Los Angeles authorities He praised the decision. To remove road signs that are said to be remnants of prejudice and discrimination against the gay community in the 1990s.
In Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood, city officials erected signs banning gay men from patrolling and making U-turns near popular gay bars in 1997 after residents complained about gay men patrolling near the area looking for partners.
“It’s an opportunity for the LGBT community to find human connection and intimacy.”
Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Voted The “No Cruising” signs were ordered removed in 2011, but the “No U-Turns” signs continued to spew prejudice for 13 years.
The trigger for the deletion was a podcast.
Los Angeles City Council Member Nithya Raman said she was made aware of the hateful signs by a constituent who heard about their history on a podcast.
“The podcast mentioned that the ‘No Cruising’ signs along Hyperion were removed in 2011, but nine signs still remain on Griffith Park Boulevard,” Raman said. “After hearing the episode, Silver Lake voter Donovan Daughtry contacted the then-Silver Lake field representative in May 2022.”
Raman said it took months to negotiate with bureaucracy to remove the hateful signs.
“Growing up in South Los Angeles, cruising had a completely different meaning to me. It usually meant just going down Crenshaw Boulevard in a lowrider or car listening to a whole lot of hip hop music,” said City Councilman Hugo Soto Martinez, who helped with the campaign.
“But here in Silver Lake, cruising naturally had a completely different meaning. It represented an opportunity for the LGBT community to find relationships, intimacy and to be able to express themselves in a society at the time that was not particularly welcoming to the LGBT community.”
Video of the removal ceremony showed drag queen Pickle joining city officials.
“I didn’t notice those signs and would never have found them. [them]” said the drag performer.
“The last two no U-turn signs are a reminder of the area’s troubled past,” Soto Martinez said.
Some on the right ridiculed the removal ceremony and immediately Accused Homophobic.
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