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Military policing of queer space continued even after the war ended and the importance of San Antonio as a training hub solidified. Ironically, the military facilitated the very behaviors they sought to stamp out. Posted in barracks, off-limits lists also provided a directory of where to go if you were a gay or lesbian heading out for a night on the town. “Venereal contacts, bawdy houses, and morals,” coded language on the lists, identified hotbeds of homosexuality which were out of bounds. The Life Saver Grill and other clubs around the city came under scrutiny and landed on the off-limits list, a mechanism designed to discourage GIs and WACs from patronizing establishments deemed a threat to morality and physical health. However, such spaces were often under surveillance by military police as federal legislation, entitled the MayAct, moved to regulate activities such as prostitution and homosexuality. Sites of queer coalescence provided a respite from the rigors of military training. Within such spaces, queer men and women found community, if only temporarily. The Life Saver Grill and Keyhole Club, both on the city’s east side pulsed with jazz, racy floor shows, and a racially mixed clientele. Historian Alan Bérubé contends that, “when they could get away from military bases, they discovered and contributed to a rich gay nightlife-parties, bars, and nightclubs-that flourished in war boom cities.” A thriving night scene existed in San Antonio wherein gay men and women found niches that attracted a diverse clientele. Gay men and women joined the services in great numbers and many came to San Antonio for training. Within these spaces, queers explored homosexual identities, embraced gender fluidity, experimented with transgressive appearance, and ultimately, laid the foundation for an emerging queer community.Įarly vestiges of San Antonio’s queer community emerged during the 1940s as the city expanded to accommodate an influx of military personnel. During the 1940s through the 1970s, lesbians, gays, and trans San Antonians came together in peripheral spaces peppered throughout the city and its surrounds. As we explore contemporary notions of gender, identity, and appearance, we can look to the past to ascertain how our present-day interpretations are grounded in the evolution of queer communities decades ago.