‘The are our hom’: LA gay bars fight to stay afloat after year of shutdown | Los Angel | The Guardian

Contents:

• THE BT GAY BARS AND CLUBS LOS ANGEL
• 52 ESSENTIAL GAY BARS AND NIGHTS AROUND LOS ANGEL
• THE NEW JALIS LATO GAY BAR LNCH GOFUNDME
• THE BT GAY CISG SPOTS LOS ANGEL
• THE NEW JALIS BAR LNCH GOFUNDME PAGE TO SAVE GAY LATO BAR
• LOS ANGEL GAY BARS
• ‘THE ARE OUR HOM’: LA GAY BARS FIGHT TO STAY AFLOAT AFTER YEAR OF SHUTDOWN
• WEHO'S INIC GAY BAR AND NIGHTCLUB, THE ABBEY, IS FOR SALE

THE BT GAY BARS AND CLUBS LOS ANGEL

Micky’s WeHo has long been a staple on Wt Hollywood’s strip of gay nightclubs and bars on Santa Moni Boulevard, known for s open-walled two-story buildg where passersby n see the party ragg om the street. The venue is the only Latx gay bar LA that explicly ters to a gay and Mexin dience every night, not jt as a theme once a week. But ’s the perfect space to grab a workday bnch wh a lleague or for -workg ssns -hosted on Tudays wh Gay Asstrology.

Though Sweetwater isn’t officially known as a lbian bar, the humble tablishment has long been the go-to spot for queer women the lol gayborhood, which featur nearly half a dozen gay bars that le Broadway Long Beach. One of Long Beach’s few, if not only, three-level gay bars, Executive Sue boasts a karaoke bar, vio gam, pool tabl for rent, and regular drag shows.

Dubbed by KCET as Montebello’s bt Lato gay bar, Chi is the sister to Club Cobra, servg as a groundg se for the queer Latx muny the suburbs of East LA. Enjoy Two Caliente Dance Floors of Mic | 14 #Trophyboy Go-Go’s by Andrew Christian | Drag Celebri Galore | Strongt Drks #gayweho | 1000+ Party People | After Hours Dancg until 4am. And The Abbey’s probably the most straight-iendly gay bar around (hello, straight bartenrs and bachelorette parti).

52 ESSENTIAL GAY BARS AND NIGHTS AROUND LOS ANGEL

Though some of more jad gay Angelenos will sff at the Abbey’s fx-fancy dér and normie vib, you n’t ny ’s got a lot gog for .

Fita Canta looks like a gay Wahoo’s Fish Tas and serv food, while Revolver and Micky’s are more of dance clubs. Gold Coast is loted at 8228 Santa Moni Boulevard and Tnks is loted at 8809 Santa Moni SportsbarFor gays who prefer football to Gaga, Gym is a wele alternative. Gym also supports gay sports leagu, helpg to erase our memori of high school douchebags and replace them wh a way to bond and meet like-md gays that go beyond the bar.

THE NEW JALIS LATO GAY BAR LNCH GOFUNDME

It’s the trendit and most eclectic gay bar the area, hostg a wi variety of nights, om craft night to bgo to edy nights. Btlg as may be on weekends, ’s a great neighborhood bar durg the week, when s solid jebox sps B-52’s, The Smhs and other alt-queer favor, and on Sundays, when Rudy Bl’s Mixtape daytime DJ event and the Rocksteady Lounge at night offer somethg other than the typil gay bar experience.

It’s one of the only gay bars to ter to the leather and gay fetish crowds, but s sizable pat also make a great place to gather and—gasp—actually talk and be heard. ChiChi is a small gay bar Montebello that serv mostly Lato rints, playg a mix of dance mic and Lat pop and rock.

Expect filthy jok, sexy onlookers and some of the bt alternative drag performance an eye out for the next Trannyshack at their l CampoThe last remnant of Hypern Avenue’s gay tablishments (R.

