There’s no question that West Hollywood still reigns as the gay mecca of Los Angeles. However, downtown L.A. is in the midst of a revival and the LGBT community – as it does so often – is playing a role.
For many years, downtown Los Angeles, or DTLA, was essentially abandoned. That started to change in 1999 with the opening of the STAPLES Center sports arena, with progress ramping up as the economy continued to improve. In 2014, GQ went as far as to call DTLA “America’s next great city.”
The rebirth is partly due to an influx of new residents. According to the Downtown Center Business Improvement District, DTLA now has nearly 60,000 residents — a number that’s doubled since 2000. And LGBT people comprise a large percentage of those new residents.
The influence of LGBT people on DTLA was recognized this year with the creation of the DTLA Proud Festival, which “celebrates the profound revitalization of DTLA and the growing LGBT community.” It was compounded by the decision to move AIDS Walk Los Angeles out of West Hollywood to DTLA.
For LGBT tourists, West Hollywood is still the area’s best destination, but what awaits those who opt for DTLA? As it transpires, quite a lot.
Stay
Located across the street from STAPLES Center and the L.A. Live entertainment center, the Luxe City Center Hotel has a prime location. The modern property’s 178 guest rooms and suites are among the most spacious of any DTLA hotel.
The Beaux-Arts-inspired Millennium Biltmore Hotel was built in 1923 and is the grande dame of L.A. hotels. A historic and cultural landmark, it offers classic styling with modern amenities — it’s L.A.’s answer to the grandeur of the Waldorf Astoria in NYC.
The Hilton Checkers, with its Spanish-style façade, is another historic property that serves the needs of today’s travelers. Its rooftop deck offers outstanding views of Los Angeles.
Play
The police-themed Precinct is a spacious bar and nightclub that helped pave the way for DTLA’s burgeoning LGBT nightlife. A relaxed atmosphere and large dance floor ensure it’s popular with locals and tourists alike.
Redline bills itself as “DTLA’s premier gay bar” and certainly has plenty of fans. If you’re a Drag Race fan, season 2 star Pandora Boxx hosts “Dragalicious” on Wednesdays.
The newest kid on the block, Bar Mattachine is a trendy, bi-level cocktail bar. Its name is an homage to the Mattachine Society, one of the first gay rights organizations in the United States.
The New Jalisco Bar was a mainstay of the “old” DTLA and the only full-time gay bar in DTLA for many years. It has a very loyal Latin clientele, and is enjoying continued popularity as DTLA undergoes an LGBT transformation.
Eat
Chef Ray Garcia’s B.S. Taqueria offers outstanding Mexican food and drink in a colorful, casual space. The quality of the food is exactly what you would expect from Garcia, Esquire’s chef of the year for 2015.
Spring Los Angeles is a beautiful, classy French restaurant. In addition to its outstanding menu, diners can enjoy its open kitchen, fountain, and all-glass atrium ceiling as they dine.
Bottega Louie is a combination bakery, gourmet market and Italian restaurant. It has won awards for everything from “best brunch in L.A.” to “best place to break bread with friends.”
A massive entertainment complex, L.A. Live sits between the STAPLES Center sports arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is home to multiple performance spaces, restaurants, bars, retail outlets, and the Grammy Museum.
The Broad is one of the newest editions to Los Angeles’ world class arts scene (which includes LACMA, The Getty Center, and Hammer Museum), housing an extensive collection of contemporary art.
Two decades before Stonewall, a group of gay men at a downtown Los Angeles donut shop fought back against LAPD harassment. That slice of LGBT history is one of many interesting tidbits shared during Gay DTLA: City of Angels Walking Tour. The tour lasts 2.5 hours and visits many of DTLA’s must-see sites, including Grand Central Market, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, and Pershing Square.
Maybe not exactly like Thirty, a feature loosely assembled from episodes of the eponymous VOD series created by Dontá Morrison and co-written with director Anthony Bawn. But films that likewise feature a gay Black couple as the center of the story, or of a circle of friends, come few and far between.
Undeniably the stories are out there, as is the audience, yet, as one Thirty character laments of the media landscape, "white boys get all the airtime."
Thirty lends its air time to the epic trials and tribulations of longtime couple Khalil (Bobby Musique Cooks), a Hollywood stylist, and Tyrin (Brandon Moten), an ad agency owner, and their young and restless friends, most of whom are Black and queer.
The Virginia Department of Health has reported a recent increase in mpox infections in the state.
According to Health Department data, there have been 14 reported cases of mpox since January 1. Four of these required patients to be hospitalized.
The number of cases of mpox in 2024 has already surpassed the total number of cases reported last year. Of the 2024 cases, six occurred in individuals co-infected with HIV, and all cases occurred among individuals that were not vaccinated against mpox.
The cases are spread over four separate health regions: the Northern region, which includes the D.C. suburbs; the Northwest region, including the far-out exurbs of D.C. and the Northern Shenandoah Valley; the Central region, including Greater Richmond and Southside Virginia; and Eastern Virginia, including the Northern Neck, Hampton Roads, and the Eastern Shore regions.
Electronics retail giant Best Buy offered to screen donations from its employee resource groups going to LGBTQ organizations or causes after being pressured by a conservative think tank that holds shares in the company.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing recently made public, Best Buy engaged in a months-long email exchange with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a self-described "nonpartisan, free-market conservative think tank."
In those emails, which began on December 11, 2023, NCPPR sent the company a shareholder proposal asking the retailer to produce -- and distribute at its annual shareholder meeting in June -- a report analyzing how its partnerships with LGBTQ organizations benefit the company's business, according to NBC News.
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