The tavern now operates as “The Black Cat” and celebrates its history with&nbsp;photos and newspaper clippings of the 1967 protests. Prior to being a restaurant and bar, the tavern was a Safeway
market. In the 1960’s, the building served as a bar that also housed a
laundromat. In the years after the protests of the 1960s, the bar closed and reopened many times under various owners and names. The restaurant and bar has been called the
Bushwhacker, Basgo’s Disco, and Le Barcito. Following the growing awareness of the history of the bar, the establishment changed its name to the&nbsp;Black Cat in 2012.

Patrons can view photos and newspaper clippings related to the building's history as the site of an early gay rights protest.

Article about the Black Cat from the LA times 

More Info

Information about the Black Cat from the Advocate 

Information about the Black Cat from  the local public television station 

Located along Sunset Boulevard, the Black Cat Tavern was the scene of one of the first major protests against police harassment by members of the gay and lesbian community. Two years before the Stonewall riot in San Francisco, gay and lesbian patrons at the Black Cat waged one of the first public and organized protests against the police. On New Year’s Eve of 1967, police officers dressed in civilian clothing raided the Black Cat. The police, after assaulting the patrons of the bar, arrested many individuals for a variety of charges such as "lewd conduct." On February 11th, members of the gay and lesbian community of Los Angeles took the almost unprecedented step of holding a public protest of the police raid. 

The Black Cat, Los Angeles

Admin

Take a drive past some locations of hidden queer history in the City of Angels.

Constructed in 1925 just south of Los Angeles's Koreatown, this Mediterranean Revival style building first housed Joseph's Royale Cafe, offering 50-cent lunch meals and 85-cent dinners as well as confections. The second floor of the building was originally a school of dancing. In the late 1920's, the building was used as the Diana Ballroom- a popular neighborhood club. During its early years, Ella Fitzgerald and other notable Black musicians played at the Diana. However, due to segregation, the artists- including Fitzgerald- were always required to enter and exit through the back stairs and were not allowed to speak to white patrons. Like many businesses the 1960's United States, the bar only served white people. Across the street, Jewel Thais-Williams- a Black lesbian woman- had worked as a grocery store clerk and was aware of the discrimination at the club. In the early 1970's, a recession hit and the owners of the Diana put it up for sale. Despite having no bartending or business experience, Jewel Thais-Williams bought the downstairs of the building in 1973 for $18,000. Thais-Williams slept on the pool table upstairs while spending days renovating the facilities. By 1975, she owned the entire property and in the upstairs floor of the building, Jewel's Catch One nightclub was born. Thais-Williams's vision for the nightclub was inspired by the rampant discrimination that she had both witnessed and experienced in Los Angeles during the time period. Even gay establishments such as the famous Studio One nightclub openly denied entry to Black and brown gay men, working-class people, transgender individuals, and women. With Catch One, Thais-Williams wanted to create an open and welcoming environment for patrons of all backgrounds. Word spread quickly in the Los Angeles community, and soon this vision was realized. Jewel's Catch One became known as one of the most diverse, and largest, discotheques in the Los Angeles area. It was also one of the few Black-owned LGBTQ-friendly nightclubs in the country at the time. As such, the Los Angeles Police Department began harassing Thais-Williams and the patrons of Catch One almost nightly, frequently parking outside of the entrance and arresting clubgoers at random. Thais-Williams, known as "Mama Jewel" by many, fiercely advocated for herself and for anyone who was targeted by the LAPD. Thanks to its three bars, three diverse, bustling dancefloors, and a world-renowned DJ, Jewel's Catch One grew to legendary status and came to be dubbed the "Studio 54 of the West Coast" by many. Celebrities such as Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Thelma Houston, Sylvester, Whoopi Goldberg, Luther Vandross, Janet Jackson, Donna Summer, Rick James, Bette Midler, Sharon Stone, Madonna, and The Weather Girls all frequented the club during its heyday. Scenes from the movies "Beaches" and "Pretty Woman" were even filmed at the Catch One. In 1985, Catch One hosted the first meetings of the Unity Fellowship Church of Christ- a church founded by Bishop Carl Bean to serve LGBTQ+ Black individuals. When the groundbreaking progressive church opened its doors in a new building on Jefferson Boulevard for the first time, the majority of the congregation consisted of regulars from Catch One. Later the same year, Jewel's Catch One nearly burnt down entirely after an arson set fire to the upstairs dancefloor. Despite knowing that the fire was caused by foul play, members of the nearby fire department told Thais-Williams that they wished that the nightclub had burned down and that they would not pursue an investigation. Despite facing hostility from local government and extensive damages to the club, Thais-Williams managed to raise enough money to reopen Catch One within two years. When the HIV/AIDS epidemic first hit Los Angeles in the early 1980's, "Mama Jewel" opened up Catch One to host many of the gay men and transgender women who became homeless after contracting the disease. She also began working with other AIDS relief programs in the area to provide meals, hospice and funeral funds, and other forms of assistance to those who were struggling. Catch One also held multiple charity benefit events and vigils for deceased patrons, friends, and lovers. In 1989, Rue Thais-Williams- who met Jewel Thais-Williams at Unity Church and later became her partner- opened "Rue's House" in Catch One's neighboring building. Hosting up to ten people at a time, Rue's House was the first center in the country that was focused on helping women and their children living with HIV/AIDS. The center closed in 1997 thanks to increased access to a wider variety of social services and programs in the area for women. Both womens' work to help those suffering from HIV/AIDS is cited by Congresswoman Maxine Waters as being instrumental in her decision to legislate funding for HIV/AIDS-related programs and community resources during the 1980's. While still managing Catch One, Jewel Thais-Williams earned a Masters of Science degree in Oriental Medicine from Samra University in 1998 at the age of 60. In 2001, she opened the Village Health Foundation, a non-profit health clinic dedicated to helping members of lower-income, minority communities learn about nutrition, exercise, yoga, and mindfulness. Thais-Williams continues to run the Village Health Foundation today. After forty years of operation, Thais-Williams announced that Jewel's Catch One would be closing its doors in July of 2015. In honor of her contributions to LGBTQ+ community, Jewel Thais-Williams was given the position of Grand Marshall for the Los Angeles Pride Festival of the following year. In 2019, a documentary titled "Jewel's Catch One" was released on Netflix by Ava Duvernay's distribution company ARRAY. The documentary, co-produced by Thais-Williams, has won multiple awards. Later that year, the City of Los Angeles honored Thais-Williams with a street-corner square named after her. Today, the Catch One building is now home to a new nightclub, which was recently renamed "Catch One" in honor of the former disco and its trailblazing owner.

