Mapping Gay L.A. by Moira Kenney

Moira Kenney argues that Los Angeles represents the range of gay and lesbian activism and culture better than cities with higher gay profiles. Lacking a single enclave like the Castro or a landmark like the Stonewall Inn, Los Angeles has a long history of community building. Tracing the movement from the 1960s, Kenney shows how activists claimed streets, buildings, neighborhoods and, in West Hollywood, an entire city, building networks from Venice Beach to East L.A. that emphasized social services, decentralized communities within ethnic neighborhoods, and local as well as national politics.