San fernando valley gay bars
“The Apache, also acknowledged for a while as Apache Territory, was smaller and more intimate than Oil Can Harry’s. It provided a more likely place to actually join and talk with someone,” Adkins says.
“At Oil Can Harry’s, you had to go outside to the front steps to speak to someone, or smoke if that was your vice. But at Apache, there was a miniature patio leading to the entrance,” he says. “It was fenced so it wasn’t exposed to the road. At Oil Can Harry’s, you could count on being verbally harassed from a passing car, or worse yet, have something thrown at you. In its last days, Apache installed T.V. monitors playing adult movies and had go-go boys dancing. The two brothers who owned Apache expanded and opened a second bar in Hollywood, but in second both bars closed. Later, the Ventura Boulevard location became another gay block, Everybody’s.” (Adkins, Richard 2021)
Bob Damron '81: (Most macho disco in the valley) (D) * (Disco) (Liquor)
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Link: "San Fernando Valley has a secret history of gay bars"
ONE Archives at USC Libraries, 1981
LOS ANGELES — Oil Can Harry’s, which closed last year, was designated a Historic-Cultural Monument by the Los Angeles City Council Wednesday for being one of the oldest homosexual bars in the San Fernando Valley.
The council approved the designation 14-0, with Councilman Joe Buscaino absent.
Oil Can Harry’s was opened in Studio City in 1968 by Bert Charot. It closed in January 2021 after the property’s owner sold it to a buyer planning to turn it into a jazz venue, according to oilcanharrysla.com.
“The establishment of Oil Can Harry’s occurred against a backdrop of increased group resistance to homophobia within the gay civil rights movement in Los Angeles,” City Planning Assistant Mickie Torres-Gil told the Cultural Heritage Commission on Oct. 7.
“Despite initially entity met with protests by its Studio City neighbors, Oil Can Harry’s rapidly became a safe haven for the gay group. … It famously utilized a spy hole in the entry door and an internal siren system to alert patrons to police presence, allowing them to halt same-sex dancing or activity.”
Torres-Gil added that during the AIDS epidemic, the club became a R
Welcome to the Ox! We are the last Sapphic bar in the San Fernando Valley. We own a night for everybody in our LBGT family. Please come by and enjoy yourself and come across old and new friends. We have a pool table, 2 dart machines, free parking in the back, friendly bartenders and great drink prices. Don't miss out on our Happy Hour!
Happy Hour
Join us! 5pm-7pm Mon-Tues, 3pm-7pm Wed-Sat
$3.75 Domestic Beers /$4.50 Well
Lesbian, Gay and Transgender Prevent. We welcome everybody!
For me, one of the best places to observe my friends tends to be a bar. That’s how C.Frenz in Reseda, the neighborhood’s first and only gay bar, was born. Owner Stephen Miele recalls how his comrade created the name using a play on words that fit the environment he wanted for his new bar. Simply lay, he wanted to dash a local watering hole where you could travel and see your friends.
I went to C.Frenz on a Friday night, and people began to trickle in as it grew later. The bar was dark, moody, and musky. The welcoming vibe is by design and you feel it the minute you walk in. Miele has carefully curated a friendly atmosphere where lgbtq+ people can feel protected in more ways than one.
Below, get a glimpse of our chat with Miele and how he came to own C.Frenz in Reseda, how he raised the bar to support the LGBTQ+ collective, and how his lock has come back from a catastrophic break-in.
The Origins of C.Frenz in Reseda
Miele was born and raised in New York in 1952, where he worked in the restaurant business for many years before entering law school. He ultimately moved to the Valley to continue his studies at Southwest Rule and practiced law until 1994, which is when he decided to to change gears
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