Founded by Jewel Thais-Williams in 1973, Jewel's Catch One is considered to be one of the first and most prominent Black-owned LGBTQ+ discotheques in the United States. With three bars, three dance floors, and celebrity clubgoers that included Madonna, Bette Midler, Chaka Khan, and The Weather Girls, Jewel's Catch One was often called the "Studio 54" of Los Angeles. During the height of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990's, Jewel and her wife, Rue Thais-Williams, also operated a support facility out of the nightclub for women and children with HIV/AIDS in the area called "Rue's House". Jewel's Catch One closed in July of 2015 and the building is currently being used by another nightclub recently renamed Catch One in honor of its historic predecessor.

Jewel's Catch One

In October of 1952, two years after the formation of Harry Hays' historic gay rights organization The Mattachine Society, the concept of a magazine focused on homosexual issues was first brought up during a meeting at Hays' residence. The next month, ONE Inc. was founded and by January of the following year, the first issue of ONE Magazine was published, making it the first LGBTQ magazine available in the United States. The publication also became the first gay organization to inhabit a public office space in Downtown Los Angeles, where copies were sold on street corners for 25 cents. In August of 1953, Los Angeles port authorities confiscated a shipment of the ONE Magazine August edition, which had the title "Homosexual Marriage?" on the cover. After protest from Mattachine Society members, however, the magazines were quietly released by the port authorities three weeks later. In 1956, the ONE Institute for Homophile Studies was established as an academic branch of ONE Inc. During this period of the 1950's, the ONE office became an impromptu library for LGBTQ materials. Mattachine Society member and gay journalist Jim Kepner was heavily involved in contributing to this collection. After publication of ONE Magazine ceased in 1967, Kepner and others involved with ONE Inc. continued archival work, gathering photographs, films, books, and other documents relevant to the burgeoning gay rights movement of the 1960's and 1970's. In 1979, Jim Kepner's personal collection was moved to a new location in Hollywood and renamed the National Gay Archives. Two years later, the ONE Institute became the first institution in the United States to offer degrees in the field of Homophile Studies. By 1984, the National Gay Archives had expanded its collection substantially and was renamed the International Gay &amp; Lesbian Archives, also known as IGLA. Ten years later, IGLA would merge with ONE Institute with the purpose of creating a consolidated LGBTQ+ archival collection. The University of Southern California began providing the 909 W. Adams Boulevard library space to ONE Institute/IGLA in 2000. Four years later, the organization adopted its current name: One National Gay &amp; Lesbian Archives. The Archives would later become a branch of the University of California's Libraries on October 26, 2010. Today, the Archives' collection includes over 2 million items ranging from photographs, documents, memorabilia, films, recordings, art, clothing, and other materials. ONE Archives' collection of audio tapes recorded by former San Francisco City Supervisor and gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk was used for the filming of the Academy Award-winning 2008 biopic "Milk". In 2008, ONE opened a gallery space in West Hollywood called the ONE Archives Gallery &amp; Museum. The exhibition space hosts traveling exhibits and art shows centered on LGBTQ+ history and the modern queer experience. It is also used to present various historical materials and artifacts from the Archives' collection.

Containing over 2 million historical items, ONE National Archives is one of the largest repositories of LGBTQ+ historical materials in the world. The archival collection includes a wide variety of photographs, film, books, art, clothing, and other items. Members of the prominent early gay rights activist group the Mattachine Society established ONE Inc. in 1952, making it the oldest LGBTQ organization still in existence today. In 1994, ONE Inc. merged with gay journalist Jim Kepner's International Gay and Lesbian Archives and has been housed by the University of Southern California Libraries since 2010. ONE also operates an exhibition gallery for archive materials and LGBTQ+ art in West Hollywood.

