The residential neighborhood of Silver Lake in the Californian city of Los Angeles removed the last street signs expressing hostility to the LGBTQ+ community Monday, multiple outlets reported.
These street signs — several “No U-Turn” and “No Cruising” signs — were put up in the neighborhood in the 1990s following complaints about the presence of a gay bar nearby, ABC 7 reported. (RELATED: Biden Rule Extending Title IX To Trans Students Blocked In More GOP States)
‘No cruising’ and ‘No U-turn’ signs in Silver Lake used to target LGBTQ+ community in the 90s removed https://t.co/BOp5dozpn0
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 11, 2024
Community leaders and local LGBTQ+ leaders were present at the de-installation of the signs, ABC 7 reported. Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said the removal of these signs was a necessary element in moving past this troubled past in history of the community, NBC 4 reported.
“But here in Silver Lake, cruising, of course, meant something very different. It meant an opportunity for the LGBT community to try to find human connection and intimacy and to be able to express themselves in a society at the time that was not very welcoming to the LGBT community,” Soto-Martinez reportedly said. ” The last two no U-turn signs remind us of that troubled past that we have here in this neighborhood.”
“I was also surprised that these U-turn signs were still up, and at first, they seem a little … ‘Oh, ok, it’s just a no U-turn sign,’ but when you learn the history of it, and you realize that these were used to profile gay people, it’s so important that we have these removed,” Silver Lake Neighborhood Councilmember (SLNC) Maebe A. Girl said, ABC 7 reported.
Girl was the first drag queen elected to local office in the United States back in 2019 and identifies as “trans non-binary, and her pronouns are she/her/they/them,” according to her online biography. “She hosts, produces and performs in drag shows around Los Angeles in addition to her SLNC duties.”
This removal of signs comes after the neighborhood council voted to dismantle them back in 2011, ABC 7 reported. Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman said she learned that nine signs were still up despite this vote due to listening to a podcast, NBC 4 reported. Raman reportedly then took action that led to the removal of the last homophobic signs.
