The term and image grew out of the heavily gay-populated Castro neighborhood in San Francisco during the late 1970s, when the modern LGBT rights movement, sparked by the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City and the Summer of Love, gave rise to an urban community.
Typical of the look was a form-fitting T-shirt, shrink-to-fit denim trousers worn snugly (bell bottoms and low-rise jeans in the early 1970s, later more traditionally working-class 501s), sneakers or boots, and often a full moustache and sideburns.
Visual appearance was further inspired by the icons of masculinity portrayed in the works of homoerotic artists, such as Donelan and Tom of Finland, and can be seen in the "construction worker", "policeman", and leather-clad "biker" characters in the musical group Village People, as well as Al Parker, Richard Locke, Jack Wrangler, and other porn stars.
The look continued to evolve through the 1980s and beyond, effectively influencing the rise of the bear culture, which expanded on the concept, converting mustaches to beards, emphasizing masculine body language as well as appearance, and embracing ex-footballer husky-to-chubby physiques.
This contrasted with the more common subcultural spin-off of the Castro clone phenomenon, the twink evolution which led to the slightly more sleek gym-and-diet-induced, slim musculature prized among gay urban men.
This began in the mid-to-late 1980s, with men sporting fashions and hairstyles inspired by popular actors such as Rob Lowe and Don Johnson, as well as pop rock stars such as George Michael and Simon Le Bon.