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

WhenLGBTQ+ patrons protested against the police outside of Cooper’s Do-Nuts, a small coffee shop on an evening in May, 1959, the event seemed so unextraordinary that the precise date is difficult to document. Cooper’s was a donut shop that was located between two bars (Waldorf &amp; Burbank and Harold’s) on South Main Street that were well-known at the time for catering to LGBTQ patrons. At this time, those who wished to be "out" in public had few options but to go to places in neighborhoods like L.A.'s notorious "Skid Row." clubs which was home to many bars as well as vice trades such as prostitution. It was during this time period that the newly appointed LAPD Chief, William H. Parker, was beginning a targeted campaign against those guilty of what was then known as“sex perversion” (i.e. transgender people, homosexuals, prostitutes). Under Parker, arrests of people in the LGBTQ+ community increased 86.5%. One of the most notorious tactics used by the LAPD involved “ID checks.” This was a process where an officer checked IDs to make sure a person seemed to match the sex listed on their state identification. If a person did not appear to be the sex listed, they would be taken to jail for the crime of “masquerading.” Cooper’s Do-nuts was a late night hangout mostly frequented by the trans women, drag queens, and hustlers of various racial backgrounds who were targeted with this tactic by the LAPD so often that they were not allowed entry into gay bars like Harold’s or Waldorf &amp; Burbank. On the night of the riots, two LAPD officers came into Cooper’s and selected five people for an ID check. John Rechy, a gay writer who hustled at the time, was present at Cooper’s on the night of the riot. Rechy characterized the others who were arrested that night as, “two hustlers, two queens and a young man just cruising.” When the officers started trying to push all five people into the back of one police cruiser, tempers flared. The other patrons in the area, many of whom had experienced similar treatment in the past, began pelting the police officers with the donuts that they were eating. Then they resorted to throwing plates, trash, and cups of hot coffee. The two officers left, leaving behind the five people they intended to arrest. Later, the police officers returned with reinforcements. The resulting protest is often referred to as the "Cooper's Do-Nuts Riot," and is largely undocumented. However, the event temporarily led to the closure of traffic on Main Street. While much is unknown about the protest and there is no historical marker, the event is significant within the larger narrative of LGBTQ+ protest and civil disobedience that later grew in the 1960s and beyond. The next protest by LGBTQ+ people against police occurred six years later at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco and then the large multi-day protest at New York's Stonewall Inn four years later that is often cited as the start of the LGBTQ+ movement.

Ten years before the historic protest at the Stonewall Bar in New York City, the first documented and major confrontation of LGBTQ+ people in defiance of the police occurred at this location in the spring of 1959. The setting was Cooper’s Do-Nuts- a small donuts shop in Skid Row, Los Angeles. After LAPD officers arrested some men dressed as women while they were dining at Cooper’s, patrons began pelting the police with donuts and trash. 

Cooper's Do-nuts Riot (1959)

In 1973, the first independent women's arts school and center- named the Feminist Studio Workshop- was established by artist Judy Chicago, art historian Arlene Raven, and graphic designer Sheila Levrant de Bretteville. The idea for a women-led and woman-centered arts workshop came to the them after their years of experiences with misogyny and lesbophobia in art workshops at places like CalArts. The first few meetings for the Feminist Studio Workshop were held in the living room of de Bretteville's home, until more and more artists began joining and a larger space became necessary. On November 28th of that year, the Workshop was then relocated to a building near MacArthur Park. Students of the Feminist Studio Workshop soon began calling the building the "Woman's Building"- a tribute to the historic Woman's Building which housed artwork from thousands of women artists during the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The name stuck, and when the FSW was moved again in 1975- this time to a Beaux Arts style warehouse which had been built for Standard Oil Company in 1914- the name carried over with it. The women remodeled the space themselves, learning construction skills as the went. Later that year, the Woman's Building on North Spring Street was opened. The Feminist Studio Workshop was not only focused on teaching artmaking skills, but on contributing to women’s culture and history as a whole as well. With plenty of space, the group sublet to other feminist organizations and businesses such as the Sisterhood Bookstore, the Womantours Travel Agency, and the LA offices for the National Organization for Women. Throughout the 1970’s, all three floors of the Woman’s Building were constantly bustling with art exhibitions, performances, speaking events, workshops, and feminist political organizing. Numerous significant works of art were created at the Woman’s Building during this time period. In Mourning and In Rage, a performance art piece created by Leslie Labowitz and Suzanne Lacy at the Feminist Studio Workshop, was performed on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall in 1977. The piece, which protested violence against women, featured 10 tall women wearing Black robes- representative of the victims of the Hillside Strangler. Also in 1977, FSW co-founder Arlene Raven and Terry Wolverton started the Lesbian Art Project (LAP) at the Woman’s Building. Consisting of gallery exhibitions, performances, workshops, and a massive oral history project, the Lesbian Art Project lasted until 1979. The Woman’s Building would also later hold the Great American Lesbian Art Show (GALAS) from May 3rd through May 31st of 1980. The FSW Writing Series frequently hosted speaking engagements and workshops with famed lesbian feminist writers Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich, as well as Honor Moore, Meridel LeSueur, and Deena Metzger. Due to the growth of women's arts programs within universities or other arts centers, the need for alternative education had diminished greatly by the beginning of the 1980's. As a result of low membership, the Feminist Studio Workshop closed its doors permanently in 1981. The Woman’s Building, however, continued under the leadership of three former students- operating mostly as a studio space and gallery. That year, a performance art group called the Sisters of Survival formed at the Woman’s Building and toured the United States and Europe protesting for nuclear disarmament. Also that year, in an effort to support the Woman’s Building financially, the Women’s Graphic Center was opened. A for-profit business, the Women’s Graphic Center provided printing, graphic design, phototypesetting, and other services to artists. After its closure in 1988, the Woman’s Building struggled and, on July 15, 1991, finally closed its doors. Records and materials from the Woman’s Building were donated to the ONE Gay &amp; Lesbian Archives, Getty Research Institute, and Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. From 2011 to 2012, a major acclaimed exhibition “Doin’ It In Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman’s Building” was held at the Ben Maltz Gallery of the Otis College of Art and Design. The exhibition, a part of the Getty Pacific Standard Time initiative, focused on the work and legacy of the artists at the Woman’s Building. In recognition of its significance as a space for women’s art, the Los Angeles City Council designated the Woman’s Building a Historic-Cultural Landmark on June 8, 2018.

Established in 1973, the Woman's Building was a women-led arts venue and political organizing center that became known as a "feminist mecca" during its 18 years of operation. The project, then known as the Feminist Studio Workshop, was spearheaded by a group of women artists who felt frustrated with the male-dominated and frequently sexist arts spaces in Los Angeles at the time. The Woman's Building served as a multi-purpose space for art workshops, feminist and LGBTQ political organizing, and exhibitions put on by women. Notable lesbian feminist writers such as Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich read and spent time at the Building. In 1991, the Woman's Building closed permanently and was designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument in June of 2018.

