L.A. Neighborhood Cleanses Anti-Gay Past by Removing Cruising Signs

Los Angeles officials have removed the last of the "No Cruising" and "No U-turn" signs from a Silver Lake neighborhood that were intended to deter gay men from congregating in the area.

Los Angeles has taken a significant step towards cleansing its anti-gay past by removing the last of the "No Cruising" and "No U-turn" signs from the Silver Lake neighborhood. The signs, which were posted in 1997, were intended to curb gay men from roaming the streets to hook up.

The removal of the signs coincides with Pride Month and symbolizes a shift in attitudes towards the LGBTQIA+ community in Los Angeles.

L.A. Neighborhood Cleanses Anti-Gay Past by Removing Cruising Signs

"Los Angeles has a rich history of welcoming the LGBTQIA+ community, but there has also been real and present homophobia — which at times has been inscribed into the city’s physical spaces, as with these no-U-turn signs," Councilmember Nithya Raman said in a statement.

In the late 1990s, gay men often relied on printed guidebooks that listed public areas where they could find love, sex, and community without outing themselves. Silver Lake's Griffith Park Boulevard was one of the areas listed, along with West Hollywood.

L.A. Neighborhood Cleanses Anti-Gay Past by Removing Cruising Signs

"This type of homophobia persisted in Silver Lake 30 years after the Black Cat protests, and the physical remnants of that bigotry remained on our streets until yesterday, when we joined @nithyavraman to finally take the signs down," Councilman Higo Soto-Martinez wrote on Twitter, referring to one of the first demonstrations in the U.S. protesting police brutality against LGBT people.

The first "No Cruising" signs were taken down in 2011 after a vote by the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council. The remaining "No U-turn" and others listing time restrictions were left standing and nearly forgotten.

L.A. Neighborhood Cleanses Anti-Gay Past by Removing Cruising Signs

Silver Lake resident Donovan Daughtry raised the issue after hearing a podcast episode on the neighborhood’s queer history.

"People driving around at night with the radios playing Madonna was probably not conducive to a quiet neighborhood like Silver Lake and the rowdiness inside the bars sometimes spilled outside," Albert LeBarron, co-owner of Akbar, a gay bar, told the Los Angeles Times. "But in all honesty, a lot of us are people walking or driving or kind of hanging out because they had nowhere else to go."

L.A. Neighborhood Cleanses Anti-Gay Past by Removing Cruising Signs

The removal of the signs has been welcomed by the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies.

"It's a symbolic gesture, but it's also a powerful one," said Pickle, West Hollywood's inaugural drag queen laureate. "It shows that the city is committed to creating a more inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone."