For Cecilia Chung, coming out to her family wasn't difficult. The hard part was leaving that family when they refused to accept her transition from a male to female identity.

As Chung sat by a Polk Street window, she explained how, at a time when she thought she had no family or home, Polk Street and its community accepted her lifestyle choices.

"I learned to find happy moments in the darkest days [on Polk]," Chung said. "There's a lot of [transgender] girls that would only feel safe in this neighborhood."

The dark and taboo lifestyles that were common and accepted during the last four decades in the world bordered by Van Ness, Larkin, Ellis and California streets is the focus of a new multi-media exhibit at the GLBT Historical Society called "Polk Street: Lives in Transition".

Joey Plaster, curator of "Lives in Transition", wanted to express the changes occurring on Polk and whose lives it effects. He chose the combination of multi-media to create multiple firsthand accounts of the neighborhood.

The walls of the room at the GLBT center designated for the exhibit are lined with portraits of some of the individuals interviewed. Next to each glossy portrait are headphones and an iPod shuffle, holding an audio file of the subject discussing their experiences on Polk with ambient background noise, kept in for the illusion that you are with them in their personal environments.

"I wanted to create an exhibit that allowed Polk citizens to tell their stories as directly as possible," Plaster said. "Almost to create an illusion that you're standing in front of the person while they tell their story."

After conducting more than 60 interviews of people from all walks of life tied to Polk Street, Plaster and some of his associates were able to create the "Lives in Transition" concept.

Some of the people profiled include bar owners, church workers, transgender individuals and drug abusers. Each person discusses why he or she was drawn to this historical part of San Francisco, what changes and "upgrades" the neighborhood has gone through and what it means to them.

As the public views these pieces of memorabilia and listens to first-hand accounts of life on Polk, some question how they perceive change in communities.

"You see the changes in Polk, but when you are just a visitor you don't know whose expense these changes come at," said Shay Roberts, a 27 year-old Berkeley resident. "It takes a lot to look at what you think are positive changes in the eyes of those who see them as negative."

Some notable pieces of history displayed in the exhibit include clippings of the Bay Area Reporter from 1972, talking about the drag queen scene on Polk, early flyers and pictures of gays in the liberal Christian movement.

The exhibit will run through until the end of May and is located at 657 Mission St., Apartment #300. Donations are gladly accepted.