Woman's Building (1973-1991)

Developed during the early 1900s, this site was originally the location of the East Side Police Station and its adjoining city jail. The building was one of three small police stations and jailhouses erected in the Los Angeles area during the period of substantial population growth for the city. By the 1920s, population growth had led to overcrowding in the jail. In the mid-1920s, a ballot measure was introduced to raze the police station and jail and construct a new jail building. The measure passed and in 1927 construction began on the Lincoln Heights Jail. The $5 million, five-story building was designed in the Art Deco style by notable American architects Jesse E. Stanton and Gordon B. Kauffman- the latter of whom was the head architect behind construction of both the Hoover Dam and the Los Angeles Times building. When the Lincoln Heights Jail opened in 1931, it had room for 750 male inmates and 150 women. It was among the first of California's jails to use a 24-hour court system model to mitigate overcrowding. Beginning in the 1940s, the Lincoln Heights Jail became notorious for its opening of large wing exclusively dedicated to the incarceration of homosexuals, drag queens, and transgender people. Derogatorily dubbed "The Fruit Tank" by prison guards and LAPD officers, the jail's large population of LGBTQ inmates was indicative of the broad crackdown on "sex crimes" initiated by LAPD Chief William Parker during these years. Undercover LAPD officers frequently engaged in a tactic known as "entrapment" in which they would visit gay cruising areas and lure individuals into arrests under the guise of initiating hookups. They would also often raid LGBTQ enclaves and arrest drag queens or transgender people for the crime of "impersonation" and "masquerading" (wearing clothes of the sex opposite to what was on their IDs). Lincoln Heights Jail was also known for its sizable "drunk tank", where overly intoxicated Los Angeles partygoers were detained after being picked up for disorderly conduct. Among those who stayed at Lincoln Heights' drunk tank were Oscar-award-winning actress Lucile Watson and detective fiction writer Raymond Chandler. The jail also held famous criminals such as Al Capone, who was briefly imprisoned here on his downfall charges of tax evasion prior to being moved to the recently-opened Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in 1934. The jail also played a prominent role during the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943, when white servicemen and LA residents began attacking young Latino and Black men wearing "zoot suits"- a popular style with Latino men during the 1940s. Over 500 minority men were arrested and held at Lincoln Heights Jail, an event that led to national condemnation and even a critical comment by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who pointed out that the events that led to the so-called riot were related to the state of American race relations. As was commonplace with racially motivated riots during this era, none of the white servicemen or residents who initiated or participated in the violence were arrested. Sanitation and overcrowding again became an issue by the late 1940s. A large expansion project was undertaken in 1949 and completed two years later. The expanded Lincoln Heights Jail was capable of holding up to 4,000 inmates, although it typically held only about half of its capacity during its tenure. On December 25th of 1951, the new Lincoln Heights became the location of one of the most famous police brutality cases in Los Angeles history. Given the name "Bloody Christmas" by newspapers, seven young prisoners at Lincoln Heights were removed from their cells and brutally beaten for 95 minutes by a mob of 50 LAPD officers. The assaults were so severe and well-documented that the case was taken to court. This resulted in the first grand jury indictments of LAPD officers in Los Angeles history, as well as the first criminal convictions brought against the LAPD for use of excessive force. The incidents were later fictionalized in popular 1990 novel L.A. Confidential, as well as a Hollywood film adaptation which was released 7 years later. In August of 1965, an altercation between LAPD officers and a young Black man who was pulled over for drunk driving led to five days of rioting after a rumor was spread that a pregnant woman was hit by a police officer. The Watts Riots lasted for five days, and resulted in 34 deaths and 3,438 arrests. Many of the arrests made during the riots were incarcerated at Lincoln Heights. The same year, after a review of the budget, the City of Los Angeles decommissioned the Lincoln Heights Jail and consolidated its prisoner population with the nearby Los Angeles County Jail. The building was occupied by the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts from 1979 until 2014. A gym also operated out of the building's basement until 1994, when the owner of the gym fell down an elevator shaft on the property and died. Multiple scenes from Hollywood movies were filmed at the former Lincoln Heights Jail including the famous boiler room portions of Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as the prison sequences for both American History X and L.A. Confidential. In 2016, the City of Los Angeles submitted a request for restoration and development of the building- which was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument on November 30, 1993. A year later, a local developer was chosen to create the 'Lincoln Heights Makers District', an eco-friendly public and commercial complex. As of March 2020, the project was delayed by conditions related to the global pandemic.

Opened in 1931, the Lincoln Heights Jail was one of the largest jailhouses in Los Angeles during its 34 years of operation. The five-story Art Deco style building was capable of holding up to 4,000 prisoners. Lincoln Heights Jail was historically significant for a number of reasons, including inmates ranging from notorious mobster Al Capone to actress Lucile Watson. For a time, the jail had a section with the derogatory nickname of "The Fruit Tank," where large numbers of LGBTQ individuals arrested after they were charged with "sex crimes." On December 25, 1951, Lincoln Heights Jail was the site of the "Bloody Christmas" beatings of seven prisoners that resulted in the first criminal convictions for LAPD officers in history and inspired a popular book titled L.A. Confidential alongside a film adaptation of the same name. The Lincoln Heights Jail was decommissioned by the City of Los Angeles in 1965. The building is currently in the process of being redeveloped.