THE BT GAY CISG SPOTS LOS ANGEL

Precct has prented self as a “rock n roll gay bar, ” meang ’s more of a levis ‘n’ chucks kd of place ak to the Eagle or Fltle.

RedleWhile we n’t ment wh certaty about Redle sce ’s not fully open yet and has jt held special events and a soft openg so far, Redle seems to promise a more upsle DTLA gay bar experience (perhaps simplified, Redle will be the Abbey to Precct’s Eagle). The Broadway Corridor, which stretch along Broadway between Belmont Shore and the East Village area of Downtown Long Beach, has a smatterg of gay bars nveniently led up as a built- pub crawl, om the youthful Faln (1435 E Broadway) to the bearier Br (1744 E Broadway) and Me Shaft (1720 E Broadway) and girl-iendly Sweetwater Saloon (1201 E Broadway). Artia BarThis longstandg spot (formerly known as The Dolph) is ltle known outsi of sleepy Redondo Beach, but ’s an oasis the otherwise gay sert that is the South Bay and s surroundg areas.

) is a great, leathery dive wh cheap drks, karaoke and TVs playg gay porn, a movie or HGTV, pendg on the night. And y, Pasana isn’t the Valley, but ’s worth notg that this rich, manicured suburb has s very own divey gay bar right off the Gold Le lled the Boulevard (3199 E Foothill Blvd. “To be gay and vaquero — there’s a lot of cricism that wh that, even om our own native untry [bee of homophobia].

THE NEW JALIS BAR LNCH GOFUNDME PAGE TO SAVE GAY LATO BAR

Although s webse billed Club Cobra as the “bt Lato gay bar Los Angel, ” Sokol said that was a b of a misnomer.

LOS ANGEL GAY BARS

Gay bar Club Chi, he said he wanted Club Cobra to be the kd of place that would serve everyone “who might have not f to the okie-cutter mold” expected Wt Hollywood durg the apex of the gay muny’s Hollister era.

”Organizers said was hard to fd that feelg of eedom straight clubs and even gay bars, where they often felt unwele or as if they didn’t belong. The New Jalis bar, one of the longt nng Lato gay bars downtown Los Angel, has turned to GoFundMe to avoid closg durg the COVID-19 panmic. And Yenia Gaan’s Saturday “Taboo Nights” was billed as the bt mil show downtown Los New Jalis Bar weled people jt as they were — homosexual, transgeneros, s papel, drsed as vaqueros and old enough to feel out of place dancg to hoe mic Wt Hollywood.

‘THE ARE OUR HOM’: LA GAY BARS FIGHT TO STAY AFLOAT AFTER YEAR OF SHUTDOWN

’s only queer-foced ffee shop; Rage nightclub Wt Hollywood; San Francis’s olst gay bar, The Stud; Ltle Jim’s, the send-olst gay bar cle of gay bars started well before the panmic, part bee creased acceptance of queer people has lsened the need for bars as plac of refuge. Mattson said bars servg workg-class queer people are more likely to be phed out by gentrifitn than those terg to middle-class and whe gay men, he said.

“The irony is that jt as gay bars have bee more clive, they’re startg to go away, ” he owners of Jalis are stgglg to ensure their closure isn’t Rosa Garcia, 53, started as a bartenr there 1992. Garcia, outgog and iendly, often threw back a beer or two wh patrons as they exchanged stori and the time, there was only one gay bar downtown: The Sre. Then-Print Clton unveiled the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prevented service members om beg openly gay, lbian or bisexual whout the threat of beg discharged.

WEHO'S INIC GAY BAR AND NIGHTCLUB, THE ABBEY, IS FOR SALE

“Gay bars have survived polil opprsn, the AIDS crisis, prev recsns, so they will survive this panmic, ” he said.

The New Jalis Bar, one of the longt nng Lato gay bars downtown Los Angel, serv a val need as a safe space for the muny.

Club Cobra North Hollywood, one of the last Lato gay clubs the regn, said May that they would not be re-openg.