Tag: history

Perhaps the most telling sign of DTLA’s gay ascendance is the establishment and success of its own annual Pride celebration, DTLA Proud annually at Pershing Square park by the SB Grand Lofts. It’s the latest chapter in our LGTB history. #gaydtla

The renaissance of Downtown Los Angeles has allowed it to steal some of the thunder from West L.A., Hollywood and, more recently, West Hollywood. DTLA now has four gay bars, and regular LGBTQ events. #gaydtla #dtlaproud

While focused on bringing local LGBTQ residents together and strengthening their sense of community, the festival also offers an opportunity for out-of-towners a point of entry for exploring DTLA’s new gay energy. Details www.dtlaproud.org

Today, Downtown enjoys a renaissance in all things artistic and creative, but what has led up to this? Due to the urban decay not so long ago in the city center, gay life downtown had all but disappeared around 1980 to 2010.  Let’s take a close look at what happened before that.

History of Gay Downtown Los Angeles

Has anything gay been happening in these historic buildings for the last 140 years?

At the turn of the 20th century, the Merced Theatre (one of the oldest buildings in Los Angeles) offered a safe gathering place for LGBTQ individuals through its hosting of masked balls and highly satirical plays across from Olvera Street. At the costumed balls, queers of all kinds were able to socialize with one another under the safety of their concealed identities. They were also free to dress in clothing of the opposite gender without fear of persecution. After one ball, the building was used as a lodging house for homosexual men. Today, the beautiful Higgins Building and the Arts District offer amazing lofts for sale nearby.

The satirical plays being offered were usually produced by organizations that operated under the umbrella title of Victorian Sex Clubs. They were the only theatrical organizations that could afford the rent. By the early 1900s, Theatre Merced could rightly be called LA’s first porn theater.

In the early 1900s, Valentino worked as a dancer at the Alexandria Hotel on Spring Street in downtown, where he is rumored to have had an affair with Ramon Novarro, who worked there as a busboy.

Downtown was home to a handful of gay bars and speakeasy clubs from the prohibition era of the 20s to the 1960s. Police raids, mass arrests, outing and the destruction of lives were the terrifying norm.

Downtown attorney Gladys Root, known as the “defender of the damned,” was one of a handful of attorneys to aid LGBT people who were arrested for homosexuality or cross-dressing. While she (and a few other attorneys like her) came to the aid of numerous LGBT people. Ultimately, the most common defense was to plea bargain, which meant the innocent were often stuck with a record as a sex offender. (Courtesy LAPL.)

In 1952, the world’s first gay journal ONE was published from their office in downtown Los Angeles at 232 South Hill Street. One of the first issues boldly presented the idea of gay marriage fifty years before the first legal gay marriage in California. The Los Angeles postal authorities seized the October issues of ONE Magazine on charges of obscenity.  After four years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court declared ONE Magazine was not in violation of obscenity laws.

COOPER’S DONUTS. In the spring of 1958, Cooper’s doughnut shop was the site of the first queer riot in America. As occurred most evenings, police officers hassled the hustlers and queens who frequented this after-hours coffee shop.

As the cops were about to handcuff John Rechy (now a well-known gay author) and two others, a drunken man dared the officers to take him on. The man’s aggression emboldened other patrons who headed out to the street. A crowd began to amass as people exited nearby gay bars.

The growing crowd threw trash at the officers, who were forced to call for backup. Men began to rock the police car, and a drag queen danced around it in celebration. While backup arrived, the Main Street crowd remained ebullient. It was a small victory but a prelude of bigger things to come. (Above, artist interpretation courtesy Amy Bernays; below, courtesy The Exiles.)

Photos:  Lavender Los Angeles

DOVER HOTEL MURDER. In March 1969, three LAPD officers beat Howard Effland to death after dragging him out of the Dover Hotel on Main Street in downtown LA. LOOT organizers put pressure on the local media and LAPD to investigate the murder, but the officers were never held accountable. A year later, 200 people participated in a memorial service and marched to LAPD headquarters, where they shouted angry gay-power chants. The tone of the movement was becoming increasingly bold. (Above, courtesy ONE; below, courtesy CRA/LA.)

Times changed after gay rights activists began to organize politically, fundraise, lobby, campaign and to successfully affect the laws and culture to be more accepting of gays.

In 1976, activist David Mixner began the process of coming out of the closet, and soon thereafter was a founding member of the Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles (MECLA). Los Angeles City Hall became home to the nation’s first gay and lesbian Political Action Committee.

Today, there are once again several gay bars in Downtown Los Angeles, including Precinct (by Pan American lofts and Douglas Building), Redline (by Eckardt, Cornell, Textile, Little Tokyo Lofts and Bartlett Building)  and New Jalisco Bar by the Higgins Building.  The area is  much more happy and gay (and much more open and safe for LGTBQ) than ever before. If these historic buildings could talk, they would certainly have much to say.

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