalito.