It must be mentioned that the ” BAR OWNERS ” are the real ” UNSUNG HEROES ” of the Gay community. Is this a symptom of a lack of community and continuity in L.A.’s gay community? Did the HIV epidemic wipe out our watering holes along with our brothers? Or is it just the normal churn & instability of the bar industry?Įven though I live in Baltimore Maryland, I enjoy reading all the nostalgia here about the bar scene in LA and other places around the US. And only one remains a gay bar to this day.
We checked Google Street View, and the results are, well, a little depressing. Check out those outfits! The term “groovy guys!” And reference to a mysterious drink called “the manhole,” the taste of which we can only imagine.Īfter a friend sent these along, we started wondering if any of the bars survived the intervening forty years. But today, they’re a fascinating glimpse into the life of the Los Angeles homosexual of the early ’70s. For a handful of local Los Angeles gay bars, it’s just business as usual as they place advertisements in what few publications comprise LGBT media.īack then, these ads were no big deal. The year was 1971: Apollo 14 lands on the moon, the country is still mired in Vietnam, and Donna Summer is just starting her career.
