Laguna Art Mm looks back on town's gay bar scene - Los Angel Tim

Contents:

• GAY BARS LAGUNA BEACH
• GAY LAGUNA TRI TO EMERGE
• GAY NIGHTLIFE LAGUNA BEACH
• REMEMBERG A LEGACY OF GAY BARS
• LAGUNA ART MM LOOKS BACK ON TOWN’S GAY BAR SCENE
•  CALIFORNIA LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS
• THE RISE AND FALL OF LAGUNA BEACH, A GAY CALIFORNIA HOTSPOT
•  CALIFORNIA LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS
• LAGUNA ART MM LOOKS BACK ON TOWN’S GAY BAR SCENE

GAY BARS LAGUNA BEACH

Thankfully the world has evolved and although gay bars will always be need, wanted and loved, ’s now not unnscnable for everyone, no matter of who they love, to party, drk and enjoy the night together, unr the same roof. There was a time when Laguna Beach had s staple gay bars, which were a much need prence durg their reign of the beach cy, and s very possible that the future, more will make their way back to Laguna Beach, but until then, the cy is filled wh optns galore. In 1926, a liquor store and a hardware store opened on the rner of Pearl Street and Pacific Coast Highway, and 1946 beme s current namake The Seahorse, which was actually Laguna Beach’s first gay bar.

For many years, operated as a secret waterg hole for the lol gay muny until was eventually turned back to retail as Laguna Auto Parts…and now ’s back to s origal roots. The origal Seahorse opened 1946, unofficially known as Laguna’s first gay bar.

GAY LAGUNA TRI TO EMERGE

Gay owned and operated, this rtrant and nightclub is loted the historic downtown Arts District.

Map of Gay Bars Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach’s inic gay bar, the Boom Boom Room, closed s doors on Labor Day 2007.

It was, arguably, the end of clubbg Laguna – gay or straight. Bee the gay muny had largely left Laguna for Palm Sprgs and other hipper areas.

GAY NIGHTLIFE LAGUNA BEACH

For Cooley, and perhaps the larger gay muny, ’s ls about the past and more about embracg a new future. But he also knows that ’s not about quanty but qualy: “Make Laguna gay aga is not our mantra.

Text 'GAYTRAVEL' to 1-800-GAY-TRAVEL (1-800-429-8728). — Travel Guis wh a Gay Perspective.

REMEMBERG A LEGACY OF GAY BARS

Laguna Beach has a few gay bars and clubs that make the gay nightlife an excg adventure. For s, Laguna Beach had a large gay bar on Ma Beach and later the Boom Boom Room at the Coast Inn.

Luckily a gay man owns our much smaller and only remag gay bar, the Bounce, and has ma recent chang wh more improvements g.

Ma Beach was home to the big “gay” bar, Dant, which would orr 500 s of Budweiser alone for holiday weekends. Legend has that Michael Michaels, the wonrful owner of the Ltle Shrimp, asked Carl Smh and his wife to dner and told them they should turn the South Seas bar at the Coast Inn to a gay bar bee unlike the Shrimp, was big enough to acmodate the gays.

LAGUNA ART MM LOOKS BACK ON TOWN’S GAY BAR SCENE

He had been a prs agent for Judy Garland and cleverly spread the word that the South Seas was turng gay on a summer, holiday weekend. John sold to two gay men and over the years people me om around the world to go to Wt Street Beach and the Boom Boom Room.

So for s, even when Laguna had half the populatn has now, thoands om the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny traveled to Laguna and spent lns and got a tan at the beach and a beer at our statn gay bar and stayed overnight at hotels all over town.

(Don Kelsen / Los Angel Tim) The beats of the old Boom Boom Room once dropped right to the hearts of the gay muny Laguna who n remember the old ways will look to relive their glory days through an event Saturday eveng at Laguna Art Mm.

 CALIFORNIA LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS

“The mm has been here for over 100 years now, and ’s always kd of been a place that the gay muny n e to, ” Daniel Stachowski, public programs ordator for the mm, said.

“In the 1980s, we had a fundraiser for the AIDS crisis, and we’re ntug that legacy of beg supportive for the LGBTQ+ muny by havg the pri events here Laguna, which was for the longt time a safe haven for the gay muny to e and be who they are. An entire block of South Coast Highway hosted gay bars, the most famo perhaps beg the r Boom Boom Room, which served s last drk 15 years ago as folks danced on the bar and the crowd went wild. The Anchor Le is the last of Laguna’s vtage gay bars, a fixture sce 1958.

THE RISE AND FALL OF LAGUNA BEACH, A GAY CALIFORNIA HOTSPOT

“My brother Jimmy bought this bar 18 years ago to save what was left of gay Laguna, ” said sister Wendy Nelson, stg at the bar the dim afternoon light.

Bs was tough even before COVID, as Laguna’s land valu skyrocketed and much of s gay muny moved east to the Palm Sprgs area. But ’s happeng all over the natn, not jt Laguna: Half of Amerin gay bars disappeared between 2002 and 2021, acrdg to listg data piled by Greggor Mattson, profsor and chair of soclogy at Oberl College. “I sometim like to thk about gay bars as archiv, ” Mattson said.

 CALIFORNIA LBIAN AND GAY BARS, RTRANTS, LODGG, PRI EVENT, BS MAPS

“We n look no further than the recently proposed natnwi ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, ” Grasso said by email. Laws like the create credibly unsafe environments, not only for LGBTQ+ children (who are eher forced to stay the closet and velop psychologil stras om ternalized homophobia or experience potential abe and harm for g out) but also for LGBTQ+ adults who are spegoated by right-leang policians at every turn stat like Florida and Texas but also lolly Orange County. Grasso has found that gay bars creasgly e ambiguo marketg to attract more ctomers an attempt to generate greater profs, which n be pecially problematic for queer women “doubly margalized” by an emphasis on male-centered programmg, as well as an flux of straight women seekg safety om the male harassment they fd regular bars.

LAGUNA ART MM LOOKS BACK ON TOWN’S GAY BAR SCENE

In the past year, Grasso has spoken wh several people stgglg to open new gay bars for queer women and genr-expansive people Southern California.