SFGate – Wyatt Buchanan – Chronicle Staff Writer
Police officer who reached out in 1960s to be grand marshal
Elliot Blackstone is congratulated by S.F. Police Chief H… Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence members (in background) t… SF Pride Event Guide. Chronicle Graphic
San Francisco’s transgender community commemorated a pivotal moment in its history Thursday — a little-known riot that happened 40 years ago. But the community is also thanking an unlikely ally: A straight cop who in the 1960s befriended transgender people in the Tenderloin and advanced the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender movement in the city.
Elliot Blackstone, a retired police sergeant who is now 81, will be a grand marshal in Sunday’s annual pride parade down Market Street.
He says he was just doing his job, although at the time police brass gave him little support. On Thursday, Chief Heather Fong, Police Department leaders, police commissioners and city officials honored Blackstone at a ceremony in the neighborhood where he worked.
“(Blackstone) planted the seed to ensure that San Francisco is welcoming and that all people are treated equal,” Fong said at the ceremony, where he became the first retired officer to receive a commendation from the Police Commission.
Blackstone was the first police liaison to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in 1962, after a bribery scandal involving gay bars and police. At that time, the atmosphere for gay issues at the department was different.