Was Mr. Rogers Gay? | YourTango

Contents:

• GGER ROGERS BEACH, LA’S GAY BEACH, TO BE REGNIZED
• 5 GREAT GAY BEACH THE USA
• WHERE THE BOYS ARE: THE 5 GAYT BEACH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
• SANTA MONI AND VENICE BEACH GAY GUI
• WAS MR. ROGERS GAY?
• 10 BT GAY BEACH THE WORLD

GGER ROGERS BEACH, LA’S GAY BEACH, TO BE REGNIZED

Acrdg to film profsor David Lugowski, gay men were fatuated wh Rogers’ mpy talents, androgyno performanc, and diva persona– so much so that drag queens began emulatg her the 1930s and 1940s, and ntue to do so today. World War II talyzed the growth of ncentrated, unr-the-radar gay muni urban centers, pecially port ci like Los Angel as men and women embraced newfound enomic opportuny and personal eedoms away om their home liv. It reprented the very edge of the ntent, far away om ‘back home’… Durg and after the war, verable oas of gay life uld be found the open at many Los Angel beach, where the atmosphere was celebratory, rnival-like, even lawls.

5 GREAT GAY BEACH THE USA

Later, as a founr and head of the Imperial Court System, Sarria created not only an oasis for gay pri and celebratn, but a fundraisg force for gay rights across the Uned Stat, stg him as a peerls lear the early fight for gay rights.

WHERE THE BOYS ARE: THE 5 GAYT BEACH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

In 1995, Hay wrote: “Formg a society of two, and termed to get a discsn group gog, [Rudi and I] went to an unmarked sectn of Santa Moni Beach that we knew was equented by gay brothers… By the end of the summer, we had gotten 500 signatur on our petn, and had found not one person who would dare e to our [homosexual] discsn group, so overpowerg was the terror of police reprisal or blackmail. Mattache argued that gay and lbian people were a mory group opprsed by a prejudicial society and that they need to anize orr to challenge their unjt persecutn. Isherwood’s 1964 novel A Sgle Man memorialized the beach and Santa Moni Canyon’s gay culture morn lerature, scribg gay beachgoers 1946 as “dancg to the rad, uplg whout shame on the sand.

Bachardy began visg the beach 1948, takg ris there on the streetr wh his gay brother Ted– “bee that was the queer beach” – where Ted often would meet lovers. In January of 1982, Isherwood was award an honorary doctorate by the ONE Instute of Homophile Studi, the first accreded stutn of higher learng the Uned Stat to offer masters and doctoral gre Homophile Studi.

SANTA MONI AND VENICE BEACH GAY GUI

Dcribg the gay beachgoers at Gger Rogers Beach 1976, Santa Moni’s Eveng Outlook reported: “On weekends, thoands of gay men– most attired skimpy, clgg bathg sus– gather groups of two to four a close clter along the waterle. ” Interviewed by the lol paper, lifeguard Herb Thacker noted that populary of the gay beach had explod the early half of the 1970s: “People read about gay magaz everywhere. ” He stated that relatns wh other groups of beachgoers were mostly lm, spe some fights between gays and surfers– and barrg an cint wh the police on July 4 of that year.

Unr the learship of Chief of Police William Parker– lled “Wild Bill Parker” by the gay muny– and crimal psychologist Pl River– who believed that gays prented a danger to children and society, the Los Angel Police Department doubled down on homosexual behavr and cross-drsg at bars and public spac the 1950s and 1960s through a dited “vice squad. Vice officers pla clothg would often “entrap” gay men by vg or ercg perceived homosexuals to perform timate or sexual acts at bars or public rtrooms; whether the men took the ba or not, the officer would perform an arrt upon any ditn of tert.

In 1970, The Advote– the first natnal gay newspaper, found Los Angel 1967– warned s rears of a “mor league” placloth vice squad statned at Will Rogers after a gay man reported beg entrapped, arrted, and charged wh lewd nduct by the Wt Los Angel Police Divisn. When vice officers pulled two gay men out of the water and began beatg them wh batons, onlookers fought back, crowdg around the officers an attempt to dissua them and eventually “peltg the ps wh stone, sand, ns, and seaweed. Two years after the cint, Don Amador— an appoted gay muny liaison for Mayor Tom Bradley, the first posn of s kd the natn— worked wh lol elected officials to have homophobic graffi removed om a stcture at Gger Rogers.

WAS MR. ROGERS GAY?

Gay Wt Hollywood is twenty mut by r up the picturque Santa Moni Boulevard, while Venice beach and s mcle Marys are twenty mut’ walk down the Moni is where many gay Angelenos eat and party.

This is California, after the top of Santa Moni there is a gay-popular sectn the segment lled Will Rogers State Beach (or gay parlance Gger Rogers Beach) oppose Patrick’s Roadhoe rtrant.

18, on “Gger Rogers Beach, ” Los Angel’ unofficial gay beach and a long-time sandy sanctuary for the LGBTQ+ muny, will be pated the lors of the Progrs Pri Flag next month after the Los Angel County Board of Supervisors approved the ia.

10 BT GAY BEACH THE WORLD

Two lifeguard towers on “Gger Rogers Beach, ” Los Angel’ unofficial gay beach and a long-time sandy sanctuary for the LGBTQ+ muny, will be pated the lors of the Progrs Pri Flag next month after the Los Angel County Board of Supervisors approved the ia.

He won two awards and received a nomatn for his reportg on the lol LGBTQ muny, cludg a two-part vtigatn that exposed anti-gay bullyg of lol high school stunts and the school districts' failure to implement state mandated protectns for LGBTQ stunts. ) Given all the antic activy on South Beach, 's easy to fet that 's one of the hight-qualy urban beach Ameri, thanks to the sheer width and length of s whe sand and s generally lm, unqutnably geo emerald-to-turquoise those rabow flags on the beach weren't enough of a marker, the drag shows that spill out om the Palace should tell you that 12th Street is gay central; jo the party wh juicy burgers and tropil drk specials. It took nsirable mment and visn to gentrify this formerly crep beach town full of Victorian ho, but now fans tout Asbury Park's rehabilatn, s diversy and s strong sense of gay muny.