Lincoln Heights Jail (1931-1965)

In February of 1978, famed Finnish erotic illustrator Touko Laaksonen- more commonly known by his pseudonym, Tom of Finland- first traveled to Los Angeles and met Durk Dehner, a 28-year-old gay director, publisher, and art collector. The two had been corresponding by letter since 1976, after Dehner saw a clipping of an illustration by Laaksonen in a leather bar in New York City and was inspired by the artist's work. In Los Angeles, Dehner let Laaksonen stay at his residence while the illustrator's work was shown at solo exhibitions across the city. During this time, the two men became steadfast friends, partners, and creative collaborators. Born in rural Finland on May 8, 1920, Touko Laaksonen first started drawing in his early adolescence. Privately, he began making homoerotic sketches of the hyper-masculine men who populated his area, such as lumberjacks and farmhands. After fighting in World War II, Laaksonen moved to Helinski where he resumed drawing homoerotic illustrations of a variety of masculine male archetypes. In 1956, Laaksonen submitted some of his work to Physique Pictorial, an early "beefcake magazine" published in the United States. To stay anonymous, he signed his work "Tom". The publisher placed the work on the magazine's cover, and added "of Finland" to the artist's now-iconic pseudonym and signature. The dozens of Physique Pictorial issues which would later continuously feature Tom of Finland's drawings became immensely popular among gay men during the following decades. Notable artists such as Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe were also fans of Tom of Finland. However, due to a lack of support for erotic artists during the time period, the work he made was often stolen and redistributed without consent. When Dehner first met Laaksonen in 1978, Dehner's experience within the art industry proved extremely helpful in controlling distribution and booking exhibitions for Laaksonen. When Dehner purchased a two-story residential home on Laveta Terrace in 1979, he invited Laaksonen to stay with him there whenever he visited Los Angeles. Although the 59-year-old artist had to return to Finland every six months due to visa restrictions, 1421 Laveta Terrace became what he called his "home away from home" for the last decade of his life- one of his most artistically and personally productive periods. While working at what became known as "TOM house", Laaksonen rose to international acclaim within the art world, as institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles began collecting and exhibiting his illustrations. In 1984, Laaksonen and Dehner founded the Tom of Finland Foundation- a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of Laaksonen's work and the protection of all erotic art. In 1989, due to health problems, Touko Laaksonen moved back to Helsinki. Two years later, he died at his home there at the age of 71 after a stroke. Over the course of his career, he had produced 3,862 known pieces of artwork. Roughly 800 of these pieces are estimated to have been drawn at TOM house, which has since been renamed Tom of Finland House and Museum and is open to the public. Today, the house and the Tom of Finland Foundation- both headed by Durk Dehner- are still in operation. In 2016, Dehner nominated the Tom of Finland House and Museum for a Historic-Cultural Monument designation. The City Council of Los Angeles approved the nomination request in November of that year, protecting the house from any future development.

One of the most influential gay artists of the 20th century, Finnish erotic illustrator Touko Laaksonen who was known by the pseudonym “Tom of Finland” lived in this two-story house during the time he spent in Los Angeles showcasing his work. His controversial illustrations, which typically featured men with exaggerated muscles in tight clothing, were incredibly popular among the gay male community. Along with his lifelong friend and owner of the house, Durk Dehner, the two men created the Tom of Finland Foundation in this house in 1984 to preserve Laaksonen’s work. Laaksonen died in 1991 of a stroke at the age of 71. In 2016, the Tom of Finland House and Museum was designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument by Los Angeles City Council.

Tom of Finland House and Museum

One of the earliest gay rights activist groups in the United States, the Mattachine Society was founded in 1950 by labor activist and member of the communist party, Harry Hay. The group was originally composed of just Hay, his partner, and five other gay male friends who would congregate at Hay’s house in Silver Lake. The name “Mattachine Society”- suggested by founding member James Gruber- was inspired by secret societies of masked bachelor men in Medieval France who, thanks to their anonymity, were able to criticize the ruling class. The Mattachine Society grew steadily and quietly in Hay’s home during its first couple years of existence. In February of 1952, however, the group was thrust into the spotlight by media attention after Dale Jennings, one of the society’s founding members, was arrested and charged with lewd behavior at a park- a charge often arbitrarily given to homosexual men in public spaces at the time, whether they were engaging in lewd behavior or not. Rather than taking the charge quietly, Jennings, Hay, and the rest of the founding members decided that they would seize the opportunity to publicize the event and fight the charge in court. While on the stand, Jennings admitted that while he was indeed a homosexual, he was not guilty. The jury deadlocked, Jennings was released with a warning, and the Mattachine Society began touting the case as a legal victory. The publicity garnered by Jennings’ arrest led to a huge financial and membership boost for the organization, and paved the way for other chapters of the Mattachine Society to be established across the West Coast. By May of 1953, an estimated 2,000 chapters of the Mattachine Society had been created in California alone. This meteoric rise, paired with 1950’s Red Scare paranoias, led many within the organization to try and tame the more subversive elements that were being introduced. Due to their former ties with the Communist Party, Hay and the other founding members revealed their identities at the May 1953 Mattachine Society Convention and announced their resignations. The organization’s new leadership took on a decidedly more moderate, reformist vision that demanded non-confrontation from members and pledged allegiance to the United States as well as its legal system. Membership waned because of this shift, but it also opened up more possibilities for coalition-building between the Mattachine Society and other existing LGBTQ rights groups. Although the national organization dissolved in 1961 due to internal disagreements, local chapters persisted well through the 1960’s. Several notable actions also took place during this time period. In 1965, Mattachine Society chapters organized two-day-long protests outside of the White House and the United Nations over Fidel Castro’s imprisonment of homosexuals. On January 1st of the same year, a benefit was held in San Francisco for the Mattachine Society alongside several other prominent LGBTQ rights organizations in the city. While the police had promised to not interfere, officers arrived at the benefit and began photographing each of the attendees as an intimidation tactic. When a group of four lawyers- two gay, two heterosexual- confronted the officers, they were arrested. By the time their court date came around, however, twenty-five of San Francisco’s most respected lawyers had joined their defense team. Before the defense even had a chance to present their arguments, the judge told the jury to find the defendants not-guilty. The case is still considered to be a landmark victory for LGBTQ civil rights. By the late 1960’s, the reformist, white-male-dominated makeup of most Mattachine Society chapters was being overpowered by a more radical and inclusive approach to LGBTQ rights. Catalysts such as the Stonewall Riots, the sexual revolution, and the anti-war movement of the 1970’s pushed most of the remaining Mattachine Societies into dissolution. Harry Hay died of lung cancer on October 24, 2002. He was 90 years old. Ten years after his death, the City of Los Angeles dedicated this staircase, which is located near his original Silver Lake residence where meetings were first hosted, to the legacy of Hay and the Mattachine Society.

