This LA bar is California’s first LGBTQ landmark—here’s the bloody story behind it

The Black Cat Raid That Sparked LGBTQ Activism

The Black Cat Tavern in Silver Lake opened in 1966 as a haven for LGBTQ folks when being gay was still deemed a mental illness.

On New Year’s Eve 1967, the party turned violent when undercover cops beat and arrested 14 patrons just for sharing midnight kisses.

In response, activists Alexei Romanoff and Steve Ginsberg formed PRIDE and rallied over 200 people for a peaceful protest on February 11—more than two years before Stonewall.

Now a California Historical Landmark, this modest building in Los Angeles marks where the modern gay rights movement first found its voice.

Gay Patrons Found Refuge at Silver Lake’s Black Cat Tavern

The Black Cat Tavern opened in November 1966 in Silver Lake, quickly becoming a safe spot for LA’s working-class LGBTQ folks. It sat in an old Safeway grocery store on Sunset Boulevard, near other gay bars in the area.

Life was risky for gay people back then – doctors called being gay a mental illness, and California law made same-sex relations illegal. Cops often raided gay bars using undercover officers.

Most places had warning systems when police showed up, but the Black Cat got caught during New Year’s.

Undercover Cops Attacked Patrons During New Year’s Celebrations

At midnight on January 1, 1967, Black Cat customers shared New Year’s kisses. Suddenly, plainclothes LAPD officers jumped into action and started beating the celebrants.

The cops tore down Christmas decorations and hit people with fists and batons. They arrested fourteen people for “lewd conduct” and knocked out two bartenders during the attack.

Some people escaped and ran to warn the nearby New Faces bar about the raid.

The violence happened while Ronald Reagan was governor, part of ongoing police brutality against minorities across California.

The Violence Spilled Into a Neighboring Bar

Police chased Black Cat customers to New Faces bar down the street.

Things got worse when officers thought the female owner, Lee Roy, was a man in drag because of her name. They beat her badly, sending her to the hospital with serious injuries.

Waiter Robert Haas got even worse treatment, ending up with broken facial bones, bruises, and a ruptured spleen. By the end of the night, police arrested sixteen people from both bars.

Six men faced charges just for same-sex kissing and later had to register as sex offenders.

Phone Trees Helped Activists Spread the Word

Word about the brutal raid spread fast through LA’s gay community. The local gay newspaper Tangents covered the story, making people angry.

Activist Alexei Romanoff and others felt shocked by the violence and started planning a response.

A new group called PRIDE (Personal Rights in Defense and Education), started in 1966 by Steve Ginsberg, led the protest planning.

Organizers used phone trees to gather people, calling friends who called more friends to share details about the upcoming protest. This was one of the first times the word “Pride” linked with gay activism in America.

Hundreds Gathered Outside the Bar in February 1967

On February 11, 1967, over 200 people showed up outside the Black Cat Tavern.

The mixed crowd included gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, drag queens, straight allies, and four church ministers. Organizers carefully planned everything to keep it peaceful and avoid arrests.

Protesters walked back and forth instead of standing still to avoid loitering charges. They quickly picked up any dropped flyers to prevent littering tickets while armed police watched nearby.

This protest happened more than two years before the famous Stonewall riots in New York City.

Two Men Challenged Their Arrests in Court

Charles Talley and Benny Baker fought back against their convictions through the courts with a new approach.

Their lawyers argued for equal protection under the 14th Amendment, making this the first case where gay men got defended in court as equals under the Constitution.

Lower courts turned down their arguments, but the men kept fighting. They took their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear it.

Fundraising for the six convicted patrons reached gay communities in New York and San Francisco, showing support across the country.

The Tavern Lost Its Licenses and Closed Within Months

California officials took away the Black Cat’s entertainment and liquor licenses after the raid. The business tried fighting the state liquor board but lost.

Just four months after the police attack, on May 21, 1967, the Black Cat Tavern closed for good. The building later housed other gay bars with different names including Bushwhacker, Basgo’s Disco, and Le Barcito.

In 2012, the space reopened as The Black Cat, a gastropub that honors the history with photographs inside, saving this important piece of LGBTQ history for today’s visitors.

America’s Oldest Gay Magazine Started Because of the Raid

PRIDE put out the first issue of The Los Angeles Advocate in September 1967, creating a 12-page newspaper sold for 25 cents in gay bars.

The publication came directly from the Black Cat raid, with editor Richard Mitch believing gay people needed better communication.

PRIDE sold the publication for one dollar to Mitch and Bill Rau in 1968, who grew its readership. They changed the name to The Advocate in 1969 and started selling it nationwide.

The magazine became the oldest continuously published LGBTQ publication in the United States and still exists today.

A Pastor Created the First LGBTQ-Friendly Church

Troy Perry, a Pentecostal minister kicked out of his church for being gay, took action after a friend got arrested in another bar raid.

On October 6, 1968, Perry held the first Metropolitan Community Church service in his Huntington Park living room with twelve people attending.

The church gave LGBTQ people a safe place to worship after rejection from traditional churches.

Just two months after starting MCC, Perry performed what Time Magazine called the first public same-sex wedding in America. The church grew quickly to about 300 congregations worldwide with over 43,000 members.

Los Angeles Held Its First Pride Parade in 1970

Troy Perry joined forces with Morris Kight and Reverend Bob Humphries in 1970 to organize the Christopher Street West parade. They wanted to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York.

The Los Angeles Police Commission tried blocking the parade, but the organizers sued and won the right to march.

Around 1,000 people walked down Hollywood Boulevard on June 28, 1970, in the first officially permitted Pride parade in the United States.

Perry insisted on calling it a parade rather than a demonstration, saying “This is Hollywood. ” The event became one of four Pride marches held in American cities that year.

California Made the Black Cat Its First LGBTQ Landmark

Los Angeles officially recognized the Black Cat’s importance in 2008 by naming it a Historic-Cultural Monument for its role in LGBTQ civil rights.

The city put up a plaque calling it the site of the first LGBTQ civil rights demonstration in America.

On October 1, 2023, the Black Cat Tavern became California Historical Landmark 1063, making it the first state landmark honoring LGBTQ history.

The Black Cat protests created organizing strategies that shaped the gay rights movement for decades.

The tactics of peaceful resistance and legal challenges to fight discriminatory laws and police brutality got used again at Stonewall and many protests that followed.

Visiting Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California

You can visit The Black Cat Tavern at 3909 W Sunset Boulevard, where the 1967 police raid sparked early LGBTQ protests that came before Stonewall.

The bar still operates today for ages 21+ from Monday-Friday 4pm-2am and weekends 2pm-2am.

Look for the California Historical Landmark plaque at Sunset and Hyperion Avenue, plus the Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument plaque on the building. You can view both markers outside for free.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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