Angelika On October 31st in San Francisco, not only do children go from house to house to collect sweets, but the traditionally more adult-oriented Halloween party also takes place in the Castro, the gay district. Rundbrief 11/2001 We have already reported on this tradition, which has been maintained for 30 years. Admittedly, the party always gets quite lively, especially as the night progresses. Last year, the city moved the curfew forward to 11 PM for safety reasons.

At the Castro party, crowds of people typically gather in the craziest costumes (many barely dressed) and dance in the street along the not-so-wide Castro Street. Originally, the event was purely a neighborhood affair, essentially a crazy carnival street festival, also meant to celebrate and creatively express one's own homosexuality in a colorful way. Over the decades, the Castro Halloween party has grown increasingly popular, and in recent years, estimates suggest that between 200,000 and 300,000 people have come to the Castro district. This has pushed the capacity to its limits.

Unfortunately, among the participants last year, there were also a few complete idiots who thought it was appropriate to shoot firearms. A few young punks got into an argument and thought it could be resolved with gun violence. Why someone would bring a weapon to a Halloween party is, of course, a good question.

Nine people suffered gunshot wounds last year. The city fathers, who had long been annoyed by the extravagant party (there was a stabbing in 2002), quickly put an end to it this year by simply canceling the event. No one in San Francisco had expected them to get away with it. Many feared that the ban would lead to acts of defiance and civil disobedience.

But the city council pulled out all the stops. They persuaded many bar and restaurant owners to close their doors early, so partygoers had no opportunity to get drunk in the immediate vicinity of the Castro District. By the way, at the first Halloween party we attended after moving to San Francisco, alcohol was still available for purchase publicly on the street!

Then our mayor, Gavin Newsom, and his men decided to simply close off the Muni and BART stations (public transportation system in San Francisco) around the Castro early in the evening and simultaneously severely restrict parking in the neighborhood, making it difficult to reach the non-existent party. Of course, this didn't deter us at all, as we live practically next door, just one hill to the east.

On Castro Street, however, we were met with a sad sight, as only a handful of the fearless showed up. The place was swarming with police officers who were competing to look intimidating and were quick to reprimand anyone for the slightest rule violation. For example, I crossed a street intersection and stepped slightly over the white line that, as is customary in America, indicated the pedestrian crossing. A police officer immediately whistled me back. The police also had strict orders to arrest anyone who misbehaved in public while intoxicated.

The sledgehammer approach led to the desired success; most people stayed away from the Halloween party in the Castro, and the roadblocks prepared just in case were left unused by the roadside. I was really disappointed with our otherwise progressive San Francisco. Not only does the city council allow itself to be silenced by aggressive young troublemakers and simply cancel an otherwise predominantly peaceful festivity, but also the gay movement in San Francisco has apparently aged a bit and now prefers to spend Halloween on the couch at home in a quiet neighborhood. According to rumors, it is primarily the residents of the Castro district who want the party to take place elsewhere in the future.

Everyone gets old, except us!

The translation of "Angelika und Michael" to English is "Angelika and Michael.

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Fire in California
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  	Yellowstone-Nationalpark
  	Waldbrände
  	Do not Feed the Bears
  	Geysers and bubbling mud pots
  	Bisons
  	Namensforschung