About Gay Orange County

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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.

Robert F. Gentry served as the first openly elected official in Southern California as mayor of Laguna Beach, California. He served three terms. 

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. Saving the Boom Boom Room video.

For more Gay OC history check out:

Guide to Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County Records

https://oac.cdlib.org

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 Archives UC Irvine