Despite what gay people think, LGBT Los Angeles does not entirely revolve around West Hollywood. True, the neighborhood has long been a staple of queer culture in this sprawling metropolis, and it certainly boasts enough to qualify it as Boystown West. But beyond WeHo's vibrant day- and nightlife, it's time to shine the spotlight at some other points of interest.
Downtown L.A. can feel like a forgotten zone of an otherwise glamorous city. But its history is as dramatic as the eyes of a starlet on the casting couch. The city itself was founded in a now-landmarked part of downtown called El Pueblo, once home to the Tongva—a Native American tribe that prized "two-spirit" people, or those who embodied both masculine and feminine spirits. In other words, L.A. was originally populated by people who understood and even celebrated transgender and homosexual people.
Consider that lesson number one for L.A.'s long and surprising gay history. More juicy tidbits like this are waiting to be discovered on the fabulous LGBT downtown walking tour by Out & About Tours ( www.outandabout-tours.com ), where founder and guide Jim Anzide unfolds anecdotes from centuries' past. ( Yes, centuries—the 19th-century oil rush made for some colorful, mostly male residents. )
Out & About Tours is a great, compact touring experience that works in gay old stories with today's cityscape. For example, within a few blocks are two notable stops. The former site of Cooper's Donuts on Main Street was the site of the 1959 drag-queen revolt against the oppressive L.A.P.D. A few blocks away, you can duck into the circa-1917 Grand Central Market ( www.grandcentralmarket.com ) to sample some of the city's best dishes served by local vendors, from tacos and tempura, to corned beef and kung pao.
Next stop Silver Lake, where they say the lesbians have migrated. These hills are home to a slew of fun gay-centric spots that helped earn the name "the Swish Alps." No queer should miss seeing the Black Cat ( theblackcatla.com ), where Anzide will tell you about how New Year's 1967 queers were harassed and beaten by the L.A.P.D. once again. They responded with huge demonstrations, and emboldened an emerging local gay-rights group Personal Rights in Defense and Education—or, P.R.I.D.E., from which today's Pride movement derives. Today, the Black Cat is a chill neighborhood restaurant that, much like Akbar ( www.akbarsilverlake.com ) and other Silver Lake hangouts, welcomes gays, hipsters and anyone else with sense of style.
Cruise down Sunset Boulevard towards Hollywood to dive into more serious tinsel-talk. Out & About's walking tour of this neighborhood begins at the converted Max Factor building for good reason: It's home to the Hollywood Museum ( thehollywoodmuseum.com ). Here is where Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball and Greta Garbo colored their locks—and where their Art-Deco clad make-up rooms are preserved on the first floor. The other three stories are filled with the world's most extensive Hollywood-memorabilia collection, including impressive LGBT-related displays.
While tourists roam around the Walk of Fame ( www.walkoffame.com ), your Out & About tour will instead draw you down side streets like Las Palmas Avenue. You may learn that in the early 20th century, the "pansy craze" was all the rage in Hollywood speakeasies. Today in this area, check out 21st-century spots that would delight the pansies of yesteryear—like the Los Angeles LGBT Center ( www.lalgbtcenter.org ) and Triangle Square, the Center's elder-housing complex. And to maintain a certain level of excitement, there's also the gay-owned fetish art gallery Antebellum ( antebellumgallery.blogspot.com ) nearby.
Of course, queer L.A. touched many a historic site, sometimes even a legendary one. Take for example the historic ( and recently renovated ) Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel ( www.thehollywoodroosevelt.com ), home to the very first Academy Awards in 1929, as well as to Marilyn, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, and countless other transient celebrities. Duck into the luxurious courtyard to check out the David Hockney swimming pool, so named for the floor mural painted by the openly gay artist in 1989.
On the culture front, there's plenty of gay and lesbian art to discover around the City of Angels. Top among them is the L.A. County Museum of Art ( www.lacma.org ), where in addition to absorbing its beautiful campus and architecture, you can seek out more paintings by Hockney, as well as works by photographer Catherine Opie, painter Thomas Eakins, and Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland. For your 2016 calendar, the museum is planning two major exhibits of interest to gay travelers, on both Robert Mapplethorpe and men's fashion.
You can dive still deeper into queer art and history at the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries ( one.usc.edu ). It's the oldest active LGBTQ organization in the country, and the largest repository of related materials in the world. If that's not impressive enough, they also host amazing year-round exhibits, lectures, openings and performances.
With your fill of history and culture, it may be time for a drink. Cut to WeHo, where the full spectrum of queer life comes to play in L.A. Among its abundant haunts is the ever-welcoming Abbey Food & Bar ( sbe.com/nightlife/brands/theabbeyfoodandbar ), the long-running hotspot for everything from happy hour to Wednesday Girlbar to world-famous go-go dancers.
Great restaurants abound along Santa Monica Boulevard, from Doheny to La Brea. One of the best for innovative Mexican is gay-owned Tortilla Republic ( tortillarepublic.com ). Or kick back on the patio of lesbian-owned Marix ( marixtexmex.com ) for more traditionally delicious Tex-Mex and icy margaritas.
Long after night falls and it's finally time to rest your weary head, comfort awaits at WeHo's most well-located, low-key and high-design hotel, the Chamberlain West Hollywood ( www.chamberlainwesthollywood.com ). Walking distance from the boulevard, this former apartment building is outfitted in Art Deco details and modern amenities, with peaceful balconies and a charming roof pool and patio.
The Chamberlain's staff, like most people in Los Angeles, share the sunny disposition of a city bathed in light and blue skies. Its queer history is just another layer that adds to its captivating character and beauty, and keeps La La Land's magic shining bright.
