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OG: Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Blackstone worked closely with local LGBT activist groups such as the Mattachine Society, Daughters of Bilitis, the Vanguard gay youth group, the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, and the Council on Religion and the Homosexual. Blackstone even took up a collection at his church to buy hormones for transgender people, at a time when city-funded health clinics would not provide hormones to them.

Blackstone was also involved in many other church and community activities and taught community policing courses at the College of Marin. At his retirement dinner in 1975, he was saluted by LGBT community leaders for his advocacy and support. In 2005, an interview with Blackstone was featured in Screaming Queens, a documentary about the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria riot.

According to one source, "At the 2005 world premiere at the Castro Theater, Blackstone received a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd of more than 1000 people, when he answered an audience member's question; asked why, as a straight man, he had worked so hard on behalf of LGBT rights, he said, 'Because my religion teaches me to love everybody.'"In June 2006 Blackstone received commendations for his longtime advocacy work from the California State Senate, the California State Assembly, the San Francisco Police Commission, and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. The Pride Foundation of San Francisco named him Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal for the 2006 Gay Pride Parade.

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Though Blackstone had proposed the formation of a public relations program for the SFPD, it wasn't until after the "Gayola" scandal - which involved officers soliciting bribes from owners of gay bars in the Tenderloin - that a community relations unit was formed. Blackstone, who had been transferred to the Central City Station housing many of these bars, requested to join the unit after some time. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Blackstone worked closely with local LGBT activist groups such as the Mattachine Society, Daughters of Bilitis, Conversion Our Goal, the Vanguard gay youth group, the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, and the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, as well as the Glide Memorial Church. He also participated in efforts to establish the Central City Anti-Poverty Program, as part of the War on Poverty under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Blackstone even took up a collection at his church to buy hormones for transgender people, at a time when city-funded health clinics would not provide hormones to them.

In 1966, the National Transsexual Counseling Unit was formed, with Blackstone serving as SFPD's liaison, with financial backing from the Erickson Educational Foundation. It was the first peer-run advocacy and counseling group of its kind for transgendered individuals. His work with the LGBTQ+ community received pushback from some fellow police officers, including a raid of the NCTU office in 1973. During this raid, two counselors were arrested on suspicion of narcotics dealing, and an officer planted drugs in Blackstone's desk. Blackstone avoided prosecution, but was reassigned to a foot patrol in a different district, where he remained until retiring in 1975.