The section of Broadway from Alamitos Avenue to Junipero Avenue has long been a hub for Long Beach’s LGBTQ+ community—and the Long Beach City Council may decide to formalize its significance by making it the city’s first LGBTQ+ cultural district.
On Tuesday, June 21, the Long Beach City Council will decide whether to begin that process. If approved, the proposed item will direct the city manager to work with local stakeholders to create a vision for the district.
The item states that the businesses in the area were “among the only safe gathering spaces for gay, lesbian and transgender Long Beach residents for many years,” offering spaces for members of the LGBTQ+ community to “not only socialize, but to organize politically.”
The City has already marked the area in more aesthetic ways, such as the 2017 addition of rainbow-painted crosswalks on the E Broadway intersections with Junipero, Cherry, Falcon and Orange Avenues.
The strip of E Broadway mentioned in the agenda item is home to a variety of prominent gay bars such as The Falcon, Mineshaft, Sweetwater Saloon, the Broadway Cocktail Lounge and the gay-owned Beach Garden Social Club, among others.
The proposal was authored by Long Beach’s first openly-gay mayor Robert Garcia and District 2 Councilmember Cindy Allen.
The designation of the corridor as a cultural district would include signage, historic markers and other enhancements “to honor the efforts of activists, support local businesses and attract visitors who want to spend time in a place that has been extremely important to the movement for full equality,” the item states.
The Long Beach City Council will meet Tuesday, June 21 at 5 p.m. in the Civic Chambers at 411 W Ocean Blvd.
