Los Angeles Gay Cruising Destinations

This particular park emerged as one of Los Angeles's most well-known locations for gentlemen to engage in sexual encounters. Griffith Park was cemented on the cultural landscape as a premier cruising site thanks to John Rechy's 1967 novel titled "Numbers," which depicted an impromptu meeting within the famous expansive grounds situated between Los Feliz and the Santa Monica Mountains. Rechy himself, as he shared with the Los Angeles Review of Books, had faced apprehension in Griffith Park, potentially enduring a five-year incarceration for soliciting intimacy. He recounted, 'The covert law enforcement units, the judicial system, the legal representatives, the presiding judge, the astonishing relocation of the proceedings to Griffith Park's sexual milieu, enabling the judge to ‘personally observe,'' all transpired for Rechy during an era when Griffith Park served as a nexus for clandestine sexual activity, shadowed by the risk of penal sanctions.

Edmund White, in his 1980 publication, 'States of Desire: Travels in Gay America,' makes note that "Griffith Park is amenable to cruising." Furthermore, Gay L.A. asserts that "uninhibited gatherings involving numerous men were commonplace. These festivities even occurred under the sun, as Griffith Park boasted extensive undeveloped sections where the dense undergrowth provided a setting akin to an open-air gay sanctuary."

On the occasion of Memorial Day in 1968, a gathering of both men and women took place at the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round, where they listened to Mike Hannon, a former police officer turned legal advocate and Civil Rights champion, address the difficulties faced by individuals identifying as gay within a society marked by homophobia.

During the years 1970 and 1971, the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) orchestrated a series of "gay-ins," three of which were held at Griffith Park's merry-go-round. Similar to the procession, the fundamental objective behind these gatherings was to inspire LGBTQ+ individuals to emerge from seclusion and to foster public acceptance of varied expressions of sexuality and gender identity. These large-scale events, drawing thousands, were conducted during daylight hours and featured presentations, musical performances, and dancing, alongside information booths offering pro bono legal and social assistance. A significant achievement of the GLF, largely realized through these occurrences, was the successful challenge against the Los Angeles Police Department's policy that effectively prohibited gay men and lesbians from assembling in public spaces. The presence of LAPD officers monitoring these events served only to inflame the attendees, prompting the GLF to secure a court injunction, asserting that such policing constituted a infringement upon their fundamental civil liberties.

https://thepridela.com/2017/05/getting-griffith-park-history/