Most Holy Redeemer Church (100 Diamond St)

After soaking up the view from down there, meander west of Market, make a left on Diamond Street and walk to 18th street. You will see the Most Holy Redeemer Church, it has been lovingly been nicknamed the “Gayest” Catholic parish in the nation. Eighty percent of its parishioners are LGBT people.* After World War II this church accepted and celebrated gay men in their church (while the Catholic Church did not).

It didn’t merit its nickname until In the 1950s this church was close to closing with most of its catholic residents moving out of the city. It began inviting in the LGBTQ+ population to join the parish.

In the early 80s, people in this neighborhood started suffering from a fatal and dangerous disease. At this time, doctors did not understand the disease but knew it was prevalent within the gay community. It was first named the Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, GRID, and later renamed AIDs. Within 10 years of the onset of AIDs, about 200,000 people in San Francisco would die due to this disease. The Most Holy Redeemer Church was very active in disseminating information and getting health care for their sick. Across the street, you might see a small building called the Coming Home Hospice. During the 1980s and 1990s, many people came through here in their final days of life.