The controversial tour buses pulled up at the corner of Castro and Market right on schedule Thursday afternoon. At 4 p.m., the doors opened and clusters of tourists clambered down the steps, blinking in the bright San Francisco sun.One visitor said they had been prepped by their tour guide for the full Castro experience. "He said we will be able to tell the homosexuals by the way they dress and the way they walk," said Livia Dekker, a visitor from Holland.
The buses, which began making the Castro a regular stop only about three months ago, have stirred up quite a fuss in the neighborhood. Some residents say they feel like exhibits in a zoo when clusters of camera-clicking tour groups hit the streets.
Two tour companies, America Asia Express and Far West Charter, seem to have attracted most of the attention. The companies not only send large groups into the Castro on Thursday and Sunday afternoons, but they also park at Muni bus stops.
Local merchants like Herb Cohn, who is president of the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District, are working to get the city to paint the bus stop curbs red to keep the large tour buses from parking at the Muni stops.
But somewhere in the concern about where the tour groups park and the number of tourists who arrive at once, Cohn said, the message became garbled. "Somehow, it got out that we didn't want tourists in the Castro at all," Cohn said. "Of course, that is not the case. What doesn't help the situation is unloading mobs of people with cameras who only want to gawk."
Cohn and others said some of the tourists stop at shops like All American Boy to giggle and point at the gay-themed merchandise.
But it appears that the concerns have been heard since the complaints were aired in this column earlier this week. The tour organizers seemed to be in full spin control Thursday.
Rossi's Delicatessen owner Sam Dughman had complained that the bus tourists would stroll in, look around and walk back out without making a purchase. But on Thursday, Dughman's brother, Osama, could barely keep up with the sales. "Before, they bought nothing," he said. "This time, they bought bananas, yogurt. They bought a lot. I almost cried."
Osama Dughman was just kidding about crying. In fact, he's among the Castro merchants who don't see what the fuss is all about. "Tourists are good for everybody," he said. "If they don't buy, so what? My brother is crazy."
It is safe to say that this has been a much-debated topic up and down Castro Street over the last few days. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion. "I know other people have the feeling that people are here to gawk at them," said Allen Beard, manager of Gelateria Naia, a gelato store. "I definitely notice the crowd, but it doesn't bother me."
As for the tourists, some of them seemed a little confused about where they were. "This is gay town," said Ben Tratborwoin, a visitor from Thailand. Tratborwoin said he paid an extra $20 for a tour package that included a stop in the Castro, adding that some members of his group elected to stay on the bus.
Frankly, some of the tourists sounded as if they expected something much more wild and crazy. "I don't know if I feel any different about this than any other neighborhood," said Matthew Pradjanata, who was visiting with his mother from Bali.
"They told us this was the homosexual area," said Matthew's mother, Endang. "But I didn't feel anything."
So that's a good thing, right? The tourists come in, they go out. No big deal. Once the curbs in front of the bus stops are painted red - and word is that the city is trying to rush the process that was expected to take months - all will be well.
Almost.
There is one other factor. If one of the major problems is that the tourists are wandering up and down the street staring at people, wouldn't it be a good idea to give them something to see?In fact, the district's supervisor, Bevan Dufty, has been working with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Historical Society to move the organization's archives and displays to a vacant storefront at Castro and 18th. "Right now, there isn't any place to get a sense of the history, the controversies and the achievements of the community," said Dufty aide Boe Hayward.
After all, after the December release of the movie "Milk" - the Sean Penn film about the late Castro Street politician and activist Harvey Milk - the thinking is that there will be even more interest in the neighborhood.
And, most likely, in the residents.
So, a little historical perspective would be a nice idea. Tourists who are so inclined might learn something about the neighborhood, the issues and the people. They might even learn that gay people walk and dress a lot like them.