Check out the LGBTQ events happening in OC this weekend!!🏳️🌈
Gay Orange County
Now, everything LGBTQ+ in Orange County in one website.
Gay Orange County
Now, everything LGBTQ+ in Orange County in one website.
About Gay Orange County
Our Website
At GayOrangeCounty.com, we are focused on bringing together all information and services for the LGBTQ+ community in Orange County (OC) California. We seek to provide as much information about businesses, activities and groups in OC that are Gay owned and Gay friendly so that both local LGBTQ+ residents and those traveling to Orange County can feel welcomed and comfortable in the OC.
Our Mission
At Gay Orange County, we are dedicated to providing our LGBTQ+ community with a high-quality all-inclusive website with reliable up-to-date information that meets our unique community needs. We strive to be a trusted partner for our gay community, organizations, businesses, services, and individuals alike, offering up-to-date events information for the LGBTQ+ community in Orange County, California.
The word “Gay” is used in this website to encompass all who identify under all definitions of LGBTQ+.
Orange County 🍊
Orange County has 34 cities and is the 7th wealthiest County in California. It has a population of just over 3.1 million and it is estimated that there are up to 90,000 residents who identify as LGBTQ+. In 2023, Orange County voted to recognize and celebrate Gay Pride in June, but voted not to fly the rainbow flag. The city of Santa Ana was the first city to fly the rainbow flag 🏳️🌈 in 2015, and since then, Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Irvine and Laguna Beach have followed suit. The OC actually has a diverse active gay community that exists and thrives, but there is no identifiable gay neighborhood or district. Yet, there are many gay businesses and groups in the county without a central location that makes navigating Orange County for the LGBTQ community difficult. Orange County borders Los Angeles County on the North and San Diego County on the South. Politically, as of January 2024, OC has 686,390 registered Democrats and 612,535 registered Republicans. There are 416,000 Independent registered voters.
Gay Orange County History 🏳️🌈
Gay Orange County has a long history that has been kept hush hush, and had been in the shadows of the more well-known LGBTQ+ neighborhoods of West Hollywood, Los Angeles, and Long Beach. However, Orange County has had a gay presence, venues, and clubs since about the 1940s.
Garden Grove:
In the early 1960s The Happy Hour, a women's bar in Garden Grove, opened. Soon other gay bars sprung up in the city throughout the next 10 years, including Rumour Hazzit, the Tiki Hut, the Mug, the Iron Spur, the Old Bavarian Inn, the Knotty Keg, the Hound's Tooth, the Ranger, the Saddle Club and DOK West. For a while, gay bars in Garden Grove actually outnumbered West Hollywood's. Police harassment eventually shut down most of them. Currently, The Frat House remains as the only gay bar in that city.
On September 7, 1974, police harassment of gay bars in Garden Grove led to nearly 500 demonstrators marching down Garden Grove Boulevard to protest a recent spate of 43 arrests.
Laguna Beach:
The first gay bar in Laguna Beach opened in the 1940s called Dante’s. Thereafter, the Little Shrimp bar opened.
In the 1960s, Main Beach was not only a major tourist destination, but also known as the epicenter of the city’s gay culture, which was home to two beachfront gay bars, Dante’s and Barefoot. The City eventually made Main Beach a public park. The gay culture eventually migrated to The Coast Inn, Boom Boom Room and dinner house.
The Boom Boom Room:
The bar at the Coast Inn was constructed in 1927 and, by the 1940s, had become a haven for gay and lesbian guests, making it one of the oldest gay bars in the western United States. Artists from Laguna Beach, vacationers from Hollywood and beyond, as well as marines from the nearby bases all made this a center of gay nightlife. The Boom Boom Room was famed for its disco dancing in the 1970s as well as for the cabaret singing.
For more Gay OC history check out:
Guide to Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County Records
Orange County Queer History Project is a digital humanities project dedicated to collecting, preserving, and displaying Orange County, California’s queer history.
Orange County Queer History Project
LGBT Archive UC Irvine is a collection that includes everything from news stories to letters, photos and video that chronicles a particular and vibrant slice of Gay Orange County history.
LGBTQ+ Community Facts & Definitions
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