Founded in 1950 by labor activist Harry Hay and a group of his friends, the Mattachine Society was one of the earliest gay rights organizations in the United States. In 2012, this stairway was dedicated to the historic organization by the City of Los Angeles. The stairway is located near Harry Hay's former house where the Mattachine Society's first secret meeting occurred on November 11, 1950.

The Mattachine Steps

The 160 acres of land on which Plummer Park is now located was first purchased by homesteader and rancher Eugene Plummer in 1874. Later that year, Plummer developed four of the acres for his personal estate. This included construction of a ranch house which, at the time, was the only residence between Hollywood and the Plaza district. By the 1920's, Plummer was the oldest living continuous resident of Hollywood and his property was unofficially known as Plummer Park. Every year, Plummer would hold a massive picnic on the estate for Hollywood's "old timers"- most of whom were the original settlers in the region during the late 1800's. In 1935, the County of Los Angeles designated the four remaining acres of Plummer Park as a Historic-Cultural landmark. Two years later, the county acquired Plummer Park for $15,000- roughly $270,000 today, when adjusted for inflation. As stipulated by the purchase contract, Plummer was permitted to live at his ranch on the park property until his death in 1943 at the age of 91. During the later years of his life, he held the position of historical guide for Plummer Park and could often be seen smoking cigarettes on the park's benches under his favorite pepper trees. Work on Plummer Park began shortly after its purchase by the county in 1937. Its development was indicative of a larger movement of federal, state, and local government during the 1930's to provide quality park spaces for the public. Plummer Park's first building project- originally named the Plummer Park Community Clubhouse- was completed in 1938. Construction was aided by funding from the Works Project Administration, a New Deal program. Today, this building has the distinction of being the only structure in West Hollywood that was erected through a New Deal program. Later becoming known as Plummer Park Great Hall/Long Hall, the west section facilities (Great Hall) held a large auditorium. Meanwhile, the south section (Long Hall) facilities consisted of a public library and game room. Designed by Edward C. N. Brett in a Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style, the red clay tile roof, stucco exterior, and open-air courtyard pay homage to the Mexican-era ranchos once prevalent in the region. With the incorporation of West Hollywood as a municipality in 1984, operation of Plummer Park- alongside all other public facilities- was handed over by the County of Los Angeles to the new city. During this time of the early 1980's, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was beginning to deeply alarm doctors and medical researchers, as well as their patients (many of whom were gay men) who had contracted the virus and were dying rapidly. Between 1985 and 1986, deaths from AIDS-related complications skyrocketed from 12,529 to 24,559. In 1987, the number of both cases and deaths nearly doubled, yet government funding for aid to the sick and dying remained inadequate. In response, the first chapter of a grassroots, non-partisan organization called ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) was formed in New York City on March 12, 1987. By the end of the year, ACT UP chapters had been established in multiple major cities across the United States- including in Los Angeles. ACT UP/LA's first meeting was held in Plummer Park's Great Hall/Long Hall on December 4, 1987 and was attended by 400 people. That night, it was voted on that the group would hold its first protest against the US Immigration and Naturalization Service policies restricting the travel of HIV-positive people. Over the course of the following years, ACT UP/LA met every Monday at the Great Hall/Long Hall building and organized countless demonstrations outside of local government buildings and hospitals. In 1989, after weeks of nonstop protests and disruptions, Los Angeles County gave in to ACT UP/LA's demand for a dedicated AIDS unit at the Los Angeles County Hospital. During its peak, the organization opened a public office, published a newsletter, and had a mailing list with 2,200 names. Monday night meetings at Great Hall/Long Hall frequently packed the entire auditorium and courtyard. Thanks to increased availability of aid programs and therapeutic treatments, ACT UP/LA disbanded officially in 1996. Plummer Park's Great Hall/Long Hall has continued to serve as a community meeting space in the years since, hosting live performances and other public events. In 2011, the Hall was slated to be demolished in order to build a new parking garage for Plummer Park, however the plans were put on hold after members of the West Hollywood community- including some surviving activists from ACT UP/LA- strongly protested the decision. Despite opposition to its nomination by the City Council, Great Hall/Long Hall was later placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 22, 2013.

Previously known as the Plummer Park Community Clubhouse, Plummer Park's Great Hall/Long Hall is the only building in West Hollywood built using funding from a New Deal program (Works Progress Administration). After its designation as a Historic-Cultural landmark in 1935, the County of Los Angeles purchased four acres of homesteader and rancher Eugene Plummer's estate to build Plummer Park in 1937. Construction on the Hall was completed one year later. Most notably, Great Hall/Long Hall was often used throughout the 1980's and 1990's as a meeting space by the L.A. chapter of the international HIV/AIDS advocacy organization ACT UP. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 22, 2013.

