The Rabow Club of Laguna Woods Village is anized to provi social opportuni for the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr (LGBT) muny ridg Laguna Woods Village.
Contents:
- GAY LAGUNA WOODS (ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA)
- EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS LAGUNA WOODS
- LGBTQ+ AFFIRMG THERAPISTS LAGUNA WOODS, CA
- EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS LAGUNA WOODS
- THE RISE AND FALL OF LAGUNA BEACH, A GAY CALIFORNIA HOTSPOT
GAY LAGUNA WOODS (ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA)
* laguna woods gay community *
It was bgo night at Ma Street Bar & Cabaret, Laguna Beach’s last gay club. Gay bars around the natn have been disappearg, a trend attributed to greater social acceptance of gays, changg enomic forc and evolvg technology.
Laguna Beach, particular, has had many obuari wrten for s once-thrivg gay scene. Skyrocketg real tate pric have kept young gays out of the cy and led a number of tablished gay rints to sh out and move to other ci, such as Palm Sprgs. Now Cooley has to see whether the improvements will pay off – whether gays still want a place to ll their own.
Whether a ty gay bar Laguna Beach n still thrive.
EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS LAGUNA WOODS
The cy has always been progrsive polilly and fact was home to many unterculture and gay activists. The renegas ed to live the hillsis, which are now occupied by some of the richt celebri, performers and artists Ameri. * laguna woods gay community *
Laguna Beach was once spoken of the same breath as Wt Hollywood, Fire Island and Provcetown, if a miature versn of those more famo gay enclav. The Wt Street Beach was – and still is – renowned among gay vatners. Wh walkg distance of the spot was a one-block district that boasted a handful of gay bars and rtrants – Ltle Shrimp (which later beme Woody’s); Coast Inn, which hoed the legendary Boom Boom Room; and Ma Street Bar & Cabaret, which also went by Bounce.
Bob Gentry, who served on the Cy Council om 1982 to 1994, was one of the first openly gay mayors the untry. Gay clubs, Laguna and elsewhere, were both pick-up jots and havens.
“They were the first mon public spac for the gay muny, ” said Lus Hilrbrand, a UCI profsor of film and media studi who has wrten about the gay rights movement. “They were unrstood as social stutns, and much of the foundatnal gay rights activism was about claimg and fendg gay bars.
LGBTQ+ AFFIRMG THERAPISTS LAGUNA WOODS, CA
Gentry relled holdg meetgs on mpaigns and anti-gay iativ some of Laguna Beach’s bars. “They kd of beme the gay mpaign headquarters for our liv, ” Gentry said. Perhaps the heyday of Laguna Beach’s gay scene was already long gone by the time the storied Boom Boom Room closed 2007 after a Beverly Hills billnaire bought the Coast Inn wh plans – never rried out – to turn to an upsle boutique hotel.
The hallmark of Laguna’s gay scene – s pactns, s timacy – end up a problem. John Wallace Benecke, a Laguna Beach terr signer, said growg social acceptance had already begun makg gay clubs ls necsary as a refuge – a trend that’s only grown as gay marriage has been legalized. He rarely go to gay bars the days; his social circle is ma of gay and straight iends.
EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS LAGUNA WOODS
Laguna’s Ltle Shrimp was the first gay bar a llege-age Benecke ever walked to. “I don’t know when beme gay, ” Cooley said one afternoon before the bar opened.
But his own life as a gay man hasn’t been easy – he believ he lost at least one job bee of his sexualy – and he often found a sense of belongg the gay clubs he equented. In other words, gay bars need some straight crowds to make .
THE RISE AND FALL OF LAGUNA BEACH, A GAY CALIFORNIA HOTSPOT
“We’re never the tradnal sense a ‘gay bar’ anymore, ” he said. “In the old days, you uld jt be a gay bar and you’d have a crowd. A funny thg about those good old days of the gay bars: Many of them me and went.
In a sense, Cooley wants Ma Street to reflect the new perd gay history. He’s pned s long-term succs on the notn that gays no longer need to stand apart om their neighbors – and neher do gay tablishments. One recent night at Ma Street, a patron held up his smartphone when asked about the state of gay bars.
“This is what’s killg them, ” he said, holdg up a social media se that gay people e to get touch wh one another. “Although younger people may feel more tegrated to mastream culture, my stunts still feel a sense of disvery gog to gay clubs that nnot be replited other ways, ” he said. For some, this is precisely why gay bars – or really any of what the soclogist Ray Olnburg lled “third plac, ” those rmal gatherg spots outsi of work and home – mt endure.