Plummer Park Great Hall/Long Hall

Books Circus Bookstore first opened on West Hollywood’s Santa Monica Boulevard in 1960. By this time, Santa Monica was already home to an established LGBTQ nightlife and hustling strip due to an influx of mostly gay men who had been discharged from various military bases. Books Circus was one of the strip’s multiple shops that sold gay pornography and adult toys- then illegal but highly lucrative products. The shop also sold foreign newspapers, back-list paperbacks, Bibles, LGBTQ fiction novels, science fiction books, and a variety of other reading materials. The alley behind Books Circus was one of Los Angeles’s top gay cruising spots, earning it the moniker “Vaseline Alley”. Beginning in the early 1980’s, business at Circus Books began floundering due to its owner’s cocaine addiction and massive debts (some of which were to members of the Mafia). In 1982, Karen and Barry Mason, a Jewish couple with three kids from Los Angeles’s suburbs who had recently began distributing for pornography tycoon Larry Flynt, heard of the owner’s business troubles. Since he wasn’t paying his rent and was about to be evicted, the Masons made a deal with the property owner that if they gave half of the storeowner’s rent until his eviction, the lease would be signed over to them for the same deal. That year, the storeowner declared bankruptcy and the Masons inherited the lease and the new business. To rebrand, they simply split the neon sign in two. Thus, “Books Circus” became “Circus of Books”. Throughout the mid-1980’s, Circus of Books grew exponentially. The Masons eventually began producing hardcore gay films themselves, many of which featured wildly popular 80’s star, Jeff Stryker. During this time period, the Masons were the largest distributors of gay pornography in the United States. However, following the appointment of Attorney General Dick Thornburgh in 1988, the FBI and police began targeting adult distributors for breaking obscenity statutes. In 1990, Circus of Books was one of three Californian adult businesses that were busted for shipping pornography over state lines in an FBI sting operation. The Masons hired attorney John Weston, who advised them to stand their ground and not close Circus of Books. The ensuing legal battle made national headlines and lasted for two years, eventually coming to a close without a conviction. During the AIDS epidemic, Circus of Books lost many of its gay male employees and regulars. Then with the advent of the Internet in the 2000’s, much of pornography and social networking within the LGBTQ+ community quickly transferred online. Karen and Barry Mason closed Circus of Books on February 9, 2019. The story of the gay bookstore and its unlikely owners was told by the Masons’ daughter, Rachel Mason, in a documentary produced by Netflix and released after the store's closing in 2019. Thanks to revived interest in the bookstore’s legacy, drag performer Chi Chi LaRue bought the original building in January 2020 and reopened it as Chi Chi LaRue’s Circus- a boutique sex shop and gallery dedicated to showcasing racy LGBTQ+ art.

Opened under the name Book Circus in 1960, the small West Hollywood bookstore is notable for its history as a gay cruising spot throughout the late 20th century. The original store, which later became known as Circus of Books under the ownership of Barry and Karen Mason, offered an eclectic blend of back-list paperbacks, foreign newspapers, Bibles, and most significantly- pornography and adult toys. The Masons closed Circus of Books in February of 2019, but the store was bought by drag performer Chi Chi LaRue in January 2020 and was converted into Chi Chi LaRue's Circus, which honors the original bookstore's legacy while offering an expanded selection of LGBTQ art and adult items. 

Circus of Books

Constructed in 1929, this three-story West Hollywood building originally served as a storage facility for Mitchell Camera Company. At the time, most of its inventory consisted of motion picture cameras owned by 1920's Hollywood motion picture executive William Fox- one of the company's largest shareholders. In 1941, Mitchell Camera Company expanded the building, likely to make room for increased production of bombsights which the US government contracted the company to make during World War II. Mitchell Camera Company remained at this location until 1946, when the building was sold and used as a military salvage depot, then a furniture factory. The furniture factory operating on the first floor inspired the name of the building's next tenant- an exclusive nightclub called The Factory. Opened by wealthy attorney, architect, and artist Ron Buck in 1967, The Factory immediately gained a following among Hollywood elites thanks to its extravagant style and gourmet dining. Paul Newman, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford sat on the club's board of directors. Despite its A-list patrons, The Factory began losing money in the early 1970's, forcing Buck to sell the establishment. The building hosted several short-lived business tenants until 1974, when Scott Forbes- an optometrist and openly gay party promoter from Beverly Hills- purchased it in 1974. The same year, Forbes opened Studio One, a massive gay discotheque with two dance floors and a downstairs cabaret. Open seven nights a week from 9 PM to 2 AM, Studio One became one of West Hollywood's most popular gay male establishments. Live performances, male erotic dancers, and themed party nights drew crowds of up to 1,000 people on the weekends. The nightclub frequently entertained and hosted performances from celebrities such as Liza Minelli, Sylvester, Bernadette Peters, Ike &amp; Tina Turner, Patti LaBelle, Wayland Flowers with his puppet Madame, and Joan Rivers. Studio One was also renowned in the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community for more unsavory reasons. Ever since its opening, the club catered almost exclusively to upper-class, white gay men. This was particularly evident in its door policy, where ID was asked only once for the white gay male regulars, but was asked for and refused multiple times when women (particularly lesbians) or Latinix and Black gay men tried to enter. Discriminatory practices at Studio One were so well-known that the Los Angeles Times ran a story on it in 1976. In the article, Scott Forbes doubled down on his position, stating that his nightclub simply had strict standards and that it was “probably the finest run establishment in the city as far as control of people is concerned”. Throughout the mid-1970's, the Gay Community Mobilization Committee held demonstrations outside of Studio One in protest of the club's policies and Forbes's remarks. According to oral history accounts, Studio One was just one of multiple nightclubs who employed these practices to ensure an exclusively white male patronage. This led to the creation of other West Hollywood LGBTQ+ clubs such as Jewel's Catch-One and Circus Disco, which catered to more diverse crowds. In 1988, after 14 years of business, Studio One closed its doors. Scott Forbes later died in 2002 at the age of 57. Today, the building is still used as a nightclub. Currently, it shares the same name as the first nightclub to open there- The Factory.

Built in 1929 as a manufacturing storage building for the Mitchell Camera Company, this building was first turned into a nightclub called The Factory in 1967. The club was incredibly popular among Hollywood's elites and celebrities, with a board of directors that included Paul Newman and Sammy Davis Jr. Despite its glamorous status, The Factory closed only four years after opening. In 1974, the building was then purchased by Scott Forbes- an openly gay Beverly Hills optometrist and party promoter. Renamed as Studio One, the discotheque became one of the most well-known gay nightclubs in the United States and hosted celebrities such as Joan Rivers, Liza Minelli, Bernadette Peters, Tina Turner, and Patti LaBelle. Studio One was also known for its discriminatory door policy, which notoriously excluded most women, racial minorities, and lower-class people. Forbes closed Studio One in 1988. The space is still used as a nightclub today under the original name "The Factory".

The Factory (Studio One)

In the early 1920s, the Los Angeles Board of Education purchased 28 acres of swamp land in the Fairfax District for a very low cost. After filling in the ciénega with dirt, construction began on a new high school building. In 1924, Fairfax High School opened its doors to students for the first time. The school was initially conceptualized as an agricultural &amp; mechanical school with an emphasis on "practical skills". Early school programs included agronomy, landscaping, forestry, and basic architectural design. Girls at Fairfax High School learned cooking from the Domestic Service program which ran the school cafeteria. Special permission was given to school leadership by the direct descendants of Lord Fairfax to use the colonial Lord's "Rampant Lion" coat of arms, along with his motto "Fare fax" (Latin for "Say and do"). By 1927, an auditorium, a Fine Arts building, and a gym had all been added to the campus. In 1938, a rotunda featuring a statue of Abraham Lincoln was constructed. When the United States entered into World War II in 1941, hundreds of Fairfax High School's students and alumni enlisted. Younger students led numerous war bond drives and sold over $90,000 in bonds. The 1946 yearbook was dedicated to those who served in the war effort- 96 of whom were killed in action. Due to shifting population demographics following the end of the war, the Fairfax District became a major Jewish enclave. The population percentage of Jewish students at Fairfax High School during the 1950's and 1960's is estimated to have been as high as 90% to 95%. The school even began offering Modern Hebrew classes- taught by Beverly-Fairfax Jewish Community Center principal Ronnie Tofield- in 1953. Many non-Jewish families withdrew their children during these years. In 1966, the original Spanish Colonial Revival style school building was deemed unsafe for failing to meet city earthquake safety standards. Most of the structures on campus were demolished with the exception of the beloved auditorium and rotunda, which were both reinforced. The new Fairfax High School building was opened in 1968. That same year, school zone boundaries were changed to include a predominantly Black and Latinx area past Pico. The influx of new multiracial students resulted in clashes between groups as well as another "white flight" exodus of white students to other schools in the area. However, ongoing integration efforts throughout the 1970's calmed much of the unrest. Today, the school is one of the most diverse in the country, with 93% of its students belonging to at least one minority background. During the mid-1980s, Fairfax High School became the center of a national controversy. In 1984, Dr. Virginia Uribe- a lifelong teacher and counselor for the Los Angeles Unified School District- was confronted by a group of gay and lesbian students. The students were angered that one of their friends- a young Black openly gay teen- had been experiencing constant harassment at Fairfax High School. Instead of addressing the harassment, the school simply relocated the teen to another high school. From there, he was transferred to three other high schools. The seventeen-year-old finally was forced to drop out of high school when he was kicked out of his house for being gay. After listening to the concerns and experiences of the students, Uribe decided to create the first dropout prevention program for LGBTQ+ students in the United States. The program was named "Project 10"- a reference to the famous statistic that roughly 10% of the general population is homosexual. The program gave direct support to LGBTQ+ students at Fairfax High who were experiencing harassment, social isolation, drug abuse, family problems, homelessness, or suicidal tendencies. Soon after its creation, Project 10 gained notoriety when it was attacked by Reverend Lou Sheldon and his far-right lobbyist group, the Traditional Values Coalition. Sheldon had previously rose to fame within the Religious Right for his remarks labelling gays as "child molesters" and homosexuality as a "deathstyle". These attacks led to a huge influx in donations to Project 10, prompting Uribe to establish the non-profit organization "Friends of Project 10" in 1986. In March of 1988, Republican California State Assembly member Marian La Follette led the GOP caucus in a vote to withhold funds from the Los Angeles Unified School District until it dissolved Project 10. Despite these threats, the LAUSD continued in its support of Uribe and the program. By 1989, Project 10 had grown from its original shoestring budget to a volunteer staff of 600 counselors, teachers, nurses, psychologists, and other school workers. In 2009, Fairfax High School celebrated Sergio Garcia- an openly gay senior student- becoming its first male prom queen. Dr. Virginia Uribe married Gail Rolf, her partner of 20 years, in 2008. Uribe died on March 30, 2019 at the age of 85. Project 10 continues to provide resources and support for LGBTQ+ kids in the Los Angeles Unified School District today.

Established in 1924, Fairfax High School, named after Lord Fairfax of Colonial America and initially operated as an agricultural & mechanical school that emphasized preparing youth for employment. Due to shifting population demographics in Los Angeles, Fairfax High School became a predominantly Jewish school after World War II and even introduced Modern Hebrew classes in 1953. In 1984, the high school sparked national controversy when Dr. Virginia Uribe, a counselor and teacher at Fairfax, created Project 10 as the first dropout prevention program for LGBTQ+ youth in the United States. Today, with 93% of its students coming from minority backgrounds, Fairfax High School is widely regarded as one of the most diverse student bodies in the country.

Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Driving Tour

The Black Cat, Los Angeles

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information